After cutting their opening hours mid-March due to the pandemic, about 360 LCBO stores will be reverting back to standard shopping times, effective May 14.

@CP24 @fordnation @LCBO Has announced they are extending their hours?? After the emergency order was extended until May 19. ???????? 😡😡😡

— laughalot48 (@LisaDaisylove93) May 6, 2020

While remaining open as an essential business during our current state of emergency (which has just been extended until at least May 19), all of the Ontario alcohol retailer's locations have been operating on restricted hours of 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays, with stores closed to the public on Mondays.

The Crown corporation also, of course, ramped up cleaning and sanitation procedures, limited the number of customers allowed in-store at one time, equipped staff with personal protective equipment and installed plexiglass partitions at cash registers.

We need the tax income from lcbo sales more than ever. If this is the choice people make, it benefits us all.

— xtineburns (@xtineburns1) May 6, 2020

Officials seem confident that Ontario is faring quite well amid the health crisis, with 70 per cent of cases now recovered and per cent positivity is falling, and so the LCBO will be adjusting its hours next week to 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesdays to Saturdays, and 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Sundays.

Stores will remain closed on Mondays.

NEW: @LCBO to extend #COVID19 hours starting May 14. Some 360 outlets, which had been in reduced hours during the pandemic, will be open 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.#onpoli

— Robert Benzie (@robertbenzie) May 6, 2020

The news — to which public reaction has been extremely divided — comes one day after the province decided to lower the legal per-serving cost of alcohol to encourage more residents to buy their booze from local bars and restaurants for pickup and delivery.

All LCBOs will continue to manage foot traffic flow and maintain exterior lineups to ensure proper social distancing — but hopefully stores will be less crowded, with residents now having more time to shop.

Actually, reduced hours = increased transmission. Sales are up, hours are down, result, greater crowding, less social distancing. We could probably do w/less consumption. But there's no evidence here of hours of operation impacting that.

— TrueNorthernLight (@TrueNorthernLi1) May 6, 2020

There has, quite notably, not yet been an announcement about potentially expanding opening hours for other (more) essential businesses in the province, like grocery stores.