Photo Courtesy Derek Brade 

By Darren Rathwell

Hat businesses take another hit from new COVID-19 measures

Dec 22, 2021 | 5:20 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – As another holiday approaches and more COVID-19 measures are coming in, Albertans are being asked to reduce their contacts as a tide of Omicron cases hits the province.

But in Medicine Hat, there’s also another hit being taken by our hospitality industry, with some local operators saying newly announced changes will likely mean another reduction to their profits.

For example, Jiggers Pub is still managing to ride the waves of the pandemic, but the pub’s owner was anticipating more bumps to come his way.

“I’ve been watching the news closely and as I’ve seen other provinces (and) their numbers spike, I kind of expected something,” Barry Koch said.

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Koch was right about more measures being implemented, with the announcement coming from Alberta’s health minister Tuesday.

“We will.. be requiring all businesses participating in the Restrictions Exemption Program to cease alcohol service at 11 p.m. and close by 12:30 a.m.,” Jason Copping stated while announcing a raft of new restrictions.

But Koch says it’s not the reduction of hours that hurts the most. It’s the renewed fear of being inside public places.

“In the month of December here, since the new variant’s been kicking in, we’ve kind of noticed the fear factor kicking in. And we’re starting to see our sales decline because of that.”

And every time new measures come in, there’s been another drop in business at operations like Jiggers and The Mezz Bar & Eatery.

“It’s been extremely difficult,” Mezz managing partner Don Dempster said, “You know, we opened in May 2020, if you will, at the height of the pandemic.’

In addition to facing a number of closures and measures since opening, the Mezz also closed shortly before the holidays last year.

The national agency for restaurants is calling for more government support.

“Eighty per cent of our members are either losing money or just barely breaking even so we’re nowhere near out of the woods when it comes to surviving this pandemic,” Mark von Schellwitz with Restaurants Canada said.

But if there is a bright side to this stage of the provincial changes, it’s that they aren’t more strict.

“Even if we have to have measures in place to protect the public health, at least we’re open,” Dempster said.

But he also says a more serious change, like another closure, will take a toll.

“If we endure further closures and serious restrictions then it becomes everything you can do to survive.”

And even though the latest changes aren’t as severe as they could be, they still leave their mark at Jiggers, which has shut down access to a billiard league.

“My biggest concern over these shutdowns has been for the staff and to make sure they’re looked after,” Koch said.