More Safety Rules for Restaurants

Stricter measures for local food establishments have been issued by the Halton Medical Officer of Health as new COVID-19 cases rise along with outbreaks and more transmission of the highly-contagious Variants of Concern.

The revised instructions issued by Dr. Hamidah Meghani took effect Tuesday, March 23 and come just days after the Province announced adjustments to dining capacity limits at restaurants, bars, and other food and drink establishments for regions in the Grey/Lockdown, Red/Control, Orange/Restrict and Yellow/Protect levels of the COVID-19 Response Framework.

For Halton, which is in the Red/Control level, changes include allowing up to 50 per cent capacity of the indoor dining area, to a maximum of 50 patrons.

Dr. Meghani’s instructions state:

• Patrons seated at different tables must be separated by two metres or plexiglass or another impermeable barrier. If there’s no plexiglass or other impermeable barrier, establishments must calculate the minimum two-metre distance between dining spaces from the most outward part on all sides, i.e., the most outward part of the chair with someone seated at it, to the most outward part of another adjacent chair.  
• Every patron who enters an indoor or outdoor eating or drinking area in/at the establishment (unless the patron temporarily enters the area to place, pick up or pay for a take-out order) must be actively screened for COVID-19 in accordance with the advice, recommendations and instructions of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) before they enter. Screening results must be collected and reviewed to determine whether the patron may enter.
• The following information for contact tracing and related public health purposes must be collected and recorded from every patron upon entry to an indoor or outdoor eating or drinking area in/at the establishment, unless the patron temporarily enters the area to place, pick up or pay for a take-out order: first and last name; telephone number and municipality of residence; and if possible, email or mailing address; attendance details: date; arrival time; table number or location; and departure time (recorded on departure);
• A recent change to the regulations now places responsibility on establishments (not just patrons) to ensure: All people who are seated together in the establishment must be members of the same household, a member of one other household who lives alone or a caregiver for any member of either household.
• All records containing the information required above must be retained for a period of at least one month. These records must be stored and destroyed in a secure manner to preserve the privacy of patrons.

Read the letter.

Read the release.