Want to sit back and enjoy that food court burger and fries? Prepare to show your passport to the mall police.
Beginning Tuesday, Ontario residents must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination for a wide variety of indoor activities, including the dining room.
While nonessential retail is exempt from the vaccine passport requirements, anyone eating at a mall food court must show their documents. Who enforces that depends on the owner of the mall and the food court restaurants themselves, according to a spokeswoman for Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott.
“This could be at the point of service or at specific entrances / exits to the food court seating area based on your unique operations and setup,” said Alexandra Hilkene, adding that mall and restaurant owners may want to consult with an attorney to make sure your plans follow the rules.
At Toronto’s Eaton Center and other shopping malls owned by real estate giant Cadillac Fairview, security guards are posted at the entrance to the food court seating areas, according to Cadillac Fairview spokeswoman Anna Ng.
“Our security teams will be stationed at the entrance to the food court seating areas to validate visitor vaccination passports and ensure that guests planning to use the seats are adequately protected,” Ng said in an email.
However, there is at least one double cheeseburger-sized hole in the way that malls will enforce the rule. Anyone ordering takeout will not have to show proof of vaccination. That means they could theoretically roam the mall with their food, sneaking nibbles as they go, though they’re not supposed to.
“Our security guards will enforce this mandate in the best possible way. We also have extensive signage to discourage guests from eating outside of designated areas, ”Ng said.
Knowing that malls will handle passport verification is a relief for food court kiosks and their staff, says James Rilett, executive of the Restaurants Canada trade association.
“They were very concerned when the passport system was announced that they would be in a position to have their staff verify. They would need additional staff to do that, and there was a real possibility of a confrontation, “said Rilett, Restaurant Canada vice president for central Canada.
Still, the concern hasn’t completely gone away for mall food court restaurants, Rilett said. There is still too much uncertainty about the application, he explained.
“Until we get something in writing from the government, there will still be some concern. The regulations are not entirely clear on whose job it is, ”Rilett said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Ontario Medical Director of Health Dr. Kieran Moore defended the vaccine passport system as “a balanced and proportionate response” to COVID risks, citing the situation with a spread out of control of the disease. virus in Alberta as a good reason to bring it in when cooler weather arrives.
“None of us want to close again or close again,” he said. “In a pandemic, you learn as you go.”
When asked whether the capacity of patrons in restaurants, gyms and other venues can be increased if entry is restricted primarily to those who are fully vaccinated, Moore said in his weekly press conference that the transmission statistics and patterns and Outbreaks will be closely watched for “the next two weeks” to determine if that can be done safely.
For now, the government is being “very cautious” in keeping capacity limits in place, Moore added.
With files from Rob Ferguson
Reference-www.thestar.com