Under the Province of Ontario’s Stage 3 re-opening order, bars and restaurants will be permitted to offer indoor dine-in service, as long as new measures are taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In addition to the current rules and guidelines set out by the Government of Ontario, City Council passed new by-laws this week to further ensure the safety of Toronto restaurant patrons. These include:
- Making sure customers remain seated except when entering or exiting, using the washroom, or paying
- Separating tables by at least two metres or having plexiglass or other impermeable barriers separating them
- Requiring regular cleaning and disinfecting of items like payment terminals
- Maintaining customer logs that include contact information and date and time of visit to be used for contact tracing purposes and ensuring those logs are kept for 30 days
- Establishing protocol so that staff don’t come to work sick, and are checked for illness before their shift starts
- Limiting indoor capacity in restaurants and bars to a maximum of 100 people
- Limiting the number of customers who may be seated at the same table to a maximum of 10
These steps are being taken to ensure that we can re-open bars and restaurants, but also to ensure that residents and staff can remain safe.
