Don't want to co-operate with COVID-19 rules? You could face fines of $5K to $10M in York Region

Public health facing re-occuring instances of non-cooperation

Yorkregion.com
March 4, 2021
Kim Zarzour

York Region’s medical officer of health warned last week that he planned to come down heavy on COVID-19 rule-breakers, and on March 3 he did.

Dr. Karim Kurji has issued two new edicts to crack down on what he referred to as “bad apples” -- people who pose a risk of spreading the coronavirus, especially in light of growing numbers of variants of concern.

As of March, York Region had 683 confirmed variant cases, 108 of which were B.1.1.7 (UK variants).

The first action, announced Wednesday evening, is a Section 22 class order aimed at anyone in York Region diagnosed or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 or a close contact of such an individual.

The order requires residents to isolate without delay and to co-operate fully with public health, including participating in phone calls to confirm isolation, monitoring health and providing information regarding contacts who may have been exposed.

Anyone who fails to follow this order could face fines of $5,000 for an individual and $25,000 for a corporation for every day on which the offence occurs.

A Letter of Instruction for Workplaces requires employers to co-operate with public health, following measures specified to decrease COVID-19 risk in the workplace or manage workplace outbreaks.

Corporations that do not comply may be liable for a fine from $100,000 up to more than $10,000,000 for each day the offence occurs.

As of March 3, there were 13 open workplace outbreaks in York Region and two child care outbreaks.

In both cases, Dr. Kurji emphasizes the need to co-operate with public health staff who are experiencing re-occurring instances of people withholding information as part of their investigations, said Patrick Casey, director of corporate communications.

“York Region recognizes the incredible work businesses have done to ensure the safety of employees and patrons,” Casey said. “We must remain vigilant in our efforts to keep everyone safe, especially as York Region businesses resume opening within the Red-Control Zone.”

Kurji told regional council Feb. 25 that public health has had problems with some residents not abiding by health safety rules.

He referred to a a household with seven variant cases that had a birth in the family.

“They 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.

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