Omicron fears force Canadian companies to prepare for the worst: another lockdown | The Canadian News

Renaldo Agostino has gotten used to the roller coaster that is the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Windsor entrepreneur, owner of Turbo Espresso Bar and event company Element Entertainment, is familiar with the negative impacts lockdowns have on his businesses and the benefits that relaxed restrictions bring.

But with the Omicron variant spreading in Canada, and with some jurisdictions moving to impose restrictions to limit its impact, Agostino is preparing to ride another wave.

“When the temperatures are hot, we will be having fun and making money. When the minimums are low, we will observe our expenses (and) we will close everything. … It’s been so long that it’s no longer a question of ‘what if?’ ”He told Global News.

“I already know what is going to happen. … Not that I have no experience in closing. … It’s so ingrained in the way we do business these days, it’s almost the new normal. “

Omicron cases in Canada are on the rise, causing public health officials to question whether to impose restrictions to limit the spread in the community.

In Windsor, where Agostino’s businesses are located, the public health unit reintroduced collection restrictions last week, ordering restaurants and bars to lower indoor capacity limits back to 50 percent.

In New Brunswick, officials are ordering entertainment venues like movie theaters and casinos to operate at 50 percent capacity starting Friday. In Nova Scotia, also starting Friday, licensed food and alcoholic beverage companies must have physical distance between tables and a limit of 20 people per table.

Back in Ontario, Kingston officials have introduced a series of measures intended to last until December 20. They include personal gathering limits of up to five people indoors and outdoors, and restaurants cannot offer indoor dining between 10 p.m. M. And 5 a. M. -out is still allowed.

Chad Comfort, co-owner of the Mermaid Avenue Sandwich Factory in Kingston, told Global News that he has already seen a drop in the restaurant business since Omicron’s arrival.

The business will rely primarily on takeout now, he said, acknowledging that the experience of getting in and out of restrictions has prepared the store for times like these.

“We used to buy quite a lot of stock and supplies and we always had a good quantity on hand, (but now) we shop more often and much less because we don’t want anything to go wrong in case there is a blockage,” Comfort said.

“We want everything to work on a small scale.”

On Monday, Canada’s director of public health warned that community spread of Omicron could increase in the coming days, potentially outpacing the Delta variant for the dominant strain of the virus in the country.

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Dr. Theresa Tam said that if infections continue to rise and Omicron takes hold, new cases could reach 26,600 a day nationally by mid-January.

Currently, Canada, Ontario and Quebec are driving the growth of new cases. In Ontario on Tuesday, the province reported 1,429 new infections, while Quebec recorded 1,747 new cases.

With those numbers at stake, Dr. Isaac Bogoch feels that more jurisdictions will impose restrictions.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you start to see more and more of that across the country as we see increased community transmission and an increase in the number of cases,” the infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital told Global News. .

“I think it’s written on the wall that public health teams are thinking about that.”

But nevertheless, with 76 percent of the population fully vaccinated“Canadian regions might not see large-scale lockdowns unless hospital systems overflow with patients,” said Matthew Miller, associate professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at McMaster University.

While lockdowns are effective in reducing community transmission, governments should focus on quickly applying booster vaccines to high-risk populations, such as the immunosuppressed and the elderly, he said.

“We are in a very different place now than we were a year ago, in the sense that last year at this point, almost no one had been vaccinated,” Miller said.

“The question will really be: How do we protect the capacity of our hospital? Certainly, third doses in higher-risk populations will be very helpful for that. We really need to make sure that we are increasing and giving those doses to everyone over 50 as quickly as possible. “

The governments of Canada have been doing just that. In Ontario, adults age 50 and older can now get booster shots, and starting January 4, everyone 18 and older will be able to get an additional dose.

Alberta has also announced a broad expansion of booster doses, where Albertans 18 and older can receive additional injections in the new year.

In addition to booster vaccines, governments should make rapid COVID-19 tests more available to the public, said Nitin Mohan, assistant professor in the global health systems program at Western University.

“Rapid tests need to be affordable and in some cases just free because I think our primary focus should be protecting our health systems and communities at this time,” he said.

Bogoch agrees, the addition of rapid tests can be used for indoor functions as an additional layer of protection in addition to vaccination and improved ventilation, for example.

“‘If everyone tests negative before coming, that will add an additional level of security,” he said. “They are not perfect, but they are really good.”

In Nova Scotia, the province recently made rapid test kits available for library pickup. In Ontario, school-age children are given rapid tests to take home during the holidays.

Only time will tell what will happen during the holidays, but protecting hospitals must be a priority, Mohan said.

“Our hospital systems have been extended beyond their capabilities for more than a year and a half,” he said.

“Asking them to prepare for another wave would have a negative impact on our society as a whole.”

Back in Windsor and Kingston, both Agostino and Comfort are adjusting to business under restrictions once again.

“We have to learn to pivot,” Agostino said.

“I am a professional nightclub owner who got into the coffee business because of COVID. Either you change or you find something else to do with your life. “

As for Comfort, he is concerned about how the rising cost of food will affect his sandwich shop this time.

“We’ve been through this before, but it’s inflation that really scares me because the price jump … is really driving down your bottom dollar,” Comfort said.

“Inflation is sending some of these prices through the roof, (and) maybe it won’t offer a full menu like it used to because it won’t buy roast beef if it costs an arm and a leg.” . “

– with files from Jamie Mauracher

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