The city’s COVID-19 compliance hotline has received hundreds of calls in the few weeks it’s been in service.
The hotline is the place people can contact to report complaints about compliance with public health orders.
“Overall, what I can tell you is we have had 420 calls since March 27. That is when we launched,” said Kim Deighton, the city’s manager of licensing and integrated services.
Deighton said there’s been a variety of calls and emails made to the compliance hotline.
“They are a mixture of inquiries. Some of them are complaints. Some of them are not sure where they need to ask their question, so we will redirect them over to Fraser Health if that’s appropriate or redirect them somewhere else. Some people have misinformation, so we will clarify that for them.”
In some cases, said Deighton, people think that a business should be closed because it hasn’t been deemed as an essential business by the province and the provincial health officer.
“That is not necessarily the case. You can be deemed nonessential and still be open. For example, a shoe store. So, some of it is clarifying misinformation,” she told the Record. “Some of it is actually receiving complaints and passing them along to the COVID compliance officers and some of it is redirecting people to other agencies that can answer their question.”
Calls to the compliance line seem to be weather-dependent, with about 45 calls coming in on the sunny Good Friday statutory holiday.
“The first day that we rolled out the compliance line we only got three calls. The next day, maybe it was 10. After that, when people realized this does exist and they knew how to access it, it increased steeply in the beginning, but now it seems to have leveled off,” Deighton said. “But it also seems to be weather dependent.”
The compliance line is staffed by five call takers, who are library staff who have been reassigned to the new roles as part of the city’s efforts to address COVID-19. The city has created a number of working groups to address local issues related to the pandemic, including education and enforcement.
“That line is staffed every day by two of them, seven days a week,” Deighton said. “Two of them every day are taking the calls but it’s not a live line. People have to deposit either an email or a voice mail, and then it gets cleared. They don’t actually get a live person at that moment.”
If complaints require investigation and follow-up, they’ll be referred to the city’s COVID compliance officers, a team of five reassigned staff from the library and parks and recreation departments who follow up on COVID complaints.
Deighton said some of those complaints relate to businesses that have been ordered to close, but are allegedly open.
“Some of the personal service establishments such as nail and hair salons – we have had some complaints alleging that some of them are continuing to operate,” she said. “But when our compliance officers go out there to investigate, we are not finding that. We are not finding those complaints to be substantiated – at least at the time that we are attending.”
Other complaints have been made that some of the larger grocery stores may not be doing the best they can to promote physical distancing.
“Again, when our compliance officers go there, they are finding really good practices in place – the markings are on the floor; there is separation between the cashier and the person in line, a plastic barrier. We are finding for the most part they are doing the best they can,” Deighton said. “What happens sometimes in those large stores is customers, when they are down an aisle they might not be physical distancing themselves, but the store is doing everything they can. Those are the things the compliance officers are following up on.”
The compliance officers also follow up on allegations that people aren’t adhering to physical distancing requirements in open spaces and parks.
“For the most part, people are doing it right. And for the most part, people and businesses are trying their best; they really are. It’s actually quite heartwarming,” Deighton said. “There is always going to be a little friction. There is always going to be people who do it C+ instead of an A, but for the most part you can see that there is good intention on most people’s part.”
The public can call 604-636-4343 or email [email protected] to report a concern about compliance with the latest public health orders.
