CORNWALL – The Eastern Ontario Health Unit has ordered that all personal service work, such as hairdressers and barbers, stop their operations immediately (March 22) to stem the spread of novel coronavirus.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis issued the order Sunday afternoon under the Health Protection and Promotion Act to not only control the spread of the disease but to also “clarify some public confusion.”
Roumeliotis adds that the personal service is “impossible to offer” while maintaining a two meter (six feet) buffer between people.
Some of Roumeliotis’ orders cover business sectors already covered by the Ontario government’s state of emergency.
Here is the list of affected businesses:
- All daycare and other childcare centers and services (exemption for centers providing care for front line essential workers)
- All public gyms, fitness and sport centers and services (gyms previous ordered closed)
- All churches, mosques, synagogues and places of worship (this was a recommendation by the EOHU, now it’s an order)
- Personal service settings: hairdressing and barbering, tattooing, body piercing, nail services, electrolysis and other aesthetic services.
Failing to comply with the order can lead to a fine of $5,000 for an individual and $25,000 for a business.
Roumeliotis says he understands the closures are difficult and he has “not taken the decision lightly.”
The region has three confirmed cases of COVID-19 to date – all of them in Prescott-Russell.