Restaurants, Malls Can Re-Open As New Brunswick Moves To ‘Orange’ Phase
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick has moved to the ‘orange’ phase in its recovery plan, where businesses like restaurants and malls can re-open if they can follow public health directives, Premier Blaine Higgs and chief medical officer Dr. Jennifer Russell announced Friday.
“Businesses can open effective immediately but each of them must decide when they’re ready to open,” said Higgs, noting that some businesses may have been preparing for a while, and others may need more time.
Before reopening, businesses must have an operational plan that follows Public Health and WorkSafe NB guidelines. WorkSafe NB released its guideline today.
The operational plan doesn’t need their pre-approval but must be available if requested by officials during scheduled or unscheduled visits. WorkSafeNB has a template that businesses can use to make their plan.
Companies looking for personal protective equipment will be able to access a list of suppliers on the government’s website starting next week.
Business owners who have questions can contact Opportunities NB Business Navigators by emailing [email protected] or by calling 1-833-799-7966.
“Our government is also requiring anyone who cannot social distance must wear a face mask. [An exception] would be children under 2 [years old] and anyone who cannot due to medical reasons,” Higgs said.
Dr. Russell said masks can be in the form of cotton bandanas or t-shirts that don’t need sewing.
In this phase, elective surgeries and other non-emergency health services, including dental, physiotherapy, optometry services and massage therapy will be allowed.
Outdoor public gatherings with physical distancing of 10 or fewer people will be allowed. Indoor public gatherings with physical distancing of 10 or fewer people will also be allowed for religious services, weddings and funerals.
However, New Brunswickers must still limit contact with just one other household in a so-called “bubble.” People within those bubbles can sit together at restaurants.
Dr. Russell said although many of the restrictions set out under State of Emergency has been lifted, “we are not returning to life as it was before the pandemic. That normal is still a long way off.”
When restaurants re-open, the number of clients the can host at once depends on their capacity to meet physical distancing rules or put in place alternative measures like booths if distancing isn’t possible. Face masks must be worn by staff members who can’t maintain the two-metre distance, and additional cleaning and hand washing are key.
When announcing the first stage of reopening, Dr. Russell said bars will be among the last establishments to be allowed to re-open, saying that’s because they’re places where people stand closely to each other.
However, when asked by a reporter what the rule was for restaurants that have a bar or lounge area, Russell said it depends on whether or not they can adhere with public health measures, regardless of their license. She said when Friday’s announcement mentions restaurants, it refers to establishments that have seating areas and where social distancing can be guaranteed.
“It’s really around what is the purpose of your establishment. Do you have seating available for patrons? Can you confirm and guarantee that there will be social distancing? So it’s more about the purpose and actual layout of the business,” she said.
Other establishments and activities that can re-open and resume include:
- Cultural venues like museums, galleries and libraries;
- Retail establishments;
- Offices not deemed essential in the initial phase;
- Campgrounds and outdoor recreational activities like zoos and outfitters if they can ensure physical distancing;
- All in-person programs at post-secondary institutions, subject to the COVID-19 directives from Public Health. Virtual options should be continued where possible;
- Non-regulated child care providers, if they adhere to Public Health guidelines, including having an operational plan;
- Day camps, if they adhere to Public Health measures set out in a document called COVID-19 Recovery Phase: Guidance to Early Learning and Childcare Facilities and Day Camps; and,
- ATV trails across the province.
Early learning and child care centres regulated by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development will be allowed to re-open starting May 19. The department will contact operators with more information in the coming days.
Some 50,000 New Brunswickers are out of work in the last two months because of Covid-19, Higgs said. A job-matching platform launched May 4 to help sectors affected by the temporary foreign worker ban, like agriculture and aquaculture, has seen 188 people and 54 employers register as of Thursday, he said.
The province reported no new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, with the number of confirmed cases staying at 120 – two of them active, and 118 recovered. To date, 17,029 tests have been done in the province.
If the curve stays flat, the province will continue to see restrictions lifted but Dr. Russell said that depends on the actions of New Brunswickers. She said residents must continue to avoid large gatherings, maintain physical distancing, keep up with good hygiene practices, and stay home, call 811 and get tested for Covid-19 if they experience even mild symptoms.
“You will be letting NBers down if you go to work with symptoms. Have a low threshold to get tested for Covid-19 and call 811,” she said.
She and her team will closely watch the situation, and make decisions based on the best available information. Measures could be taken on a local, regional or province-wide level if needed.
“If we see a spike in new cases or an outbreak that cannot be readily trace to existing cases, or receive new evidence that requires action, I will not hesitate to recommend the re-imposition of stricter measures.”
Independently of the re-opening phases, Russell also said Public Health has launched a new policy on visitation for palliative care patients.
Before, only one person was allowed to visit in a hospital setting. That’s been expanded to two visitors – provided they’re the same two people all the time and have been isolated for 14 days if they had traveled – in hospital or nursing home settings.
“This isn’t operationalized yet across all operators, but for compassionate reasons, we will allow visitations,” she said.
Premier Higgs also said that he’s been in talks with PEI Premier Dennis King to possibly create a bubble for the two provinces. He said if things continue to stay on a positive track for both provinces, end of June or early summer “is a consideration” for borders to reopen between the two provinces.
“It’s early yet, but I guess if we’re going to bubble with any province, that would be a bubbling province,” he said.
Additionally, Higgs said as part of economic recovery, he and other premiers in the country are asking the federal government for flexibility on what they can use the money from the infrastructure program.
“We ask for flexibility so that we can put money towards things that we really need,” he said. “For me, this is about not only building and bringing up in economic recovery, but it’s doing so in a way that next year, we’re still on a road to recovery…I’m working with every business to do what’s necessary to help them get back on track, but to ensure, it’s a sustainable track.”