Many businesses to continue practising COVID-19 measures even after restrictions lifted: Chamber of Commerce

Once COVID restrictions are completely lifted, the business community doesn’t think it’s going to be a return to normal right away.

The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce recently released results of a survey it did when it comes replacing restrictions around COVID-19.

The province will hit step three of its Re-Opening Roadmap on July 11, which would see the removal of most restrictions in Saskatchewan.

“Business people are ready for the pandemic to be over. The novelty of this thing has gone on too long and people are tired. They want to get back to business as normal, but they’re not 100 per cent comfortable that we’re going to be able to do that as quickly as the province suggests,” Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve McLellan told Gormley.

According to the survey, 49 per cent of respondents believe July 11 is an appropriate date to lift all restrictions, 24 per cent think it is too early, 16 per cent think it is too late, and 12 per cent are unsure.

And just because restrictions are lifted, McLellan says that doesn’t mean all businesses will stop practising COVID prevention measures.

About 70 per cent of respondents to the survey said they plan on continuing to enforce either all or some COVID-19 protocols.

“They’ll still ask customers to wear masks perhaps, they’ll still do the hand sanitizer, they’ll still enforce it to the extent they can, things like social-distancing,” McLellan said. “It means there are a whole lot of people who are comfortable and are very much of the opinion, ‘Yes, let’s open up again.’ We’ve heard that from some businesses, but the majority has always been ‘Let’s wait until it’s time that we can make sure people are safe and not get into another wave where we have a crisis situation again.’ We’ve had three waves, we do not want to get into a fourth one.”

And he thinks customers also feel the same way.

“I predict that when the first Rider game is there, you’re going to see a sea of green and white but you’re also going to see a whole bunch of people wearing masks. I think you’re going to see people continually sanitize themselves,” McLellan said. “There is not going to be a burning of the masks on July 11. People are not 100 per cent comfortable yet.

“You’re still going to have the one or two – these are the anti-vax fools – that are out there and are going to say, ‘Well, I’ve never worn a mask and I’m sure as hell not going to wear it now,’ and they have the right legally, because the health order is lifted to do that, but I think the reality of it is I think the average Saskatchewan citizen is going to say, ‘I have a continued responsibility and a personal comfort level, I’m going to continue with some of these protocols.’”

Forty-seven per cent of businesses expect to fully recover in 2021, 25 per cent don’t expect to recover at all and 21 per cent say they don’t know.

“People are exhausted – they’ve exhausted their financial resources, they have exhausted themselves physically by working longer hours and everyday under an increased amount of stress making sure that their next customer coming in doesn’t have a challenge to get sick or bring illness into their place of business,” McLellan said.

One of the thing McLellan has been most impressed about is the commitment businesses have had to follow rules.

“They’ve followed Dr. Shahab’s advice, they’ve done great work in terms of investing into the safety protocols and they’re going to be ready when it’s safe but they’re prepared to wait until it is absolutely safe.”