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Dear Downtown Winnipeg BIZ Member,
Good news for some of you today! The Province has announced a cautious reopening of some businesses in its new health order. While I’m pleased to see that our downtown retail shops and hair salons can reopen their doors, many of our members must remain closed. This is disappointing as we know you take the safety of your customers and staff seriously and you have the ability to follow the highest level of health protocols.
The Downtown BIZ team will continue to advocate on your behalf including requesting additional financial supports for those who have to remain closed and for those who continue to see a drop in revenue, even though you’re permitted to be open.
Right now, let’s continue to support each other downtown. Order a sandwich, book a staycation, take a virtual fitness class, treat yourself to some candy or order flowers for someone you haven’t seen in a while. Our downtown members offer all of this and more. As a good friend once shared with me and I believe I shared with you back in March… sometimes the only way getting through something hard is actually going through it. We’re still in it and we’re here to help you get through.
Province announces changes to public health orders
This afternoon, the provincial government announced some adjustments to the current public health orders that expire Friday, Jan. 22. The province says it is taking a cautious approach to re-opening.
Here’s what’s new for retail:
- All stores can open for the sale of all products and the essential items list has been eliminated.
- Requirements to maintain physical distancing and occupancy limits of 25% or maximum of 250 people (whichever is lower) remain in place and will be enforced.
Here’s what’s new for health services, hair salons & barber shops:
- Non-regulated health services, such as podiatrists and reflexologists, can reopen with adequate physical distancing and requirements to collect information for contact tracing purposes.
- Barber shops and hair stylists can reopen at 25% capacity with adequate physical distancing and requirements to collect information for contact tracing purposes.
These changes begin 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 23 and are expected to last three weeks.
No changes have been made for restaurants, bars, esthetic services, tattoo and piercing salons, fitness studios or gyms.
The province will continue to monitor COVID-19 developments and make changes to these restrictions as necessary. We will provide you with updates if things change.
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