Worker fired after lying about travel
TRURO — An employee has been fired from a Truro restaurant after reportedly lying to border authorities about her travel history when returning to Nova Scotia so she wouldn’t have to selfquarantine.
“Truro Petro Canada & Thai Express was today made aware that one of our employees travelled from Quebec into the Atlantic COVID-19 bubble on July 30 and lied about the origin of her travel when re-entering N.S. to conservation officers,” the company said in a Facebook posting.
“The employee claimed that she was arriving from New Brunswick, not Quebec, to avoid taking the legally required step of self-quarantining for the health and safety of our community. These actions are unacceptable.”
The unidentified employee was overheard by customers telling fellow employees what she had done. That information was then relayed to management.
“Immediately upon learning of this transgression, Truro Petro Canada & Thai Express have terminated the employee in question,” the posting said. “We appreciate the collaborative manner in which community members have reached out ... upon overhearing the employee in conversation,” the posting said.
Telephone inquiries to the business, located on Robie Street in Truro, were not returned by press deadline.
Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, reacted strongly when asked for comment on the circumstance.
“It is always disappointing to hear stories about people who may be looking for ways to get around the public health measures we have in place,” he said in an emailed response to a Saltwire Network inquiry.
“While our cases remain low, COVID-19 is still very much an issue. Just (Friday), we announced two more cases associated with travel. These individuals were following the rules and in self-isolation. At this time, people who travel outside the Atlantic region are required to self-isolate for 14 days on their return. I want to remind all Nova Scotians, the rules are there for their protection and for the protection of others. If you don’t care about yourself — do it for someone else,” he said.
“We are each responsible to uphold the public health requirements and to do our part to keep each other safe and minimize the spread of COVID-19. Failure to comply with the public health order can result in penalties.”
Truro Petro Canada & Thai Express said in its post that it has been taking pre-emptive steps throughout the pandemic to make customer and employee health “our highest priority” through the installation of Plexiglas barriers, sanitization of pinpads after every use, sanitizing surfaces every half hour, and by enforcing strict social distancing guidelines.
“We are continuing to follow all provincial and federal government regulations to responsibly serve our community.”