A recent photo of a line-up at the Winners store in Chatham has caught the attention of Chatham-Kent’s Medical Officer of Health.
Dr. David Colby says it’s simply unacceptable.
“I’m very disappointed to see that because, by and large, people have been very compliant in Chatham-Kent. They’ve done what we’ve asked, and that’s another reason why our numbers reflect that because we’ve got a large buy in from people. But it’s also understandable that everybody is getting cabin fever, they haven’t gone shop[ing in a while, but it’s not a social activity – we need to maintain social distancing,” says Colby.
When it comes to enforcement, Colby says the Public Health Unit will be speaking with the owners of the store today.
“What Winners is likely going to say is that they don’t have much control over what people do outside of their store. Once they’re inside the store, I think they have a lot more control and certainly the responsibility to make sure that physical distancing happens. But if this kind of thing repeats, then we’ll have to rethink some of our opening strategies,” Colby says.
Colby says while some stores have security guards outside the store to keep some order and social distancing, it’s not mandated by any jurisdiction.
