Nightclubs outside Metro Vancouver cry foul over being forced to close due to COVID

Nightclub and stand-alone banquet hall operators in B.C.'sInterior are disappointed and frustrated with the latest public health order to close down all suchbusinesses after 429 new cases of COVID-19 were reported across the province over the long weekend.

Since the B.C. Centre for Disease Control began collecting data in March, Interior Health has recorded about sevenper cent of total number of COVID-19 cases in the province so far in the pandemic. By comparison,Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health accounted for86 per cent of8,630 total cases as of Thursday.

David Johnson restarted his Blue Grotto nightclub in downtown Kamloops for only two days before he had to shut its doors again this week. That's after spendingmore than $5,000 on plexiglass barriers and personal protective equipment to make the 20-year-oldclub safe for customers.

Johnson sayshe's already had to pay rent for the venue for six months without bringing inany revenue and shouldn't suffer further because of outbreaks mainly in the Lower Mainland.

"This is a small market," said Johnson to CBC reporter Doug Herbert about the nightclub industry in the Interior. He hopes the provincial health authorities will consider this and change theirorder.

Prince George banquet hall owner Bharpur Nijjersaysthe order to closeher 15-year-old family business is creating more than financial loss.

Nightclubs ordered closed in British Columbia after spike in COVID-19

4 years ago

Duration 3:18

"It became apparent that some venues were really high-risk environments,'' says Dr. Bonnie Henry.

"I'm sick to my stomach," said the 60-year-old operator of northern Prince George's Hart Crown Banquet Hall to Sarah Penton, host of CBC's Radio West."My brain is not in balance because I can't pay attention."

The banquet hall was back to operation in June following the province's guidelines. Nijjer said the venue was booked every weekend during the summer for wedding parties, but her overall revenue was reduced amid the pandemic because many customers cancelled their reservations and asked for refunds.

Nijjer doesn't know what the future looks like for her business. "Nobody can pay my bills," she said. "I still can survive ... a few more months. Then we don't have anything to survive."

Kamloopsnon-profit banquet hall Colombo Lodge also sees its income plummeting due to cancellations of wedding parties and corporate events, but its president Ross Spinaremains optimistic. He said the lodgewill stayconnected to the local community by running amonthly take-home dinner program which gives profits to charity.

"And I have to brag, it does have one of the best dance floors in town," said Spinaon CBC's Daybreak Kamloops to remind people that there will be lifeafter the ban on banquet halls is lifted.