The same day the province announced stiff fines for people contravening COVID-19 public health safety orders, Victoria police officers slapped a party host with a $2,300 ticket.
Just hours after Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth announced fines of $2,000 for organizers and hosts of gatherings that contravene the COVID-19 Related Measures Act, Victoria police handed out their first ticket.
Officers pre-emptively visited a Fort Street building about 7 p.m. after receiving a tip about a large party and warned the resident, said Const. Cam MacIntyre.
Less than three hours later, officers recieved a complaint of a noisy large gathering and returned to the building.
“Officers observed about 15 people inside the one-bedroom suite,” MacIntyre said.
Police say they asked the host to end the party as it was causing a disturbance and was unsafe during the pandemic.
The resident agreed to co-operate, but MacIntyre said officers continued to see groups of people coming and going from the building.
The officers returned to the suite and found about 30 people inside, not practising social distancing, he said.
“Many of the party attendees were youth. The room was densely populated, hot, and moisture had built up on the windows. Patrol officers believed approximately 40 to 60 people attended the party.”
The resident failed to document the party attendees and their contact information to assist with contact tracing in the event that someone was later found to have COVID-19, police said.
Officers served the resident a violation ticket for $2,300 under section 2 of the CRMA for contravention of the Provincial Health Officer Gathering and Events Order.
A $300 victim surcharge levy was included in the fine.
Party attendees left as directed by police and no additional violation tickets were issued, MacIntyre said.
ceharnett@timescolonist.com
> The provincial health officer's order on gathering and events can be found here (PDF).
