Toronto's top doctor has ordered the closure of three restaurants along a stretch of King Street West in the city's downtown core.
Dr. Eileen de Villa issued the order late Friday after contact-tracing data showed people with COVID-19 were employed at more than one of these restaurants.
"Our investigation found that many people are connected to more than one of the four businesses. Our investigation also found evidence that in some instances, people infected with COVID-19 were employed at more than one of the four locations."
In addition, Toronto Public Health says one of the restaurants has served food buffet style, which is prohibited under provincial regulations because of the pandemic.
The department identified the three closed restaurants as MARBL at 455 King St. W., Casa Mezcal at 291 King St. W. and King Taps at 100 King St. W., which are all within 10 city blocks of each other.
Heather Seaman
The health unit says it's in the process of ordering the closure of a fourth establishment, but didn't provide details.
Dr. de Villa noted, "The operators of these businesses were frequently uncooperative with our investigators, to the extent that our investigation efforts were significantly impeded. In some instances, we identified situations where staff were working while ill. We also became aware of concerns that staff were being pressured to work, while ill."
On Friday, Mayor John Tory remarked that the action taken by public health is targeted.
"These are people who have demonstrated some degree of non-cooperation, with the public health authorities. The action undertaken by the province is more significant and obviously applies to everybody and what you hope is that like many of the other things that have been done by governments, regrettably - none of us take any pleasure or any joy and we understand the sacrifice this entails, that it can be done for as short a period of time as possible."
The closures come after the Ford government announced bars and restaurants across Ontario must now shut down by midnight and stop serving alcohol by 11 p.m. in response to a rise in COVID-19 cases.
Two of the establishments have either released a statement or posted notices on social media.
King Taps:
"We are temporarily closed. The well-being of our guests and staff is our highest possible priority and we are cooperating fully with Toronto Public Health. To that end, a deep clean of the restaurant is being conducted and a review of onsite practices and protocols is underway." They go on to say in a statement, in part, "We will work with Toronto Public Health to determine our reopening date. Guests who visited on September 8, 9, 10 and 11 may wish to contact Toronto Public Health."
Marbl posted a notice on Instagram:
"Due to unforeseen circumstances, Marbl will not be open this evening for service and will remain closed for the remainder of the weekend. For those who were planning to join us, we apologize for the inconvenience and we look forward to serving you soon. We will update you on our reopening shortly."
Dr. Eileen de Villa has indicated that as these businesses learn to comply with COVID-19 restrictions, there's a chance that they will be allowed to reopen.
With files from The Canadian Press
Heather Seaman
Heather Seaman