Customers at Niagara bars and restaurants to be asked about COVID-19 symptoms

Bars, restaurants, wineries and breweries in Niagara will soon be required to ask customers if they have any symptoms of COVID-19 before they can sit down for a meal or drink, according to the area's acting medical officer of health.

Dr. Mustafa Hirji says patrons will also be asked to confirm if the people they're sitting with are members of their household or "persons essential to maintaining physical or mental health."

The new questions come as Niagara continues to see a rise in COVID-19 cases, along with the rest of Ontario.

The province reported 1,575 new cases Thursday, the third straight record-high day. Niagara has 20 new cases Thursday, for a total of 1,764 since the start of the pandemic.

Hirji described the steps as "targeted measures" based on data for the region that shows bars and restaurants appear to be "core locations" where the virus transmission is occurring.

"We absolutely need to act now before it's too late to make sure we stop the spread of infection," he said in a video posted to YouTube Thursday.

The doctor said restaurants and bars have been diligent when it comes to safety measures around COVID-19, but the virus seems to be spreading among people sitting together.

"This is likely among coworkers, among friends, groups that are beyond the household where we are recommending people be socializing," he explained.

"We're advising in the strongest terms that everybody dine out only with their households to make sure infection doesn't spread more widely."

Hirji pointed to increasing local case numbers, including a daily record of 63 cases recorded this week, adding the region has seen 13 more residents die of the virus since the beginning of October.

A significant number of Niagara's new cases have been connected to a flower farm in Lincoln. 

The first wave of COVID-19 was controlled by a lockdown, said the doctor, acknowledging slowing the spread came at a "significant" social and economic cost.

"Just as staying home limited social interactions and slowed the spread of infections in the spring, that same dynamic is needed now to slow the spread of infections," wrote Hirji in a media release.

He's urging residents to keep in-person social interactions to people who live under the same roof, and to limit outside meet ups to one or two people who are essential for physical or mental health.

That means not hanging out with friends, extended family or colleagues outside of work.

Activities like dining out or going to a movie should be kept to people from the same household, said the doctor.

"I want to emphasize that this is not a punishment on our restaurant operators," he said in the video. "They are really victims here of individuals who have had far too wide social interactions."

Hirji also reminded residents to stay home if they have any symptoms of illness, no matter how mild, as it could be COVID-19.

If people in Niagara limit their social interactions to just their household, the region should be able to reduce its case count and allow "more openness" during the upcoming holiday seasons, said the medical officer.

"We know the past eight months have been challenging," said Hirji.

"However, our personal actions are the biggest determinant of COVID-19 spread, and our choices of how we interact socially with others will determine if we control COVID-19 and save lives, or if we will allow COVID-19 to spread further and necessitate more provincially-imposed restrictions on our social lives and economy."