Signs of early summer lift from pandemic restrictions

“While we’re excited and pumped, we’re still being cautious on it all,” P.A. and District Chamber of Commerce CEO Elise Hildebrandt told paNOW, saying it was still important to keep to the health guidelines.

Hildebrandt said her members have been supportive of the vaccine rollout and, in order for the public to enjoy a less restrictive summer, “…if a poke or a jab in our arm is going to help us get there, then let’s get ‘er done.”

She said the relaxation measures of Step One—30 people for public indoor gatherings and 150 people outdoors—would be a vital move forward.

Step Two, once 70 per cent of over-30s get their first jab, would see 150 maximum capacity allowed at event spaces like casinos and recreation centres. Sixty-one per cent of those 30-plus have so far received their first dose.

“Catering or restaurants and anything in that hospitality sector, we really need to be able to go back to bigger sizes than what we’ve had,” she said.

Step Two—which Moe said could happen by mid-June—would see the end to capacity limits for retail and on each table in restaurants and bars.

“Of course this is important to us,” Harry Rai, the owner-operator of Spice Trail restaurant in Prince Albert, told paNOW. “We’re in the hospitality business and that means we welcome people in and we interact with people.”

Rai is no stranger to the challenges of the pandemic. His Saskatoon restaurant has recently re-opened after a two-week closure caused by an infected food courier. His P.A. location was not impacted. He said he’s fully supportive of any measures the government has taken to promote the vaccine and re-open the economy.

“Whatever it takes,” he said.

Step Three—by early July when three weeks have passed since the hoped-for 70 per cent threshold for over 18s—would see nearly all remaining restrictions lifted. Fifty-one per cent of those 18-plus have so far received their first dose.

Church gatherings

Away from the hospitality sector, another Prince Albert voice is quietly hopeful things are finally going in the right direction.

Michael Hawkins, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Saskatchewan who was himself very ill after being infected with the virus, has applauded the creation of the three-step reopen roadmap as a way of incentivizing the public to get the jab.

“I thought it was very prudent and wise of the government to use the hope of re-opening to encourage the broadest possible uptake in the vaccine,” he said, noting moves in Step One to increase to thirty per cent of capacity or 150 people (whichever is less) at places of worship will be a benefit for gatherings including funerals and weddings. Step Two will allow for 150 people at such services indoors.

Hawkins said while parishioners he’d spoken with had shown a “great response” to getting the vaccine,. there was still some hesitancy and “a significant but small group of anti-vaxxers in the province.”

But he also wanted to highlight what he termed the ’under-recognized’ success in the province’s north in dealing with the early pandemic outbreaks as a reason for cautious optimism.

“It’s remarkable what’s happened in the northern third of the province. They had some of the worst per capita rates earlier on but they’ve really been effective in beating those down.”

Hawkins indicated the summer will likely allow communities to properly mourn their losses over the last year through outdoor funeral services.

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glenn.hicks@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow

by Glenn Hicks

Signs of early summer lift from pandemic restrictions

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