York Region Businesses Were Fined Over $31,600 Last Week For Breaking COVID-19 Rules

Enforcement officers checking in on York Region businesses for possible COVID-19 infractions were kept busy over the past week.

According to York Region Public Health, 36 enforcement charges were handed out from December 14 to December 20, 2020, totalling more than $31,000.

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$31,680 Total amount issued in fines last week

All but one of the charges were against businesses in York Region. A fine was issued to a private residence for having more than five people at an indoor gathering.

Each charge came out to $750 with an additional surcharge, resulting in $880 per business or residence.

The charges were issued for a variety of reasons, but some of the more common issues were improper mask usage, lack of safety plans and sanitizing protocols, premises not respecting gathering limits, or staff failing to screen patrons.

The infractions were issued under the Reopening Ontario Act and Section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act.

Last week, it was revealed that a Vaughan resident broke the region's indoor gathering rules to host a birthday party. Half of the guests who attended later contracted COVID-19. 

York has been in the grey-lockdown zone since December 14.