Provincial Health Orders extended to February 16th
Dear ABLE BC members and industry colleagues,
Earlier today, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry extended the current Public Health Orders impacting BC's food and liquor serving premises. A copy of the current PHO will be available here.
In summary:
Premises which are licensed to serve liquor, and which do not have full meal service, must be closed.
“full meal service” includes food provided by a caterer to the premises or available from a food truck located beside or on the premises, but does not include snacks, appetizers or tapas on their own.
Patrons must stay in the seat to which they are assigned, or at which they seat themselves, and must not move from table to table or mingle with patrons from other parties when not seated.
No more than 6 patrons may be seated at a table, unless the party consists of one set of parents and their minor children.
Patrons must remain seated, other than in private clubs or tasting rooms with a liquor manufacturer’s licence, except:
to to use a self- serve food or drink station, a self-serve lottery ticket dispenser, pay at a pay station, use washroom facilities, to provide assistance to another person who requires care or first aid, when leaving the premises, or
to play pool, billiards, snooker, or darts, or bowl (if there is a bowling alley on premises), with a maximum of five other persons who are in the same party as the patron and who are seated with the patron:
There must be a distance of two metres between the backs of the seats of patrons seated at adjacent tables or booths, even if members of the same party are seated at adjacent tables or booths, unless the adjacent tables or booths are separated by physical barriers.
There must be two metres between patrons seated at a counter, unless the patrons are in the same party or they are separated by physical barriers.
If there are physical barriers between tables or booths or seats at a counter, the tops and bottoms of the physical barriers must be positioned so that the physical barriers block the transmission of droplets produced by breathing, talking, coughing or sneezing between patrons who are seated at adjacent tables, booths or seats at a counter.
Dance floors must be closed with physical barriers or occupied with tables.
Patrons must not dance on the premises.
We know you were hoping for better news today. We also know that extending these orders means some of you are not yet able to re-open. Rest assured we have already met with government to discuss expanding COVID-19 Closure Relief Grants to offer emergency financial support to businesses ordered closed by these orders. We'll circulate more details as soon as they are available.
To apply for a grant visit: www.gov.bc.ca/business-relief
Clarification for nightclubs
We have confirmed with the office of the Provincial Health Officer that, while traditional nightclubs are still ordered closed, nightclub operators may reopen if they pivot their business model to a lounge offering "full meal service."
"Full meal service" includes food provided by a caterer to the premises or available from a food truck located beside or on the premises, but does not include snacks, appetizers or tapas on their own.
We recommend working with local pubs or restaurants to provide meal options for your patrons. For example, consider partnering with a local pizzeria by placing menus on your tables and allowing delivery directly to your customers inside your establishment.
Patrons are still prohibited from dancing and dance floors must be closed with physical barriers or occupied with tables. You must also follow all other rules listed above.
If you have questions about how to restart operations in compliance with current Public Health Orders, please contact Jeff Guignard, Executive Director, at jeff@ablebc.ca.
Businesses required to re-activate COVID-19 safety plans
Earlier in the pandemic, employers were asked to create and implement a detail COVID-19 Safety plan that was specific to their business. These plans were replaced by a more general focus on Communicable Disease Prevention as the province reopened on July 1, 2021.
Announced January 7th, 2022, the Provincial Health officer now requires employers to reinstate and update these site specific COVID Safety Plans, to address the elevated risk we are currently facing with the Omicron variant.
The COVID-19 safety plan will supersede the basic principles of communicable disease prevention during this period of elevated risk by incorporating more specific protocols for preventing COVID-19 transmission. These may include occupancy limits, physical distancing, and barriers.
What Employers need to do:
Reviewing existing procedures and worker protections
Where needed, enhancing those protections to the extent practicable
Communicating with workers to ensure they understand their role in controlling the risk
If an employee tests positive for COVID-19, they need to follow the guidance of the BC Centre for Disease Control around taking care of themselves, self-isolating, and notifying close contacts.
Evidence shows vaccination is still the strongest form of protection against the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to consider staff-vaccination policies at their own discretion.
Employees have the right to refuse work if they believe it presents an undue hazard. An undue hazard is an “unwarranted, inappropriate, excessive, or disproportionate” hazard. For COVID-19, an “undue hazard” would be one where an employee’s job role places them at increased risk of exposure and adequate controls are not in place to protect them from that exposure.
For more information about employees’ rights in the workplace, see: COVID-19 information for workers.
With this new order in place, WorkSafeBC Prevention Officers will look for updated COVID-19 safety plans at worksites.
WorkSafeBC's website has been updated to include:
Workers and employers with questions can call WorkSafeBC's Prevention Information Line at 1-888-621-7233 to speak directly with a prevention officer.