Pints by appointment could soon be the norm at local bars

Ottawa's medical officer of health is asking bars and restaurants to require diners and drinkers to make reservations in light of a recent spike in new cases of COVID-19.

Dr. Vera Etches says the uptick in cases, especially among people in their 20s, is causing Ottawa Public Health to look at whetherthe virus is being spread in lineups outside busy bars in the ByWard Market and on Elgin Street.

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"What we're seeing with bars is, outside on the patios, there's physical distancing and people have control over their work environment," she told CBC's Lucy Van Oldenbarneveldon Monday evening.

The problem is with the folks waiting to get in.

"We see people gathering on the street and they're too close together and they're not wearing masks when they're close together," Etches told CBC.

Ottawa entered Stage 3 of the provincial lifting of some pandemic restrictionson July 17, which allowed bars and restaurants to open their indoor spaces to customers, in addition to serving people outdoors.

A maximum of 50 people excluding staff are allowed to be seated inside, while a maximum of 100 peopleare allowed to congregate outside, as long as everyone can keep two metres apart.

Additionally, according to Ottawa's temporary mandatory mask rulespassed by city councillors earlier this month, most peoplemust wear face masks while indoors. That includes in restaurants and bars patronscan only take off their masks while drinking and eating.

Now,Ottawa's bylaw services are asking businesses"to not generate lineups" on city sidewalks, roads or any property while patrons wait to be seated,according to an email attributed toCourt Curry, the city's manager of rights of way.

If a bar or restaurant patio is full, staff should take reservations "and ask those patrons to continue to stroll until a table becomes available to avoid any congregation," said the email sent to CBC on Tuesday.

But the idea isn't going down well with the head of the business improvement area in the Byward Market, who said business owners have facedtoo many "knee-jerk" decisions since the pandemic began.

"This is just another added frustration for [businesses]with little time to plan internally to manage their staff," saidJasnaJennings, executive director of the BIA.

"There has to be an understanding thatsome things are actually beyond the business's control."

Jennings said members in her association had already characterized shortened operating hours for some and restrictions around patio hours as "death by a thousand cuts."

On top of the current rules, she said business owners are still struggling to recoup months' worth of revenuelost during the lockdown.

"It's just hurdle after hurdle after hurdle and they're getting frustrated and stressed," said Jennings.

Still, the city could issue fines if businesses and patrons don't abide by the physical distancing rules. The acting director of bylaw services told CBC Tuesday that officers "will continue proactive patrols of the ByWard Market to ensure compliance."

Bob Firestone, who has owned the Blue Cactus barfor30 years, said these latest directives "will affect our sales and will affect people coming down to the market because they don't have a reservation.

"In the ByWard market, people want to go bars, restaurants on their own terms," he said.

But nursing studentJasmine Jeaurond, 19, said she doubted an appointment system would keep her friends from heading to the market for drinks.

"If it's imposed on us, we're still going to want to go to the pub, so we'll do it," she said.

"I actually think that it's a good idea," she said, adding that she and her friends had already begun to suspect the lineups as a likely place of COVID-19 transmission.