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EDITORIAL: Let's do our part to ensure B.C.'s reopening lasts

This week marks the first time since mid-March that many local businesses were allowed to reopen so long as they can abide by new rules meant to keep us safe from COVID-19.
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This week marks the first time since mid-March that many local businesses were allowed to reopen so long as they can abide by new rules meant to keep us safe from COVID-19.

Some of the rules are going to feel a bit alien – registering your phone number when you dine out, and seeing empty chairs at empty tables, for instance. But we can accept different if it means keeping our favourite local businesses and restaurants in our neighbourhoods afloat.

We encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with the rules and safely step into Phase 2.

We don’t yet fully know the damage that’s been done to our economy as we have made efforts to stop the virus and save lives. But we do know there are some local restaurateurs and retailers who are desperate to see you – even if it is through a Plexiglas window or peering over a mask.

Now, more than ever, is the time to shop local. Online retailers may be able to ship you a year’s worth of toilet paper to your door but they are indifferent to local economies. Local businesses mean local salaries and those can’t be sacrificed for convenience’s sake.

Unfortunately, there will be those who flout the rules, just as we saw during Phase 1 of the closures over the last two months. But as Dr. Bonnie Henry has pointed out numerous times since March, the vast majority of people have been compliant with her directives.

It’s the actions of the vast majority that are going to determine how quickly and successfully we make it into a new normal.

Until then, as always: Be kind, be calm and be safe.

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