Preliminary List of Businesses That Can Reopen When Phase One Gets Green Light
Written by Paul Graif on 8 May 2020
During the Kahnawake 911 live update on Facebook on Friday, KSCS Executive Director Derek Montour admitted that they jumped the gun in announcing that the Turtle Bay Elders Lodge would be allowing visitors.
“We realized we were premature,” Montour said. “We are in communication with Dr Gauthier and the Task Force. We are looking at putting additional measures in place, such as taking appointments and limiting visits to a certain number of family members. And limit to a certain number of residents that can receive visitors at one time. We also will put in place a triage of all visitors to make sure that they are healthy.”
The Kahnawake Economic Revitalization Committee (KERC) met with the Task Force on Friday.
The goal after receiving the report is finding a balance, according to Kateri Memorial Hospital Center Executive Director Lisa Westaway. “We must find a balance between health and safety and our economic livelihood,” she said.
The KERC have identified over 400 businesses across nearly 40 different industries. “We are evaluating the levels of risk posed by the phase in reopening each industry,” Westaway said.
“We are looking at the best and fairest way of getting as many businesses as possible to the starting line on day one when we are ready to go,” Commissioner of Public Safety Lloyd Phillips said.
“We want to make sure that we are as clear and as transparent as we can be,”
While the Task Force does not have an exact date when they will give the green light to a phase one reopening of the community’s businesses, they did provide a list of which industries would have to wait until the first phase is complete.
Bars, beauty or hair salons, gyms, restaurant dinning rooms, gaming houses and social clubs will not be part of the first phase of reopening. Phillips explained that it was determined that those businesses are being limited due to the fact that they are determined to be high volume establishments or businesses in which gatherings or interactions can not be avoided. They are deemed not to have the ability to respect social distancing.
