Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Consistency is a luxury that our society might not be able to afford in the COVID era.
But that doesn’t mean much of this back and forth between easing and reinstating restrictions is unavoidable.
On April 6, Premier Jason Kenney announced that Alberta is returning to Step 1 of the four-step framework.
Updated mandatory health measures came into effect for retail, fitness and performance activities, while restaurants can now only provide takeout, delivery and patio service.
This came in response to cases rising across the province.
In Jasper, the number of active cases went from five to 12 over the Easter long weekend and has since risen to over 20 as of the beginning of this week.
Given how the subject of lockdowns has been politicized, the fact that half the population isn’t all that thrilled about these new measures - while the other half is - should be no surprise at this point.
A unifying opinion, however, is that people don’t want to check the news every day to see whether they can eat out or not.
Indeed, the frustration must be profound for restaurants that have to partake in this maddening game of musical chairs.
With the summer season approaching, sidewalk seating may be the surest glimmer of hope for this industry as the vaccine rollout continues to sputter along.
Perhaps if the UCP government could figure out a solid holding pattern when it comes to restrictions and stick with it, rather than rushing a reopening, this industry could be provided with further relief.
