FILE: This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases shows a new SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus particle isolated from a patient, in a laboratory in Fort Detrick, Md . (NIAID / NIH via AP, File)
HOGP
The Cayuga County Health Board on Tuesday approved fines for six companies that violated COVID-19 standards, but discussed the sanctions and the role of the health department in enforcing the state mask mandate. .
Companies that paid $ 50 fines are Arnold’s Family Restaurant in Weedsport, Bass Pro Shops in Aurelius, Bayside Grocery in Fair Haven, Fingerlakes Variety and Sports in Aurelius, New China Royal in Auburn and Walmart in Auburn. At Walmart, a health department inspector noted that two employees and 11 customers were not wearing proper face coverings.
Because the companies were first-time criminals, the health department issued consent orders. The companies signed the consent orders to acknowledge the violations and agreed to pay a $ 50 fine.
Before voting to approve the consent orders, Dr. Brian Brundage, a member of the health board, asked Eileen O’Connor, director of the health department’s environmental health division, about whether there is an expiration date. of the state mask regulation, which has been in effect since April. O’Connor responded that there is no set date for when the regulation ends, but that it will probably end when the pandemic ends.
“I don’t like the idea that the health department will become an arm of law enforcement more than it already is,” Brundage said. “That has the potential, if that expands to other things, that we’ll be cops, that we’ll go out and check out the audience in increasingly different ways.”