Another red zone change a devastating blow, say business owners

Some restaurant and cinema owners say Ottawa's looming move into the red zone on the province's colour-coded pandemic scale is like "a punch in the face."

Medical Officer of HealthDr. Vera Etches said Tuesday thatthe city's key COVID-19 indicators have been firmly in red-zone territory for the past four days and appear to be getting worse. She said the city will likely be in the red zone within a week.

Under Ontario's red-zone rules, only 10 people would be allowed inside a restaurant, and cinemas and performing arts centres would have to close.

"Ten seats isterrible.That's just awful. You can't even turn the lights on for 10 seats," saidSarah Chown, Ottawa's chair of theOntario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association.

"It's really tough. I mean, it sucks, to be honest. The yo-yo is really difficult on a number of levels," Chown said. "The food waste is a big problem. The staff retention is a big problem."

Chown plans to keep her restaurant openeven if the province places Ottawa in the red zone, but said she wishes restrictions were based on a restaurant's capacity size rather than a uniform rule for alldining rooms.

Business community 'suffering,' says resident

"It's a bit of a punch in the face," said Lee Demarbre,co-owner of Mayfair Theatre, who just reopened his business three weeks ago.Ottawa moving to the red zone would mean the theatre's fourth closure since the pandemic began.

Demarbresaid he feels like he "just got back in the groove of being opened again"andthat he wouldrather be closed for longer if it means finally getting COVID-19 under control.

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"It's like going underwater, holding our breath as long as we can," he said.

Tarik Fizazi, who lives and works in Ottawa, said he doesn't think it's a good idea for the city to move into the red zone and the "uncertainty is not good for the business."

"The business community here is suffering," Fizazi said.

"It sucks,it really does, but I think more rules is better at this point," said Ottawa resident Kia Andersen.