HUMBOLDT — Humboldt business owners are asking for patience as their staff enforce rules designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Brent Fitzpatrick, the Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce’s executive director, said by and large, most folks get it.
“They know about social distancing. They know we're doing this to kind of keep that spread of COVID down. We don't want there to be a spike in our area. They get it.”
Yet Fitzpatrick said businesses are reporting to the chamber over email that some customers are showing a disregard for adherence to the rules and a lack of respect for those enforcing them.
“I hate it when I hear that staff members in Humboldt are catching heat because of something they have absolutely no ability to change.”
Depending on the business, changes may include masks for the staff, customer limits at tables, table placement, take out only, pauses to clean between customers, physical distancing and directions on the floor.
The changes businesses have made are based on guidelines laid out in the province’s Reopen Saskatchewan plan.
If a customer has a problem with how a business is implementing health orders, they are encouraged to talk to a manager.
“The managers are well versed in this,” Fitzpatrick said. “They have to be.”
The chamber said in a release everybody’s in it together to flatten the curve and help to maintain a low infection rate in Saskatchewan, so getting frustrated with the staff doesn’t help.
“I really think that calmness and respect has to be at the front of everybody’s mind here,” Fitzpatrick said. “It's important.”
