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The case springs from a London landlord who turned to a lawyer for help after learning the man plans to stay as a guest with his girlfriend in the landlord’s house rented to several students.

Though the landlord repeatedly has asked the tenant not to bring her boyfriend to the house and for him to self-isolate elsewhere to protect two students living there and two more moving in next month, the tenant has refused, lawyer Selin Hankali said.

Hankali, in turn, asked the Middlesex-London Health Unit to order mandatory isolation – something health officials are empowered to do under the law, but which hasn’t been needed with most people voluntarily isolating themselves after foreign travel or if they feel unwell and believe they may have contracted the COVID-19 virus.

“My client really has no way of preventing this or preventing the spread or exposure,” Hankali said, noting both the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board and the London courthouse are closed over coronavirus concerns.

“It’s very, very important that people follow the government’s directions and, if you live in a co-living environment, you have a moral obligation to not make unilateral decisions that will affect the health of other people.”

The request was made after the landlord learned the man planned to stay with his girlfriend after returning to Canada from Sint Maarten, a Dutch colony in the Caribbean and popular port of call for cruise lines.

It’s not clear what cruise the man was on, and whether it was affected by the coronavirus.