Some of the personal protective equipment that businesses need to re-open in Quesnel are being made in the community itself.
Kathy Somerville, Manager of the Quesnel and District Chamber of Commerce, says it was a struggle in the beginning for businesses to find some of these things, but that has started to change…
“Sign Stop, All West Glass, Crystal Glass and D’arcy’s Glass all provided the plexiglass barrier for your counters and desks etc. The only person we’ve found that was able to get in sanitizers so far was Hello Promotions, and the seamstresses in town have been going great guns in making masks and equipment for businesses.”
Somerville says there are still some challenges however, and she says there is also some help on-line with what’s called the rapid response platform…
“That’s through www.rrpcanada.org, and what this does is you can put down what you are in need of, so you can put down gloves and it will connect you right across Canada to who has them and how you can get them, or maybe you have something that you want to sell and somebody else would have a response, so it’s just a real connect line for businesses to be able to get onto and be able to find what their needs are for the PPE.”
Somerville says some businesses obviously need more personal protective equipment than others…
“I know the massage therapists, we’re really struggling on finding what they needed to do, you know a clear message on what it would look like for them to open, and of course the hair salons had to be very, huge protective gear, because it’s much closer contact.”
Somerville says the Chamber is lobbying governments to try and find some funding to help small businesses pay for the cost of making their places safe.