11 COVID CASES REPORTED AFTER FAMILY VISIT TO DEERHURST RESORT
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
HUNTSVILLE — The health unit now says 11 people from outside Muskoka tested positive for COVID-19 in a “cluster of cases” here Civic Holiday weekend.
Dr. Charles Gardner said today that “multiple families” — “residing outside of Muskoka” and staying at Deerhurst Resort the first weekend in August dined out at the 3 Guys and a Stove where the incidents were first reported.
See an interview here with owner Jeff Suddaby and his response in an earlier story on MuskokaTODAY.com
The restaurant, which closed immediately after being informed by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) this past Sunday, was first to disclose outbreak publicly.
Deerhurst has not made a statement and the region’s medical officer of health said in Tuesday’s weekly media briefing that he his is still investigating the resort’s role and would say no more.
He said it wasn’t until the families got home and were tested that he was informed by the health unit(s) where they live.
He wouldn’t say where they were from.
When he was informed by the other health units he initiated an investigation and used contact tracing to track their whereabouts outside the resort.
However, he did say that none of them showed symptoms during their time in Muskoka.
Gardner also said there are “no cases of transmission related to this case and no evidence” of any other people being infected who may have come in contact with the families in any other public setting while they were in the town.
He said the health unit investigation, which didn’t come to light until Aug. 9 when Suddaby closed up shop, revealed no other “close contact” outside the 30 people staying together.
He said they stayed apart from others and were not “inside two metres” of anyone else for “15 minutes or longer,” which would prompt further investigation and warrant quarantine for anyone who would have come in contact with the families.
Gardner said the
Attempts to contact Deerhurst general manager Jesse Hamilton for comment Tuesday afternoon on why they are still open and what they are doing in the wake were unsuccessful.
This as the province reported 33 new cases Aug. 11, its lowest number in months, which Gardner called “marvellous.”
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August 12, 2020 @ 8:41 am
I know people who were there aug 9 and 10 when deerhurst knew about this and did not inform them and still have not. Should they not tell them so they can take precautions so the spread is contained just in case the staff may have been infected and passed it to them??