The push from local businesses to have the Simcoe-Muskoka region leave the grey-zone designation and go into some a form of red is gaining a lot of momentum, but there's still no word on whether any changes are coming.
Simcoe-Muskoka was moved from the red zone to the more restrictive grey zone on Monday. The designation forced the elimination of all in-establishment dining at restaurants as well as the closure of personal care shops, such as hair salons and gyms.
Barrie Chamber of Commerce executive director Paul Markle told BarrieToday he hasn’t heard any news on whether the health unit or provincial government could potentially change their minds about being the grey-zone designation.
However, Markle says he's confident the cries from local businesses aren't falling on deaf ears.
“I don’t know anything about a possible reverting back to red, but I can say that I have seen an unbelievable amount of support from Mayor Jeff Lehman, (Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte) MPP Doug Downey, Simcoe County and the region’s other chambers,” Markle said. “There is a big push to have the change made to help protect the small businesses that have been affected by going to grey.”
Markle believes even being in a modified red zone — rather than grey — would allow restaurants and personal services businesses to reopen safely with all of the strict protocols they've put in place.
“A modified red also allows the health unit to keep the tighter restrictions on the larger stores and maintain a level of protection, which is what they were going for by switching grey," he said.
Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, has been criticized for his decision to ask the provincial government to move the region into grey, but sent out a letter Tuesday explaining his rationale.
In the letter, addressed to those whose work and businesses are affected by the grey-zone lockdown measures, Gardner said his concerns have been around the arrival of the B.1.1.7 variant, which originated in the United Kingdom, here in the Simcoe-Muskoka region and the potential for it to cause a third wave.
“We now have a very large number of cases and outbreaks of the UK variant in Simcoe-Muskoka,” Gardner said in the letter. “This started with three very large outbreaks of the UK variant in January in Simcoe County (including in Barrie), which has been followed with its rapid spread throughout Simcoe County and now into the District of Muskoka, with outbreaks due to variants in workplaces (including a restaurant), long-term care facilities, a child-care centre and an apartment complex, as well as a large and rapidly growing number of cases in the community that are unattached to outbreaks.
Gardner continued by saying Simcoe-Muskoka has the highest number of variant cases in Ontario.
Local COVID numbers released Thursday show there are currently 439 active, lab-confirmed cases in the region, most of which are in Simcoe County. According to the health unit, 216 local cases have tested positive for the B.1.1.7 variant, which is up by 11 cases since the last report. There are seven active cases confirmed as the B.1.1.7 strain.
In the past few days, a petition has been circulating in the community and so far more than 23,500 people have signed. Many local political leaders have also been pushing the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit to change its stance on the grey-zone designation.
Emil Kamel started the online petition and has been following the case-count numbers closely himself. The owner of North Swing Golf Lounge said all the facts and figures are on the local health unit website; he encourages everyone to look them up and see for themselves.
“We definitely shouldn’t in the grey zone, judging from our numbers," Kamel said. "We should be talking orange, never mind red, but I can accept a modified red if it means allowing some suffering small businesses to open up and survive."
A video on the Urban Dish Grill and Wine Bar Facebook page showed employee Merv Ferguson asking for help from the restaurant’s loyal customer base. The emotional video, shot Wednesday night, shows Ferguson pleading with customers to help the Yonge Street business make it to May, when they can open the patio and serve people outside.
Urban Dish owner Jennifer LeGallais says she and her staff are determined to get to the warmer months, but need help doing so.
“We really have to keep afloat until patio season. Hopefully, we can be open by then; that is a big part of our business,” LeGallais told BarrieToday. “We have great customers, but we don’t know if they’re able to help out like they did the last two shutdowns.”
Urban Dish usually has 19 employees at their south-end location, but nowadays they are down to eight.
LeGallais admits staff are frustrated with having only a take-out option, and she doesn't blame them.
“I honestly compare what the cooks do to being an artist and having your canvas taken away and being given a spray-paint can and a wall,” LeGallais said. “They love putting together the presentation of their meals on nice plates in an in-person experience.
"We’ve been told we have some of the nicest take-out containers in the city, but it just isn’t the same.”
There is a protest against the lockdown set for Saturday, March 6 at 11 a.m. at Meridian Place in downtown Barrie. Attendees are asked to wear masks and follow distancing protocols.
