Some Hamilton businesses are pre-emptively closing their doors amid a surge in COVID-19 cases

Ram McAllister, the owner of Fairweather Brewing, the taproom and bottle shop in Hamilton's Ainslie Wood neighbourhood, said it feels like deja-vu.

He's referring to a pattern he noticed over the last two years: The province assures business owners there will be no restrictions for restaurants, even with surging COVID-19 case counts, and a few days later, they switch gears.

The past couple of days have gone faster than the others," he said. It feels really bad - a lot more like the first time (in March 2020)."

On Friday, the province announced restaurants and bars will have a 50 per cent capacity limit and will have to close at 11 p.m., among other measures, to curb the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

But Fairweather Brewing switched gears and closed their taproom a few days before those measures came into effect in an effort to protect their staff and patrons during the busiest week of the year for the business.

There's been a lot of close calls with various people," he said. A handful of people went into isolation."

And with patrons coming in and out of their taproom, they don't want to risk them catching COVID-19 and sending them into quarantine ahead of the holidays.

Fortunately for Fairweather, the taproom isn't their only source of revenue. They opened a retail window during the pandemic and have the capacity to ship out their products.

However, McAllister didn't think these measures would stay in place as long as they did.

I had this unspoken benchmark in my mind of what returning to normal would look like," he said. And we just did that."

On Dec. 3, they hosted a Christmas market with vendors, food and drinks, and it was amazing," he said. It felt like the furthest thing from March 2020 that we had so far."

The Christmas market was a mere two weeks ago, and now Fairweather is in a completely different spot.

It's amazing how quickly things can change," he said, but he remains hopeful that these measures won't stay in place for long and Omicron won't be as devastating as previous waves.

MERIT Brewing on James Street North pre-emptively closed their taproom, too, said owner Tej Sandhu.

It's kind of been the way we've been making decisions from the beginning," he said. We've been able to see the writing on the wall."

The brewery remains open for deliveries, takeout and production, but they decided to push ahead of the province's restrictions and closed indoor dining completely.

That decision may have been for the best.

One of their staff members tested positive for COVID-19 recently, sending the rest of them to get tests of their own over the weekend. Sandhu said that nobody else has tested positive so far, but cases are climbing in the city.

We've taken so many punches over the past year and a half, and a couple more certainly sucks, but it isn't more important than being safe," he said when discussing why they decided to close part of their business.

With more COVID-19 cases in the community and the industry as a whole, the surge in cases is closer than ever, he said, and that one positive case within MERIT could have spread to multiple people in the city.

There's no point of putting anyone at risk to stay open for a couple more days," he said.

Besides rises in COVID-19 cases, the province saw another wave of people welcoming furry friends into their homes over the past two years.

Shannon McCarrell works at Blue Cross Animal Hospital on King Street West. She said they've been busier than ever accommodating appointments for pandemic pups and kittens, but their mode of care is changing with the rise of Omicron.

After a great deal of consideration, we have decided to return to curbside service" effective last Friday, reads an email sent to clients. We wish to be proactive in maintaining the health and safety of our staff and clientele."

Between pet parents, their animals and a doctor in an examination room, there isn't enough space for adequate social distancing, McCarrell said. And if there is a COVID-19 outbreak, they won't be able to provide care for the pets who need it.

We're just trying to think of the bigger picture," she said.

When people arrive at the clinic now, they'll be asked to wait in their cars until an assistant comes out to pick up their pet, and a veterinarian will perform a regular examination and administer any medications necessary.

While these measures are being implemented to protect folks from the spread of Omicron, some owners aren't too happy about not being able to accompany their pets during their appointments.

We're just trying to keep our staff safe so nobody gets sick," McCarrell said.

Alessia Passafiume is a reporter at The Spectator. apassafiume@thespec.com