Covent Garden Market reopens

Covent Garden Market reopens after COVID-19 shutdown

FOLLOWING A TWO-WEEK shutdown due to COVID-19 concerns, the Covent Garden Market reopened its doors to customers today with revised safety protocols.

“We’re hoping that people will come in do their business and head back out,” market general manager, Bob Usher, told CTV News. “We’ve cleaned everything that we think is possible to clean. The London Middlesex Health Unit inspectors will be here to ensure that we’re doing everything that is prudent and proper.”

In order to ensure safety, the market has made a number of operational changes, including limiting access and egress to only the King Street entrance, limiting the number of in the building at any one time and installing hand sanitizer stations for patrons entering and exiting the building.

All non-essential shops in the market will be closed, as will the second floor. The market will also be operating on reduced hours — Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. None of the 45 vendors that the market houses are required to open.

According to Usher, the market is waiving rent charges for all its vendors, regardless if they’re open or closed, for the month of April in order to help with the financial burden brought on by COVID-19.

The farmer’s market that operates outside of the Covent Garden Market will remain closed. Officials hope to reopen it on May 2.