VANCOUVER -- Dozens more businesses in B.C.'s Lower Mainland have been forced to temporarily close their doors due to "likely transmission" of COVID-19 in the workplace, including gyms, fast food restaurants and car dealerships.
Some 35 businesses have been temporarily shuttered since April 20, according to updated workplace closure lists on the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health websites.
Two jewelry shops, two hair salons, a spa and a construction business are among the latest to be closed.
Another 50 businesses were closed earlier in April.
The vast majority of closures have taken place since April 12, when B.C. began allowing WorkSafeBC prevention officers to serve businesses with shutdown orders after three or more employees tested positive for COVID-19.
WorkSafeBC officers only do so at the direction of a local medical health officer.
"By closing these workplaces, we can prevent additional workers from becoming infected and taking COVID-19 home to their families and their communities," the Fraser Health closure website reads.
Most closures last for 10 days, but they can be extended if the health authority deems it necessary. Business names are removed from the health authorities' websites after they are allowed to reopen.
Some businesses where three employees test positive for COVID-19 may not be forced to close down if health officials don't believe anyone caught the disease in the workplace.
And some workplaces can avoid being shuttered if officials determine it's "in the overriding public interest" to stay open. Fraser Health lists police and fire stations, health-care facilities, grocery stores, schools, daycares and courthouses as examples.
