A Canada restaurant was temporarily closed after health officials found that the establishment was accepting photos of dogs in lieu of proof of COVID-19 vaccinations or a negative test, which is necessary to dine indoors, CBS News reported.
As part of the Restrictions Exemption Program in Alberta, strict rules have been set for indoor dining. These include mask requirements, proof of vaccination, proof that a COVID-19 test was negative, and proof of exemption. Officials from the health department discovered that The Granary Kitchen wasn’t following these rules.
“Specifically, complaints were received…indicating that employees are allowing patrons to dine-in when presented with a photograph of a dog and personal identification,” the health report states.
Alberta Health Services sent two people to investigate and found they were able to eat inside after showing their IDs and pictures of a dog. They went to the establishment on two separate occasions and in both circumstances, “facility staff used a tablet to make it appears as if they were scanning a QR code when in fact the staff member was presented with a photograph of a dog,”Officials stated.
The restaurant posted on Friday about its closing.
“We had an unfortunate circumstance at our front door which involved one of our underage hostesses, and the requirements for the REP program,”The restaurant wrote. “We are taking the weekend to retrain and regroup. We look forward to serving you again as soon as we are ready to reopen. In closing we would like to remind everyone of the tremendous pressure being placed on front staff, and please remember to be kind.”
CBS News reported that the restaurant needed to submit a written plan in order to comply with COVID-19 mandates to reopen. They also had to attend an administrative hearing held by the office of Environmental Public Health in order to prove that they are following protocols and have adopted new procedures.
Alberta had 67,500 active COVID-19 cases as of January. CBS News reported that 86% of Alberta’s 12-year-olds are fully vaccinated.