'Hopefully this is the last time': Windsor businesses prepare for eased capacity limits

The province is lifting restrictions on Monday, Jan. 31 to allow a handful of sectors — including restaurants, cinemas and arenas, to run at 50 per cent capacity.

As part of the new regulations approved Thursday afternoon, the government specified that individuals attending indoor events at a sporting or concert venue, a movie theatre, or other gaming establishments will be allowed to eat and drink, as long as they remain seated.

The new regulations can be considered good news for places such as movie theatres, who said they were disappointed to hear earlier in the week that popcorn would be banned in cinemas to reduce transmission during the opening.

“It’s really important to be able to sell our concessions which are much more profitable items for us,” says Imagine Cinemas chief operating officer, Gina Facca.

Seating will be spread out to allow for physical distancing and Facca says vaccine certificates will still be checked at the doors, which will officially reopen with a slate of blockbusters on Tuesday.

“We’re definitely doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our patrons,” says Facca. “We’re getting close to the end. We’re really hoping that the lockdowns are done.”

After being forced to resort to take-out only since Jan. 3, restaurants are also stocking up for the grand reopening.

“Hopefully this is the last time. A lot of our customers have been calling in and asking. They’re very excited.,” says Hussein Abbas, whose family has operated El Mayor Lebanese Cuisine for 25 years.

Restaurants will reopen for in-person dining at 50 per cent capacity starting Monday. They still have to check for vaccine certificates but no longer have to do contact tracing.

“We have to understand with Omicron that we can’t eliminate this threat, in fact we have to learn to live with it,” admitted Ontario’s medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore.

Abbas is excited to get business — and hopefully his employees — back quickly.

“We want everybody to be safe at the same time, but it’s hard for us as a business to run like this,” he says. “We’re trying out best but it’s hard to let employees go all the time. It’s not a good mood to be in.”

It’s a similar mood at Ten Friends Diner.

“It’s torture,” says Steven Cromie, an office manager at the Walkerville diner. “It’s tough keeping everybody up and moving and working and trying to be positive.”

Cromie says take-out business has been abysmal, but recognizes even when the doors reopen, business may not return immediately.

“We know it won’t happen at the flick of a button,” says server, Emma Clarke. “We know it won’t happen right away.”

The Windsor Spitfires, on the other hand, are still working through the details — noting there are many moving parts to consider with the new rules.

The WFCU Centre will be restricted to 500 patrons in this phase. Amongst season ticket holders, which 500 fans will be granted access is a major stumbling block.

The Spits will post updates through its social media in the coming days, with their next home game against The Guelph Storm scheduled for Feb. 3.

Social gathering limits will remain more restricted, with 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.

Ontario plans on moving to the next phase with fewer restrictions by Feb. 21, however Premier Doug Ford said that if public health trends have not improved the government “won’t hesitate” to pause between steps “for a few extra days.”

Dr. Peter Juni, the scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, told CTV News the province needs to carefully monitor hospitalizations as it reopens, especially considering the fact that many residents have still not gotten their booster shots.

- With files from CTV News Toronto's Colin D'Mello and Katherine DeClerq.