‘One person said we should hang ourselves:’ Nanaimo nightclub facing backlash after announcing plans to reopen

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“A lot of people are wanting to protest us. One person said we should hang ourselves. Another said we’re idiots of the year. It’s not us opening without authorization, we’re following the health guidelines,” said Sebastian Barkovic, co-owner of Koncept Nightclub, in an interview with CHEK.

Koncept Nightclub has been discussing this weekend’s reopening plan with Island Health officials and they followed up their initial announcement with a second post explaining their COVID-19 safety plan.

Meanwhile, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said during her update on the COVID-19 situation today that while nightclubs are still closed, they are allowed to repurpose themselves in order to meet guidelines that have been laid out for places such as restaurants and pubs.

“We know there are some things like dance floors that aren’t going to happen right now, as well as we know that singing in a group can be a very dangerous thing for this virus and we’ve seen that in several places around the world,” she said.