What downtown Vancouver looked like on the weekend as some bars reopened

Downtown Vancouver looked a little closer to its pre-pandemic self Saturday night, as lineups of people waiting to get into popular bars bulged from doorways, and friends settled around patio tables to share late-night boxes of pizza.

Many of Vancouver’s Granville Street nightclubs remain shuttered, and the nightlife scene is nowhere near where it usually is on a weekend in June. But several bars and lounges are taking advantage of reduced restrictions to welcome people back for a drink while seated with their friend groups.

Just after midnight, a couple dozen people waited in a line snaking around the corner for a table inside the Hotel Belmont at Nelson and Granville.

The hotel’s Living Room restaurant and bar reopened in May with new rules adhering to public health guidelines, which include not allowing any groups larger than six people, and asking guests to stay at their tables as much as possible.

A Belmont spokesperson told Daily Hive they have stickers on the sidewalk to help people physically distance while waiting, and security staff help manage the line too.

Megan Devlin/Daily Hive

Down the street in the city’s Yaletown neighbourhood, a line of people also waited to get into Ombre Social House, which reopened this weekend, with a DJ starting at 9 pm.

Instagram stories from inside the lounge showed people dancing and ordering drinks at the bar, similar to a normal night.

According to the current health order from BC’s Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, food and liquor businesses are supposed to ensure customers can remain two metres apart while inside, and should put up signage helping them figure out where to stand.

“You must assess your premises for places where patrons may congregate or stand in line, and in those places, you must use physical devices, install markers or use other methods to guide and assist patrons in maintaining a distance of two metres from one another,” the health order states.

More nightlife spots are planning to reopen in Vancouver this month.

Liquor-primary businesses in BC were all ordered to close on March 17 because of the pandemic. Bars and restaurants were only allowed to welcome people back starting on the Victoria Day long weekend in May.

Megan Devlin/Daily Hive

Many nightclubs remain closed

Dave Kershaw, owner of Cabana Lounge on Granville Street, told Daily Hive his section of the strip is still “ghost town-ish.” Cabana is approaching its three-month anniversary of being shut.

Kershaw’s promotors are busy surveying regulars to see if they’d be interested to come back if 100 people were permitted in the club and there was no dance floor — only tables. He doesn’t know whether people will bite.

“A big part of why people come out to a nightclub or a lounge is to meet people,” he said. “Maybe make new friends or connect with [someone romantically].”

In the meantime, he’s cancelled his insurance and is relying on the government rent relief program help with the $28,000 he pays his landlord every month.

BC reporting low coronavirus numbers

On Monday, 36 new coronavirus cases were reported in BC, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 2,745.

A total of 2,395 cases are now considered fully recovered in the province.

While Ontario’s numbers are improving, with less than 200 cases reported for the last three days, it is still averaging 181 cases a day this week.

Monday’s cases marked the lowest number since March 28, when Ontario reported 151 cases.

The decrease in cases comes as Ontario allows most regions in the province to enter the next stage of reopening the economy — although Toronto is one of the areas not included yet.

Ontario has also officially extended its state of emergency until June 30.

Safe to say, Toronto is a little ways away from what Vancouver looked like over the weekend.