Police intervene at two Sherbrooke bars violating COVID-19 guidelines – one for karaoke, one for dancing

MONTREAL -- Local police cracked down on the owner of two bars in Sherbrooke where public health guidelines weren’t being respected over the weekend.

Much like a similar situation in Quebec City last week, karaoke was part of the problem. 

Officers from the Sherbrooke police department first intervened at bar le Figaro on Galt St. East late Friday night and into Saturday morning, where they found customers disrespecting government health guidelines during a karaoke night. 

Just last week, about 40 cases of COVID-19 were linked to a karaoke bar in Quebec City, which then transmitted to multiple schools in the area. The outbreak motivated the regional director of public health to consider discussing the possibility of tightening guidelines for bars in the province. 

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On Sunday evening, Sherbrooke officers showed up at bar le Chat noir on King St. West, where they said there was “no physical distancing,” and “people were crowded on top of each other.” Officers also said several customers were dancing within a metre of one another and were not wearing masks when moving around the bar. 

Both establishments belong to the same owner according to police, and they say he may face legal consequences. 

“Our police officers have drawn up two offense reports which will be sent to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions and there could be fines provided for these two interventions,” said Sherbrooke police public relations officer Martin Carrier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2020.

With files from CTV News Montreal's Katelyn Thomas.