Yukon's eased COVID-19 restrictions 'going to be awesome,' say restaurateurs
As of Tuesday, bars and restaurants are back to full seating capacity indoors
Yukon has eased a raft of COVID-19 restrictions as of Tuesday and some local businesses are in a mood to celebrate.
"I'm very pleased. It's going to be nice to have customers sitting in here and filling up the place again. It was getting a little lonely," said Cindy Beasley, owner of Java Connection, a popular caf and lunch spot in downtown Whitehorse.
Since last year, bars and restaurants in Yukon have been operating with half their normal indoor seating. On Tuesday, with no active casesand an enviablevaccination rate in the territory, they were allowed to go back to full capacity.
"I'm glad it's here for summer. I'm going to be glad to see people again. It's been a hard year," Beasley said.
Megan Breen, manager at Whitehorse eatery,Burnt Toast, said the pandemic restrictions really took a bite out of revenue this past year. The restaurant had to remove bar seating, along with two large tables.
"Bringing those back in, we'reable to have bigger parties come in, which we weren't able to do before because of the restrictions," she said.
"So now we can sit them at one table, which is just going to be awesome."
Breen said they were often turning people away during the lunchtime rush, because there was no seating left.
Now she's looking forward to the day when she can also remove her mask those are still required in bars and restaurants except for customers when seated attables.
"It'll be nice when we can finally reveal ourselves and I can smile at people again," Breen said.
A 'near normal' summer?
Other pandemic restrictions were also eased on Tuesday in Yukon. Larger gatherings and social bubbles are now allowed, and people arriving in the territory can forgo 14 days of isolation if they're fully vaccinated.
"We really think that this summer is going to be as 'near normal' as we can get, and definitely a different summer than last," Premier Sandy Silver said in a weekend interview with CBC's Rosemary Barton Live.
Territorial health officials announced the changes earlier this month, saying they were in part due to Yukon's high rate of vaccination. As of last week, about 76 per cent of eligible adults in the territory had received at least one vaccine shot and 67 per cent had received both.
The territory currently has no active cases of COVID-19.
Starting Tuesday in Yukon:
- indoor gatherings can include up to 20 people, up from 10;
- outdoor gatherings can include up to 100 people, up from 50;
- social bubbles can increase to 20 individuals, up from 10;
- organized events, including weddings andfunerals, can now include up to 200 people (up from 100), provided the venue can allow for proper physical distancing;
- fully vaccinated people will no longer need to self-isolate on arrival in Yukon, provided they can confirm their vaccination status.
Yukon 'testing the boundaries,' premier says
Silver acknowledgedthat there are still questions about how to verify travellers' vaccinations when they arrive in the territory. People will be asked to sign a declaration, and also give consent to have their medical records checked.
Silver said verification is a straightforward process for Yukon and B.C. residents the two jurisdictions alreadyshare health services andrecordsbut lessso for people from other provinces and territories.
Silver said it's something that still needs to be talked about and figured out, with Ottawa and the other provinces and territories.
"We're kind of like a snowplow for this right now," said Silver. "On the federal conversations, a lot of jurisdictions aren't where we are right now, to have that conversation."
"We are the first region in Canada that is testing the boundaries about how we can do this."
WATCH:Premier Sandy Silver on CBC'sRosemary Barton Live:
With files from Philippe Morin and Rosemary Barton
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