The thing about circuit breakers is that they are either on or off.
The circuit breaker COVID-19 restrictions christened as such and imposed by the government over the past six weeks, however, look to be a bit different. Premier John Horgan declared this week the circuit breaker will be over at the end of the day Monday.
But the switch will be flipped in a 鈥渟low and methodical approach.鈥�
Moments later, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said it鈥檚 more of a dimmer switch.
鈥淣othing is going to be back to 100 per cent on Tuesday. 鈥� It鈥檚 not going to be everything at once.鈥�
So the most recently imposed restrictions are going to ease a lot slower than how they were imposed, which was instantly.
There are a number of restrictions and some different ways of lifting them. The briefing on Thursday left a lot up in the air, some of which will clear up on Tuesday with the formal launch of restart 2.0.
The cautious approach contrasted with unbridled optimism on the part of the 颅premier.
It made for an odd dynamic. Horgan was enthusiastically pronouncing 鈥渢he circuit breaker will be over鈥� and predicting everyone will be happy. Then he practically begged everyone to ignore that and continue curtailing activities right to the last second.
鈥淣ot the beginning, not Saturday, Sunday, Monday, but the end of the long weekend.鈥�
Asked about the messaging strategy, he said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 human nature that when people hear there鈥檚 good news on the horizon, they assume that the horizon is now.鈥�
Maybe cooling it on the glorious horizon talk would help. There was enthusiasm and optimism after the first wave, too. It didn鈥檛 take into account two subsequent far worse ones.
Questions about the details on what鈥檚 next were mostly deflected, although the premier let several cats out of the bag while broadcasting the fact that he considers it great news. 鈥淧eople will be excited about it.鈥�
What can they expect?
鈥淭hey can expect the circuit breaker will be over, and a road map will be laid out.鈥�
Here鈥檚 his list of people who will be happy with Tuesday鈥檚 news: 鈥淵oung people 鈥� entrepreneurs 鈥� people of faith yearning to get back to their temples, churches, gurdwaras 鈥� people who want to get on the field and play a game 鈥� people who want to travel.鈥�
So, a return to indoor religious services, resumption of some sports in some form and an end to police road checks look obvious.
But the timing won鈥檛 come out until Tuesday, and the full rollout might take a while.
鈥淲e are confident that come July, we are going to be in a much better place,鈥� said Horgan.
The one major element on which no clues were handed out is the whip-sawed restaurant industry.
Indoor restaurant dining was shut down on a half-day鈥檚 notice in late March for three weeks, for the second time in a year. That shutdown was extended on April 22 until Monday.
Restaurants need more lead time than other entities about changes to the restrictions, in order to re-hire staff and buy food, but there were no hints.
The basis for easing the restrictions 鈥� however they do it 鈥� is the encouraging trends in the major COVID-19 indicators. They were rocketing up at the time the measures were imposed and continued climbing for two weeks after. But the trend lines have changed. Case counts and hospitalizations of pandemic patients are declining and just over 2.7 million people are now vaccinated.
Friday鈥檚 case report came with a reminder that 鈥渨e鈥檒l be taking a gradual approach to our restart.鈥� It鈥檚 safe to assume that if the circuit breaker measures are called off, an emergency grant program for businesses hit by them will come to an end as well.
The government carved $50 million out of a small business general fund and earmarked it specifically for the hospitality, restaurant and fitness sector.
It was used up in a matter of weeks, so $75 million more was added and hotels were made eligible to apply.
Figures provided Friday show that with 19,300 businesses eligible for circuit breaker relief grants, there have been 11,200 applications so far. Almost 5,000 have been approved, for a total of $50 million.