A person who visited a downtown Toronto strip club at the same time an employee infected with COVID-19 was on duty earlier this month has now also tested positive for the virus, but officials cannot yet definitively say if the visitor and employee's cases are linked.
An employee of the Brass Rail Tavern at 701 Yonge Street who last worked on August 9 later tested positive for novel coronavirus infection, prompting Toronto Public Health to warn 550 other employees and attendees of the establishment of possible exposure.
Toronto Public Health says that sometime before Wednesday, a person listed on the Brass Rail Tavern's contact tracing log from Aug. 4 to 9 developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and tested positive for the virus.
"This person lives outside of Toronto and TPH is working with the applicable health unit who will request information about possible sources of infection as part of their investigation," Dr. Vinita Dubey told CP24.
Dubey had earlier advised that the contact tracing logs of the establishment were not complete, prompting her office to issue a blanket warning to anyone who had been there earlier in the month.
She says anyone who develops symptoms consistent with the virus should immediately get tested.
Toronto Mayor John Tory said the incident continues to prove the need for contact tracing logs at all restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
"Thanks to the fact that there was a contact management list and people wrote down real phone numbers. There is a person who tested positive, now we can call other people and let them know as well."
Last Friday, officials inspected the strip club for a second time and say that unlike the first inspection; the Brass Rail was seen to be following physical distancing guidelines.
Strip clubs were allowed to reopen in Ontario as part of Stage 3 of reopening, provided lap dances were not provided.
Dubey says Toronto Public Health and bylaw enforcement will be conducting rolling checks on strip clubs throughout the city.
