Going out for dinner? You’re going to have to leave your name and number please

If you go out for dinner and drinks these days it's not just the very attractive people that get asked for their name and number. 

As part of a new procedure in the Reopening Ontario Act 2020, everyone is being asked to provide their contact information, name and telephone number, to the server or bartender. It's all part of the new normal according to Adam Ranger, an environmental support officer with the Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD).

"This is Ontario wide," said Ranger, who added the Ontario Government announced the new measures on July 31 with a directive to put the new measures into effect on Aug. 7. Restaurants in Sudbury have been directed to take part in the new procedure.

He said it is fully outlined in Schedule Two, Section Five of the amended regulations.  

The person responsible for the establishment must:

1. Record the name and contact information of every patron who enters an indoor or outdoor dining area in the establishment, other than patrons who temporarily enter the area to place, pick up or pay for a takeout order;
2. Maintain the records for a period of at least one month, and;
3. Only disclose the records to a medical officer of health or an inspector under the Health Protection and Promotion Act on request for a purpose specified in section 2 of that Act or as otherwise required by law.

Ranger said it does not apply to takeout or pickup service where patrons are on hand for mere seconds or minutes. He said the rules apply to anyone who has entered a restaurant or eating place and was seated for drinks or a meal.

"The whole idea behind that is the person doing take out will be there for a few seconds versus someone who is sitting down and could be there for 20 minutes to an hour. The potential for prolonged contact is there," said Ranger.

"It's for contact tracing. It's just another precaution and tool to help facilitate that," said Ranger. 

He said the province introduced the new measure to assist public health officials track down the places and people where a person who tests positive for COVID-19 may have been in contact with others, even if it is friends or family members within a social circle. 

"What I can tell is once the lab notifies the health unit of a positive case, that starts the investigation where they contact the individual and they immediately start asking who are your close contacts,” Ranger said. “They start looking at your household, whether it's your roommate if you're younger, or if you're a bit older and have a family. And then you have to start thinking of situations where you were in prolonged contact with an individual."

Ranger said he is not aware of any pushback from the business community.

"Everyone's following suit. It's the reality. People remember what it was like being closed down. That was very visible and tangible. People experienced that, right. They know this is real," said Ranger.

He said the health unit is tasked with the responsibility of making sure that businesses are educated and aware of their responsibilities.

"We are quite busy with this," Ranger added.

In addition to collecting the information, Ranger said the information is usually destroyed within several weeks or at least a month because after that period of time, the information is not likely to be connected with a current case of COVID-19.