Restaurant and bar owner is not surprised by the latest pandemic restrictions

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For bar and restaurant owners, the latest restrictions announced by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit come as little surprise nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“It’s another kick, but what are you going to do?” said Renaldo Agostino, president of Turbo Espresso Bar, a café and bar, and event company Element Entertainment.

“It is part of the course now. This is the new reality for the next two years, we are going to go ahead with the blows, take our bags and move on. “

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit announced Sunday new capacity limits on social gatherings and bars and restaurants in response to a growing number of COVID-19 cases in the region.

We get it, public health and safety come first

They include 10-person limits for indoor social gatherings (25 people outdoors) and limit bars and restaurants to 50 percent of capacity. The restrictions take effect at 12:01 am on Friday.

Acting Medical Health Officer Dr. Shanker Nesathurai said the current restrictions are necessary to avoid the high number of cases seen in the region at this time last year. Although the province no longer uses the color-coded pandemic framework, the current caseload in Windsor and Essex would have led to a closure under that system.

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Although people who dine in bars and restaurants must be fully vaccinated, Nesathurai told a news conference Monday that the additional restrictions help “break the chain of transmission.”

The health unit is currently investigating a COVID-19 outbreak that involved more than 40 people associated with a Kingsville restaurant.

“People who work in restaurants are not only employees and business operators, but they are also… part of the larger community,” Nesathurai said. “We ask that you continue to work as hard as you have, recognizing how difficult it has been for these past 20 months and it will likely be for many months to move forward as well.”

Agostino said his staff had a suspicion that there might be more restrictions on the way when they saw that COVID-19 cases in the region were on the wrong trend.

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“We always have a suspicion that it’s coming,” he said, emphasizing the effect on entertainment on his business. “It’s a trickle down effect for everyone, not just in the bars and restaurants: it’s the entertainers, the cooks, the grocery stores, the food service.”

The provincial government announced Tuesday that it would halt any easing of capacity restrictions for high-risk settings where vaccination is required, such as dance bars or strip clubs. Capacity at those locations remains 25 percent, and no date was given on when those restrictions can be lifted.

The health unit’s letter of instructions also asks employers to facilitate teleworking and virtual meetings where possible, and adds measures for weddings and funerals.

Agostino said his businesses will respect public health measures, but he is hopeful that there will be a way out of this cycle.

“We get it, public health and safety come first,” he said. “All of this disappears if people get vaccinated. I implore everyone to please get vaccinated because if everyone gets vaccinated, this is no longer a problem. “

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