LONDON, ONT. -- Don’t dance, and don’t you dare sing a note.
Dancing and singing are now prohibited on restaurant patios as businesses wade through the many dos and don’ts of reopening.
It means entertainers like Scott Bollert, who sings in the Frank Sinatra tribute act, A Taste of Sinatra, will lose out on work.
"A lot of musicians they make their wage, they make their living by doing this type of thing. There’s that and they also have the platform of putting their music out to people and creating fans."
At Fitzray’s Restaurant and Lounge on Dundas Place at Talbot Street, operator Mark McGonigle could be found setting out patio tables for the day ahead. A big supporter of local music, he said not having live entertainment on the patio means less draw in a business that’s already struggling to claw back.
"It’s a necessary factor in this bar business and it hasn’t changed. Even these little wineries have entertainment in them. Not big names, but there’s a lot of two-piece acts that could probably work safely."
Singing is also banned in day-care settings and discouraged in places of worship.
At St. Aidan’s Anglican Church on Oxford Street West in London Canon Kevin George says while choral singing is important to worship, they can do without it for a while.
"We’re not going to be respecting the dignity of our elders, our seniors for instance, which is a large part of our population, we come out and we start singing all over the place."
Middlesex-London Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Alex Summers said when we sing out loud we’re spreading more than just music.
"We’re looking for any way that we can stop droplets of the virus going further than we would want. And so for example when somebody coughs or sneezes we know that droplets of the virus can be projected- the same thing can happen with singing."
In the meantime, Bollert said he believes it will likely be several more months before live music will be played and heard on patios again, but he’s taking it in stride.
"What can you do, that’s life."
