Facials are out, as is having more than six people at your table in a restaurant or using the gym change room.
The Middlesex London Health Unit has announced additional public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The three new orders under Section 22 of Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act affect personal care services, restaurants and bars, and recreational fitness centres in the city and county.
All of the orders issued by Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday.
The orders state that personal care service providers, including hair salons and barbershops, manicure and pedicure salons, aesthetician services, piercing services, tanning salons, spas, and tattoo studios, will no longer be able to provide services that require the removal of face coverings or masks. Employees must wear appropriate personal protective equipment and any locker rooms, change rooms, showers, steam rooms, saunas, whirlpools, or bathhouses must be closed. Only baths, hot tubs, floating pools, or sensory deprivation pods used for therapeutic purpose prescribed by a regulated health professional will be allowed to remain open.
All oxygen bars are to be closed until further notice.
For restaurants and bars, seating (both indoors and outdoors) must be limited to six people per table and tables must be at least two metres apart or separated by an impermeable barrier, such as plexiglass. Patrons are required to wear a face mask while entering and exiting the establishment and while going to and from the washroom. They must also provide their name and contact information to the eatery. That information is to be kept by the establishment for at least one month.
Rules for gyms, health clubs, community centres, multi-purpose facilities, arenas, exercise studios, yoga, and dance studios have also been adjusted. Fitness classes are to be limited to ten people, including the instructor. Patrons must maintain a physical distance of at least two metres from any other person who is using the facility.
Instructors are required to wear a face-covering or provide class instructions virtually. It is also recommended instructors use a microphone to reduce the need for shouting, which can quickly spread respiratory droplets. Fitness and recreation centre operators must maintain the building heating, venting and air conditioning (HVAC) system, under the order.
Similar to personal care service locations, all steam rooms, saunas, whirlpools, or bathhouses within gyms and rec centres are to be closed.
According to the health unit, the new public health measures were deemed necessary following an "assessment of local data and the patterns of COVID-19 transmission" in Middlesex-London and other jurisdictions in Ontario.
"The requirements specified in this order are necessary in order to decrease or eliminate the risk to health presented by the communicable disease," the order states.
Nine more positive cases of COVID-19 and one additional death linked to the virus were reported in the region on Wednesday. The death, a 71-year-old man not associated with a long-term care or retirement home, is the second one in the area in the last two weeks. Last Thursday, a 91-year-old long-term care home resident became the first person in London-Middlesex to die from the virus since mid-June.
Since the start of the pandemic, London-Middlesex has reported 1,060 infections and 59 deaths.