HALIFAX -- A woman from British Columbia has been charged for failing to self-isolate after she visited a brewery in Cape Breton, prompting the business to close.
Inverness District RCMP received a complaint Monday evening that a woman was not complying with Nova Scotia’s Health Protection Act. Officers responded and charged the 38-year-old woman for violating the act, which carries a fine of $1,000.
Route 19 Brewing in Inverness, N.S., says it learned someone from outside the Atlantic provinces, who had failed to self-isolate for 14 days, visited the taproom around noon on Sunday.
“It’s peak season and we just finally started to get the confidence of the public to go out, enjoy the province, and do some staycations. And then something like this happens,” says Route 19 manager Stefan Gagliardi. “It’s beyond us. It impacts everybody.”
The facility has been closed since Monday and will remain closed until further notice as a precaution, putting nearly 40 employees temporarily out of work.
“It affects all of them,” says Gagliardi. “It affects their families from their safety and their livelihoods. It was a difficult decision, but they were onboard and didn’t feel safe.”
Route 19 says the facility was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized on Monday and staff are working with public health authorities to determine when the facility can reopen.
“When we decided ultimately that we wouldn’t reopen until further notice, was when we found out that charges had been laid,” says Gagliardi. “At that point we knew it was serious enough, and we were in the right.”
The brewery says public health officials have informed them that customers who visited the taproom on Sunday, or might have been in contact with the woman, are not required to self-isolate, but they should monitor for symptoms and call 811 if they experience any symptoms of COVID-19.
Inverness County councillor Jim Mustard says this is the first he’s heard of someone coming into the community and failing to self-isolate.
“We’re here because we choose to be here, and being generous and open for others to come here. But you have to understand and respect what we’re putting in place to safe guard that,” says Mustard.
Anyone who enters Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic provinces is required to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival.
Residents who wish to report a violation of the Health Protection and Emergency Management acts are asked to contact their local police department’s non-emergency line.
