#SupportFredLocal campaign aims to help local businesses struggling with pandemic restrictions
Level 3 restrictions have been hard on businesses across New Brunswick - many have had to close, reduce capacity, or turn to take out only.
"The first lockdown was horrible of course but we'd come off a normal winter time, this one is doubly bad, we've come off a very poor showing in November, December into a very bad January," said Ted Jones, co-owner of Kitchen 540.
Businesses affected by the lockdown are worried what empty streets, and empty seats could mean for their employees and the bottom line.
"The streets are empty, you can park anywhere, I just don't know what more could be done,” said Jones.
"We have a lot not working right now but we're very hopeful that it's temporary, well we know it's temporary but we don't know how long it'll be, we hope it'll be short," said Krista Touesnard, co-owner of The Tipsy Muse.
Fredericton Tourism says they hope businesses can get over the hump of the current lockdown.
“A lot of them are constantly being forced to pivot and how can they survive because it's not just to be able to keep the lights on it's the livelihood of their employees to be able to make sure that they still have a job and how to protect them, so there's a lot at stake," said Stacey Russell, manager of Fredericton Tourism.
Supporting local doesn't seem to have the same appetite it did in the beginning of the pandemic, but Fredericton Tourism is hoping a new contest called Support Fred Local might take a bite out of the problem.
"When we knew we had to cancel Frostival and postpone Dine Around Freddy, we spoke to a number of restaurants to see what the vibe was and what the temperature is, everything we were hearing from restaurants was this has been the hardest time ever through the pandemic so we knew the moment Premier Higgs made the announcement to go into lockdown we had to move very fast," Russell.
Fredericton Tourism's #SupportFredLocal contest goes until Monday, Jan. 31.
As it stands right now, Level 3 restrictions are slated to end Jan. 30 at 11:59 p.m.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ont. and Que. scramble to recover from thunderstorm that left at least 8 dead
Clean-up efforts are underway after a massive thunderstorm on Saturday left a trail of destruction in Southern Ontario and Quebec.

How concerned should we be about monkeypox?
Global health officials have sounded the alarm over rising cases in Europe and elsewhere of monkeypox, a type of viral infection more common to west and central Africa. Here's what we know about the current outbreak and the relative risk.
43 CP Rail cars carrying potash derail east of Fort Macleod, Alta.
Clean up is underway after 43 CP Rail train cars carrying potash left the track Sunday morning east of Fort Macleod, Alta.
BREAKING | Ontario storm leaves eight dead and tens of thousands without power
The death count related to a destructive storm that ripped through much of southern Ontario continues to rise
WATCH LIVE AT 4 PM | Tens of thousands without power after severe storm hits Ottawa
Hydro Ottawa says it will take several days to restore power and clean up after a severe storm damaged hydro poles and wires on Saturday.
Huawei 5G ban delay wasn't tied to efforts to free Spavor and Kovrig, Mendicino says
Canada's Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino insists the once unknown fate of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig was not why the government delayed its decision to ban Huawei technologies from Canada's 5G network.
Justice Mahmud Jamal reflects on his first year on the Supreme Court bench in new special interview
Ahead of his one-year anniversary on the Supreme Court of Canada this July, Mahmud Jamal spoke with CTV National News National Affairs Correspondent Omar Sachedina to reflect on his past year on the bench.
Indigenous Manitoba man risks his life to bring humanitarian aid to Ukraine
Kim Sigurdson, a Métis philanthropist from Manitoba, travelled to Ukraine in early May on his own dime to bring support to displaced Ukrainians.
Taliban enforcing face-cover order for female TV anchors
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Sunday began enforcing an order requiring all female TV news anchors in the country to cover their faces while on-air. The move is part of a hard-line shift drawing condemnation from rights activists.