Morale is declining among Ontario businesses as experts predict an increase in COVID-19 cases and more restrictions on indoor gatherings to stop the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.
While the province has not announced lockdown measures beyond those introduced Sunday, which cut interior capacity in half and ordered a 11 p.m. curfew on indoor dining service, industry groups say that Ontario homeowners, however, are preparing for the worst.
Ryan Mallough, senior director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says small businesses have waited for more severe restrictions on operations to reappear for months.
“We started to see that attitude among Ontario small businesses as early as September,” Mallough said.
“There wasn’t a lot of confidence back then that we wouldn’t find ourselves in a lockdown situation again, and there’s not a lot of confidence now.”
Meanwhile, epidemiologists say Ontario could see tighter lockdowns in the coming weeks as the hospitalization rate increases due to the rapid spread of omicron between the vaccinated and unvaccinated.
“This is an extraordinarily contagious variant that will undoubtedly increase the rate of hospitalization,” said Colin Furness, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto.
Ontario reported 4,383 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest single-day total since late April. The seven-day moving average of 3,520 new infections has more than doubled last Wednesday’s average of 1,514.
People with two doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccine made up 3,243 of Wednesday’s cases.
CFIB’s Business Barometer, a monthly indicator of business confidence, found that short-term optimism among independent companies declined 4.6 percent in December, led by morale falling in the retail sector.
That survey was released before the latest restrictions on businesses in Ontario, suggesting that business confidence will decline further in a future survey.
“I don’t know if we’re going to have full blocks again, but I wouldn’t be surprised,” said Paul Brown, owner of Paul Brown Boxfit. “We are used to it.”
After nearly two years of confinement, the former professional boxer hoped to return to normal in the coming months. Instead, your gym will close the store again and wait for the restrictions to be lifted before resuming normal operations.
When will that be? “Who knows,” Brown said.
On Wednesday, Ottawa announced that it will temporarily expand eligibility for wage and rent subsidy programs, as well as income support of $ 300 per week for certain employees who have lost their jobs.
Ontario similarly announced a property tax and energy cost rebate program for businesses.
If more lockdown measures are introduced, the CFIB will push for more support, Mallough said, “because this just won’t be enough.”
Ontario’s latest round of restrictions is designed to slow the spread of the virus during the Christmas season, as families gather for Christmas and venues prepare events for New Year’s Eve, most of which have since been canceled. . The province imposed limits on the service of alcoholic beverages after 10 pm and restrictions on singing and dancing in order to discourage late-night parties that could become large-scale events.
Since Sunday, a wave of restaurants, bars, theaters and gyms have chosen to temporarily close rather than operate under new Ontario rules.
Furness says current meeting limits won’t be enough to contain the spread of omicron in indoor settings. The province, he says, will likely have to go further if it wants to reduce the case count.
“It’s ridiculous, given how contagious this variant is, to cut meetings by 50 percent,” he said.
“I’ll put it this way: if you don’t want refrigerated trucks outside of hospitals, you will have to close deals.”
Reference-www.thestar.com