Although indoor dining will be allowed as of Friday, municipal leaders are encouraging residents to stick to the patio.
The provincial government announced details of Phase 3 of its reopening plan on Monday, which included dine-in services at restaurants and bars. The Medical Officer of Health for Chatham-Kent approved this locally, with the exception of buffets.
However, Dr. David Colby said data shows that large indoor gatherings are "the most hazardous" in terms of spreading germs.
"Even a slight breeze would provide enough dilution to strongly minimize any hazard outdoors," said Colby. "So I'm a firm believer in patios and encourage this for our municipality."
Colby also mentioned that physical distancing would still need to take place indoors, which would severely decrease the capacity of a restaurant or bar.
Chatham-Kent CAO Don Shropshire agreed with Colby's statement, adding that the patios offer a "great vibe" in a safe manner.
"Not only [are patios] a great vibe but it's also the safest way for people to enjoy dining, by doing it outdoors," said Shropshire.
Patios were first allowed to open to the public in early June as part of Phase 2. The provincial government made some amendments at the beginning of July, to help speed up the process of allowing municipalities to pass temporary bylaws allowing outdoor dining areas.
Now with the option of indoor dining, Shropshire said there are no plans to roll back the process of opening or expanding patios.
"The restauranteurs are having some fun and they're getting more business and if we can find a way to help them and encourage economic activity, post-COVID or during Stage 3, we think that's a great thing to do," he said. "I've had discussions with the mayor, our hope would be that we can maintain the patio option indefinitely. We're looking at a number of different issues that include expanding the patios on our sidewalks."
The manager of CK Public Works had previously told Blackburn News, he expects more than a dozen restaurants and bars across the region to extend their patios onto municipal sidewalks. The extension allows a business to follow proper distancing between tables and is handled by the municipality on a case by case basis so as to not negatively impact surrounding businesses.
"We want to come up with a permanent solution," said Mayor Darrin Canniff. "It's a real vibe out there and it's great when you look and see the patios along the street, so we want to work on a permanent solution to enable those."
