HALIFAX -- With low numbers of daily COVID-19 cases in the Halifax area, some are wondering when, or if, offices in the city’s downtown will fill up again.

Like any capital city, Halifax is a government town, and workers frequented cafes and restaurants in the area. That is, until the COVID-19 pandemic caused an exodus from offices downtown.

“Without that market and demographic still coming downtown, obviously our business has declined an awful lot in our café,” says Brady Muller, owners of Bird’s Nest Café and Catering.

Many of the people who usually work in those officers are government employees who are still working from home.

“We know from our experience, just looking around downtown, that a majority of office workers are certainly not back downtown, certainly not at a fulltime capacity at their desks,” says Paul MacKinnon, CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission.

Governments have dolled out millions of dollars in grants to prop up businesses, but the Downtown Halifax Business Commission believes there is a free solution to keeping downtown businesses afloat.

“We maintain that one of the best things government could do in terms of helping the business community that’s been so impacted is have their workers come back,” explains MacKinnon.

Nova Scotia’s provincial government tells CTV News that 85 per cent of its workforce is back at the office, either full time or on a rotation.

“Offices should be up and going, and everyone who is able to come to work, and we’re able to provide the right spacing in that environment, should be back to work now,” says N.S. Premier Stephen McNeil.

Office workers for the Halifax Regional Municipality have been sent home, brought back and sent home again, as cases climbed and fell in the region.

“We’re using both a phased approach, as well as utilizing flexible work options where we’re able to,” says Maggie-Jane Spray, spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Municipality.

On Monday, 380 workers who have working from home will return to the city offices, making up roughly a third of city office employees.

The federal government didn’t say how many employees in the Maritimes are still working at home, but gave the following statement:

“Public Health authorities have signalled that physical distancing requirements must remain in place. This means that many federal service employees across the country, including in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I., will continue to work remotely and effectively for the foreseeable future.”