COVID measures continue to lift: Re-Opening Roadmap’s second phase starts Sunday

The day before summer officially begins, Saskatchewan is hitting another major milestone.

The second phase of the Re-Opening Roadmap kicks off Sunday.

It loosens quite a few COVID restrictions:

• A maximum of 15 people at private indoor gatherings, including household gatherings;
• A maximum of 150 people at private outdoor gatherings;
• Retail and personal care services will have no capacity thresholds, but they must maintain an occupancy that allows for physical distancing;
• Restaurants and bars — no table capacity thresholds, but they must maintain two metres of physical distancing or structural barriers between tables;
• Event facilities, casinos, bingo halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and recreational facilities – can have 150 people maximum. Physical distancing must be maintained and will determine the occupancy of the building. Those venues that serve food must follow restaurant guidelines;
• Youth and adult sports will have all restrictions lifted.

Businesses are excited about many of those steps.

Thomas Siarkos, the owner of Memories Dining and Bar, is relieved to not have to worry about seating the right number of people at a given table.

“It is an extremely beautiful, great feeling. I can tell you from our staff, to the owners, and even to our customers, everybody says, ‘It’s about time.’ We couldn’t be any more thankful or more happy,” he said in an interview with 980 CJME.

Thomas Siarkos is the owner of Memories Dining and Bar. (Dom Lucyk/980 CJME)

His restaurant has been in Regina for 32 years, and he’s never dealt with something remotely close to the pandemic. It’s been very stressful for him and his staff.

“It’s not easy to be an owner …. Definitely in a lot of businesses … But you know what? That experience and that longevity have taught us quite a few great things. Also, out of this misery, out of this pandemic, a lot of good things came about, and we are going to implement them,” he continued.

He mentioned things like providing hand sanitizer for customers for general safety as big takeaways from the pandemic.

Now that he’ll be able to use more of his restaurant’s space, he’s hopeful more people will get back in the habit of going out for dinner.

“It comes at a very good time of the year. There are a lot of graduations right now, there are a lot of anniversaries, a lot of small weddings that we have already started booking for. It’s a great feeling, because it will also allow us to bring our full staff back,” Siarkos explained.

The Lancaster’s downtown location is just a few blocks away from Memories.

Tracy Herauf is the general manager, and she’s also hopeful the next step of the Re-Opening Roadmap will help business.

“We’re looking forward to the new restriction lift. To get bigger tables in here will be nice, good for business,” she said.

However, she doesn’t believe it will be like flicking a light switch back to normal.

“It may take a little while still … To get the place full. It’s been slow-going, still. Part of that is downtown being a little more quite these days. Part of it, I think, is some are still not too comfortable getting out there yet,” she continued.

Still, she’s staying positive and thinks heading to a restaurant with friends and family isn’t something people will give up forever.

“The thing that we’ve been lacking for so long with the pandemic is that social interaction factor. It does wonders for your mental health when you can just sit down and have a conversation with someone. Talk about your day, let them talk about their day, tell stories, connect on a human level. I think that we were all missing that a lot.”

While restaurants have been open with restrictions, it was a different story for casinos.

Casino Regina and Casino Moose Jaw haven’t opened their doors for six months.

Shanna Schulhauser, the director of communications with the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation, said it’s a major relief to be able to let people in once again.

“We’re excited … We’re really looking forward to this one. Our staff are excited to get back and so are our guest. We can’t wait to have our gaming floors buzzing once again come Sunday,” she said.

While they will be able to open, there are still some restrictions to follow.

Only 150 customers will be allowed in Casino Regina, with 100 in Casino Moose Jaw. Also, there will be no hands-on table games like blackjack and poker.

Still, Schulhauser expects to easily hit the capacity limits. She believes people are just itching to get out and do something.

“Part of it is, this is a step towards the new normal for everyone. This is a place for entertainment.”

The SIGA casinos, including Dakota Dunes south of Saskatoon and Gold Eagle Casino in North Battleford, are also opening Sunday.