Islanders visit familiar places as Phase 3 begins on P.E.I.

More public health restrictions were lifted Monday as the province moved into Phase 3 of the government's plan to ease measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

This provided Islanders with an opportunity to take another step back toward life before COVID-19 caused shutdowns across the province.

The sounds of laughter and screams of joy filled the air at the playgrounds in Charlottetown's Victoria Park.

"It feels good. Don't have to be cooped up in the house anymore," said Julien Cormier, who brought his children and their cousins to the park for the first time in a long time.

"Usually in the summer, we're here almost every day. We don't live too far but it's been a while. We woke up. We did our homework this morning and away to the park. Because we can."

In Charlottetown, all city-owned playgrounds were reopened with some precautions. School playgrounds are open as well.

Restaurants were allowed to open their doors for dine-in customers, with a capacity limit of 50 people. There is currently no limits on patios.

"It's quite a relief. Finally get to open and be able to get the staff back to work and be able to get the summer going," said Liam Dolan, owner of Peakes Quay in Charlottetown.

He expects to do roughly 30 per cent of the business compared to other years, but decided to open up anyway.

"Yes, I will lose money ... I'm not sure which one I am going to lose the most on, whether opening or closing, but I'm willing to try it because it is part of the downtown waterfront and I wouldn't want to see it closed."

'Very emotional'

Families and friends were able to see loved ones at continuing care facilities. Special outdoor spaces were created so that people could finally see and speak face-to-face with residents, while following physical distancing protocols.

After filling out an online-booking to get a visitor slot at the Mount Continuing Care Community in Charlottetown, as well as an on-site screening, Janet Doiron was finally able to see her 89-year-old mother.

"Mom was wheeled out to us, to me, so it was great," Doiron said. "We sang a little song and we had a great little visit so it was wonderful. Very emotional though. Very, very, very emotional."

For staff, it was an opportunity for the residents to get that familiar support.

"A lot of the residents are looking forward to this visit, they're excited. They know exactly what time their visitor is coming, you know, they know when their time slot is and they are excited about that," said Lindsay Dickieson, administrator at the Mount.

"I think part of that excitement is it's just the next step in lifting some of the restrictions that are in place in long-term care, and of course we're balancing that out with the safety of the residents."

'Everybody feels good'

Other people were taking the opportunity to get some self-care, with businesses like tattoo parlours and nail salons being able to reopen once again.

"I'm getting my nails done for the first time since probably February. It feels fantastic," said Pat Steele from Stratford while at Princess Nails in Charlottetown.

"It's going to take a while for everybody to get back to normal, I think, wherever normal will be."

Salon owner Thanh Nguyen said it was the first day open in two and a half months.

"It feels great. Mentality is good. Everybody feels good," Nguyen said. New safety protocols like booking time slots and cleaning measures are in place, he said.

"Our customer safety is number one priority so we want to protect everybody and everybody has to wear a mask."

For those looking to finally get back into shape, fitness centres and gyms were able to reopen in Phase 3.

"It's amazing," said Mike Ives, co-owner of Crossfit 782. He said they have fewer people in the building at a time but have increased the number of classes — with downtime in between for cleaning.

"We are very fortunate here to have had great leadership from Dr. Morrison and Premier King to have everything in such a state that businesses can reopen."

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