Owner denies restaurant not following mask rules
The owner of a restaurant in Lower Sackville denies that his employees are not wearing masks — contrary to what many people have called the restaurant out for on social media — and says there's a lot of “hysteria” surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, Hellas Family Restaurant made a post on Facebook responding to the flak it has received for allegedly not following the mandatory mask rules in place for indoor establishments such as bars, restaurants and public facilities.
“To all you SHEEPLE, thank you for all your comments, it is the greatest free publicity," the post reads.
"Since most of you Yahoo's are not our customers, your comments don't carry any weight. Keep it up ,the PATRIOTS are in the house."
The post received numerous reactions and shares from Nova Scotians. The majority of commenters expressed their outrage, while some said they will gladly be visiting the restaurant.
“Sheeple? I'm your customer and have gift cards to use, but since I work on the covid response team ... I will respectfully take my business somewhere else out of respect for those who have kept our numbers low in NS,” one commenter said.
“Normally I would hate to see small businesses go under from covid but ... ahem this one can go,” another person wrote.
One Facebook user reached out to the safety division of the Department of Labour and Advanced Education to share her concerns about the restaurant. She posted a screenshot of an email she received from the safety division that said Nova Scotia Alcohol and Gaming would “look into this matter further.”
‘OF COURSE WE’RE FOLLOWING THE RULES’
John Giannakos, owner of the restaurant at 664 Lower Sackville Rd., said he and his employees are following the COVID-19 rules that are in place.
A reporter who visited the restaurant Friday said she saw employees at Hellas not wearing the bandanas that were around their necks, but a journalist from The Chronicle Herald did not see any evidence of them not wearing masks when he visited the establishment later Friday.
When asked if his employees are wearing masks, Giannakos said, “of course we're following the rules, but we're not going to pass out because we're not getting enough oxygen.”
He said his employees are wearing bandanas but “have to put them down every little while to take a fresh breath.”
“This all started when somebody asked us if we were wearing masks and all we said was you should go somewhere else for your own safety," Giannakos said. "By no means did we say we're not following rules.
“The hysteria that's going on out there is just unfounded. It's crazy.”
Giannakos said the restaurant is doing what it can to follow the rules. It has posted a sign that asks customers to wear masks upon entering, is using Lysol to wipe surfaces clean and has hand sanitizer available for people to use.
Since the start of the pandemic, Giannakos has posted a few videos on the restaurant's Facebook page that question the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, telling people to “decide for yourself.”
Giannakos told the Herald that the COVID-19 protocols in place are “so vague, it's just incredible.”
“Like what's a mask versus a bandana?" he said. "Neither of them work.”
Giannakos said the economy and small businesses are suffering “not because of COVID, (they're) suffering because of politicians' and bureaucrats' decisions for closing everything down.
“We're having bureaucrats and politicians ruin our lives, telling us what's good for our health. Is that really freedom?”
RESTAURANT BEING INVESTIGATED
The RCMP began investigating the restaurant after they were made aware of allegations that COVID-19 protocols were not being followed.
In an email, RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Lisa Croteau said the Mounties “did receive a report (Friday) of a business on Sackville Drive in Lower Sackville not following public health guidelines. The investigation is ongoing."
On Friday, Halifax Regional Police said a Bedford faith-based organization was recently ticketed for violating the Health Protection Act's limits on social gatherings.
During Friday's COVID-19 briefing, Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health, stressed the importance of wearing masks.
“Wearing a mask remains one of the most critical pieces to controlling the spread of COVID-19,” Strang said.
“And I want to take a minute to remind people that masks are mandatory in all indoor public spaces for everyone except for the small number of people who have a true medical reason why they can't wear a mask.”
Strang noted "compliance officers" conducted more than 120 inspections at retail locations, bars and restaurants over the holidays to make sure they were following COVID-19 protocols.
He said they reported “high” levels of compliance, but in a handful of cases, there were compliance issues and operators worked with teams to “make changes quickly.”
As of Friday, there were 29 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.