Follow-up Update: Indoor dining ban likely to be extended

Dear ABLE BC members and industry colleagues,

Last night, we sent an urgent update advising it’s highly likely that the current ban on indoor dining will be extended at least until after the May long weekend.

While government has not yet announced anything publicly, ABLE BC, BCRFA, and Restaurants Canada met yesterday with Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Deputy Provincial Health Officer Dr. Brian Emerson and heard this information directly from them.

We understand extending the ban on indoor dining is incredibly frustrating and we don’t have all the details yet. We’ll get them for you as soon as possible, but in the meantime ABLE BC wanted to ensure you have as much notice as possible so you can plan accordingly.

Since sending out our update last night, we’ve received many emails from industry about the inherent unfairness of penalizing our sector once again.

As you well know, our industry has done everything possible to have the right protocols in place to keep staff and customers safe. It’s one of the reasons we’ve been the only province in Canada to keep indoor dining open. But according to Dr. Henry, the new COVID variants are significantly more transmissible and her data suggests indoor dining is no longer safe at this time.

To be clear though, Dr. Henry has repeatedly said that this isn’t the fault of the hospitality industry. It has more to do with the social networks of customers and staff, who inadvertently bring the virus in with them.

The only good news is that we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Dr. Henry has said that by June there will be enough vaccine in BC to vaccinate everyone. She anticipates that by June, we’ll be in a very different place and able to relax many public health protocols by then. We just need to make it through to then.

We know this order comes with catastrophic financial consequences for our industry. ABLE BC has already opened conversations with government about the need for additional financial support for our industry caused by this extended ban. The recently announced Circuit Breaker Business Relief Grants of up to $10,000 were based on the projected need for the ‘Circuit Breaker’ public orders set to expire on April 19. We know they they are inadequate to support members for the duration of this extended ban.

We will offer more details as soon as they are available. If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact info@ablebc.ca.