Breaking COVID-19 rules in York Region? You could face tougher fines

A few bad apples lead public health to invoke $5,000 to $25,000 fines

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 26, 2021
Kim Zarzour

The Region of York plans to clamp down harder on local residents who refuse to follow COVID-19 safety protocols.

Those who break the rules will face steep fines once a Section 22 order is finalized by the region’s medical officer of health.

Dr. Karim Kurji said the region’s enforcement team has been working, with some success, to ensure businesses are complying. All seven major malls in York Region, most supermarkets and big box stores are operating at reduced capacity similar to pre-Christmas levels of 25 to 30 per cent.

But problems remain among some residents who are not toeing the line.

“Most recently, we had a household with seven variant cases,” Kurji said. “They had a birth in the family and did not tell us that the midwives were close contacts and did not tell the midwives they were infectious. And so four midwives were infected.”

Similar problems occurred when a child care operator did not disseminate public health information to parents, leading families to contravene rules about sending their children, he said.

Because of these and many other examples where residents are not co-operating with public health, the region is following Durham Region's example, compelling people to be compliant or be charged, with maximum fines of $5,000 a day for an individual or $25,000 a day for a corporation.

Most people are co-operating, Kurji said, “but like any other place, there may be a few bad apples.”

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti applauded the move, calling on public health to stop social gatherings.

“The more time goes on, the more likelihood those types of events will happen … and it’s not just about the 80-plus people,” he said. “Just the other day, we lost someone in their 50s …. No one really wants to get this [virus], not only because of what you have to put up with when you get it, but there is a very significant percentage of people that have long-term effects.”