As of Friday, we’ll be allowed to get a haircut, dine in a restaurant and go to the gym, but the province’s top doctor is asking Nova Scotians to have “appropriate expectations” for Friday’s reopening.
“Your experience will be quite a bit different,” cautioned Dr. Robert Strang at a Wednesday afternoon news conference.
Restaurants will have fewer tables spaced at least 6 feet apart, increased cleaning measures, marked directions of travel for customers and limitations on entertainment.
Strang also stressed the rules around gathering limits and family bubbles haven’t changed.
“We’re not yet ready to have people from multiple different households come together and sit at a single table in a restaurant, so if you’re making plans to go out, you have to make sure that it’s done with people — if you’re sitting at the same table — within your household or within your household bubble,” he explained.
If you want to grab a coffee or lunch with someone who isn’t in your bubble, you’ll be able to do that, but only if you sit at different tables and stay 6 feet apart.
We’ve all become accustomed to standing in line physically distanced from others while waiting to be allowed to go into a grocery store, pharmacy or NSLC.
Strang said those lineups will likely also be there for the reopened businesses and longer waits to run errands are the new norm.
“You may need a bit more patience as you’re moving around, for instance, a store environment, but all this is in place to keep you safe and to keep your fellow Nova Scotians safe,” he said.
