Hosts of private social gatherings in York Region will now need to keep a list of their guests for contact tracing as part of two new public health measures put in place ahead of the long weekend.
In a news release issued Friday afternoon, officials said the region’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Karim Kurji made two changes to COVID-19 measures to help curb the spread of COVID-19 amid a fourth wave of the pandemic.
The most notable is the addition of a new measure requiring anyone hosting a social gathering in a private residence or a commercial facility to keep a list of names and contact information for all attendees. The hosts must also be able to provide the list to public health officials within 24 hours of a request.
Anyone who fails to do so can face fines of up to $5,000 for every day the offence occurs.
The new measures come after public health officials struggled to obtain contact information for attendees of a basketball tournament held in Markham last week.
As of Aug. 27, seven COVID-19 cases had been linked to the tournament, resulting in a declaration of an outbreak.
A public notice was released by York Region Public Health due to a “delay in obtaining contact lists from the event organizer.”
Dr. Kurji also amended a self-isolation rule requiring all close contacts to individuals testing positive for COVID-19 to isolate for 10 days.
Anyone exhibiting signs and symptoms of COVID-19 must also isolate for 10 days unless they receive a negative test result.
The new and amended section 22 orders come into effect at midnight.
