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This is a time of rumours. And one of the most persistent is that the B.C. government is about to close down liquor stores.

It is not. But it is cutting back opening hours and limiting the number of customers that can be inside at one time.

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The Commercial Drive liquor store, for example, opened at 11 a.m. Thursday rather than 9:30 a.m. It was scheduled to close at 7 p.m., rather than 9 p.m.

There was also a limit of 50 people in the store under B.C.’s COVID-19 rules. With 10 staff, this meant only 40 customers could be inside the store at once.

As of Thursday, all B.C. government liquor stores will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday through Saturday. In some malls the hours may be further reduced, depending on the mall hours. The modified hours will allow for additional cleaning to take place, as well as for a COVID-19-reduced workforce to catch up with restocking.

There was a line of about 50 people waiting to get into the Commercial Drive store Thursday morning, and a staffer was stationed outside counting customers.