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Alberta restaurants, pubs and cafes allowed to reopen Monday

Last Updated Feb 3, 2021 at 7:35 am MDT

Two empty wine glasses sitting in a restaurant on a warm sunny afternoon.

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — A lot of Alberta restaurant and pub owners are cautiously optimistic about the possibility of offering in-person dining on Feb. 8.

The President of the Alberta Hospitality Association explains the reaction, for the most part, is positive since most of the industry is in debt.

“Even with the landlord subsidy, or the wage subsidy, we still have full utilities to pay as well as insurance and then the remainder of rent off the rent subsidies,” said Ernie Tsu, adding that their industry is looking forward to hearing from the provincial government about additional subsidy grants.

RELATED: Kenney releases Alberta’s plan for relaxed restrictions, new phase in February

Tsu says their industry is hoping the reopening is a good starting point, however, he’s concerned about the restrictions that are being put in place to start off.

“It does put restaurants into a situation where being profitable is going to be very tough. The largest worry is obviously the curfew, so you’ve got everybody calling last call at the same time, you have guests across the city leaving at 11 p.m.,” said Tsu.

He adds people in the hospitality industry would never want the COVID-19 case count to go back up, but he points out it could happen as Calgarians leave restaurants and pubs at the same time.

The number of hospitalizations in Alberta must stay below 600 in order for the re-opening to go ahead.

Tsu explains they are watching these numbers closely, especially before they order any inventory.

As part of the restrictions, one person from each dining party will be asked to give their information for contact tracing purposes.