A Darwin business has been shut down for multiple failures to comply with the Chief Health Officer Directions.
The takeaway food outlet in Nightcliff has received a number of visits from NT Police during the past week and have been given ample opportunity to comply with directions.
The Chief Health Officer (CHO) issued a direction for the business to cease trading immediately and to remain closed until such time compliance officers are satisfied the CHO Directions will be met.
Incident Controller Sachin Sharma said, "Last night police attended the venue to serve the closure notice and observed three staff members working without masks, customers not wearing masks, and no check-in or sign-in facility. The customers immediately complied with police requests to wear masks.
"This morning Police issued a business infringement notice to the owner for failure to comply with CHO Directions. It is astounding that individuals are still failing to comply with restrictions imposed by the CHO for serious public health concerns. Further investigations are still continuing.
"Shutting down a locally-owned small business is the very last thing any of us wanted to do at this time. Unfortunately we've seen that not all members of the community are willing to take on a short-term inconvenience for everyone's long-term safety. We all have a responsibility in this pandemic."
Police will continue to conduct compliance checks with a zero tolerance approach.
The penalty for failing to abide by the Chief Health Officer Directions issued under section 56 of the Public and Environment Health Act 2011 is $5056 for an individual and $25,280 for a business.
