The Windsor-Essex County is strongly recommending the temporary closure of bars, restaurants, nightclubs and legions because of the coronavirus.
"What we are saying is, this is a strong recommendation and we want to make sure that the businesses are aware of it," says Dr. Wajid Ahmed.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed says he supports the recommendation by the province's Chief Medical Officer of Health.
As heard on AM800 news on Monday, Dr. David Williams called for the closure and also amended a previous requirement of no gatherings of 250 people, to no more than 50 people.
Dr. Ahmed says in an ideal state, he wants voluntary compliance from the businesses.
"We recognize that many of the community agencies and community organizations are taking the step in the right direction to enforce the social distancing piece," says Dr. Ahmed.
He says if establishments ignore the recommendation, provincial orders under Section 22 of the Health Promotion and Protection Act will be issued.
"I'm strongly recommending that we should, all businesses should be closed following the recommendations as the Chief Medical Officer of Health and if they fail to comply, I will issue a Section 22 Order to protect the health and well being of my community," says Dr. Ahmed.
Dr. Ahmed adds orders will be issued under a case by case basis.
"As recommendations are coming in, we definitely want to be prepared for the St. Patrick's Day and all these recommendations are based on to that, to make sure that we don't see a huge number of people breaking the whole social distancing concept," he says.
Dr. Ahmed says takeout and delivery services can still continue.
The recommendations go into place on March 17 at midnight.
As of Monday, there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex.
Locally, 62 people have been tested.