THUNDER BAY - Municipal and business leaders in Thunder Bay are pleased with the recent provincial announcement to allow more businesses and services to reopen, but it is up to retailers and customers to keep practicing all public health guidelines to prevent any future setbacks.
“The most important thing is making sure you are ready as a business owner to follow those rules and as a consumer to be aware of those rules and following those rules, because we don’t want to go backward,” said Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president, Charla Robinson.
On Thursday, the provincial government announced more seasonal businesses can reopen on Saturday, including golf courses and marinas, while also announcing it will enter the first stage of its three-stage framework for reopening the economy on Tuesday.
“There is certainly a lot of eagerness among business owners to get a little bit more activity and start to get the money flowing and meeting their customers again in a healthy and safe way,” Robinson said.
All businesses must follow the workplace guidelines set out by the province, including ensuring customers in store can safely practice social distancing to keep themselves and employees safe.
Robinson said this is just the new way of doing things and all businesses need to prepare, which may include changing aisle space, installing barriers, and limiting the number of customers inside the store.
“Everything is based on the new criteria of physical distancing, making sure your workplace has adjusted accordingly,” she said. “These are rules in place for all retailers.”
Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro said there has been a lot of pent up frustration in the community over restrictions and the announcement on Thursday is welcome news.
“I think people have been really good about socially distancing to contain the spread of the virus,” he said. “But now the ability to get outside and do some of the things we love to do in Northwestern Ontario will be a welcome relief to people. We need to be cautious obviously and be mindful that we can still spread the virus. So I think it’s a very exciting time for people, so hopefully people stay safe and stay well.”
It all comes down to individual responsibility, Mauro added, and he believes the people of Thunder Bay and retail owners will respect public health guidelines and continue to practice all public health measures.
“I know the medical professionals are expressing concern about the ability for the virus to spread and to spike, so we all have to be mindful with the reopening,” he said.
According to Mauro, the city received indications last week that the province would be entering stage one next week, giving it time to prepare.
The Marina will reopen on Saturday as planned, but municipal golf courses may take a little extra time.
“We’ve been working toward reopening as quickly as we can once the announcement came from the government,” Mauro said. “Golf courses will take three to five days. We are not holding back. The delay will be manning up, getting the staff in place.”
As for local businesses that were not included in stage one of reopening, such as hair salons and restaurants, Robinson said this provides an opportunity to learn about what some of the workplace guidelines are and prepare for the eventual news about reopening to be announced.
“There is definitely indications of how the next stage will move and recognizing that all businesses should be looking at health and safety requirements now and starting to do their operational plans, potentially ordering signage, barriers, PPE, those sorts of things that will be required in stage two and stage three,” she said.
“This is the time to get ready. A lot of businesses maybe are keen to get going, but need to make sure they are ready to get going. So this may provide a few more weeks to get going.”
