HALIFAX —
When Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil announced people could gather in groups of 10 without physical distancing, Luc Erjavec says he knew weary Nova Scotians tired of staying at home would get busy making social plans for the weekend.
“To go out to dinner with friend or someone you haven’t seen in months is really positive, and we’ve seen a little uptick in traffic with things like this,” Erjavec says.
Erjavec expects that uptick to continue but he cautions restaurants and bars will still be operating under strict rules.
“We have inspectors from multiple departments in our businesses, checking us out daily, making sure we’re doing things by the guidelines,” he said.
The owner of one security firm says at the height of coronavirus quarantine, he saw an increased need for the services his business offers.
“There are a lot of organizations that capitalized on our crowd and access control,” said Kent MacDonald.
Grocery stores and malls are still strictly monitoring and limiting the number of customers, but MacDonald says he’s now seeing a decrease in his security business in areas related to COVID-19.
“We do see it easing up in some aspects in certain areas, but I think that’s kind of inevitable,” MacDonald said.
Marcus Wells says Nova Scotians should feel pride and relief for doing their part to help flatten the COVID-19 curve.
“Letting down our guard has showed how much social distancing has paid off in Halifax,” Wells said.
Wells is weary of living with COVID-19 restrictions.
But he also says if society overplays its hand and relaxes health and hygiene protocols too much, a setback could be not far off.
“To jump back into regular life after something that hit so hard, it would be terrifying,” he said.
At one Dartmouth church, Rev. Kyle Wagner says when the province also announced up to 50 people could attend events with physical distancing he knew it was a possible game-changer.
“Fifty seemed to be the magic number for a lot of churches,” said Wagner, who says is now working on a strategy to resume Sunday services. “We figure we can get 40 to 50 people in, spaced out properly.”
