MONCTON, N.B. -- Reduced hours and customer limits have been the business model for restaurants and bars since they were allowed to reopen earlier this year.
John Wishart of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce says a gradual return to normal operations is the way to go.
"We’ve been at 50 per cent now for a number of months," Wishart says. "Can we move to 75 per cent? Is that a safe move or is it premature?"
Luc Erjavec is the Atlantic vice-president of Restaurants Canada.
He says with only nine active cases in the Maritimes, he thinks protocols could be relaxed.
"When you have low cases, you can loosen up the restrictions," Erjavec says. "If you happen to have a spike, hotspot, you take the appropriate action to deal with it."
Erjavec believes now is the time to consider a loosening of restrictions based on the successful reopening of schools and the pending closure of patios because of weather.
Ken and Jill Miller see it differently. They recently moved to New Brunswick from Ontario, a province now seeing record numbers of new cases of COVID-19. They say this region is doing it right.
"I think the reason there are a few cases is because they restricted pretty well," the Millers say. "It doesn’t take much for exponential growth to happen. OK, there’s maybe seven or eight now but you put one of those people in a bar and you’re too close, no, it has the potential to explode."
