Everything old is new again.
The Province of Ontario announced today that they will be re-implementing more restrictions on the hospitality industry due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Ontario had previously reintroduced capacity limits at restaurants, bars and retailers on December 19, 2021, capping most at 50 per cent. It also mandated they close at 11 p.m., imposed limits on the sale of alcohol and limited private indoor gatherings to 10 people.
Starting as 12:01 a.m. on January 5, 2022, the Province of Ontario will head back into a modified version of Step 2 of their re-opening plan. This means that indoor dining is no longer permitted at restaurants.
Here are other restrictions implemented within Step 2:
- Restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments, including those with dance floors (such as nightclubs) and strip clubs must operate under the following conditions:
- indoor service closed
- take out, drive through and delivery allowed
- outdoor areas open with restrictions including, but not limited to:
- no more than 10 people per table
- patrons must remain seated
- no dancing or singing
- active screening
- limited hours for the sale, service and consumption of liquor
- restricting the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m. and the consumption of alcohol on-premise in businesses or settings after 11 p.m. with delivery and takeout, grocery/convenience stores and other liquor stores exempted.
Other restrictions include:
- Capacity of 5 people indoors, 10 outdoors for social gatherings.
- Limiting capacity at organized public events to five people indoors.
- Closing indoor dining at food and drink establishments.
- Closing theatres, cinemas and museums.
- Closing indoor sports and recreational facilities including gyms.
It is believed that these new restrictions will last for a minimum of two weeks as the surge of Omicron cases is assumed to subside by the end of January.
