The coronavirus outbreak that happened at a small fast-food restaurant in British Columbia should serve as a “wake-up call” to every Canadian amid the pandemic.
This was the warning of Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry during a news briefing on Tuesday, June 17.
According to Dr. Henry, at least four to five staff members of the restaurant, which she refused to name, got infected with the virus. She added that she was not aware if there was any customer who was exposed.
“As we have opened up different workplaces, we have seen people having more contact in the workplace. We’ve seen that in the number of different settings,” Dr. Henry said.
She noted that the situation in that restaurant was “similar to what we’ve seen in other places where somebody does not recognize that they have symptoms, milder symptoms and they may not have the appropriate spacing or barriers in the workplace.”
Dr. Henry reminded the workers not to be complacent with their colleagues and be careful of the people around them as there is a possibility that among them has symptoms of COVID-19.
“We are bringing our contacts and our risk from our contacts with us into the workplace, and if we don’t take the same precautions with our workmates, we can pass it on to them, and they can pass it on to their families, and then it can be passed on situations where people are more vulnerable,” she noted.
Public health inspectors and environmental health officers already went to the restaurant to conduct a full review of its safety plan.
This news comes after 15 recent COVID-19 cases have been linked to a family gathering in the Fraser Health region, where 30 people reportedly attended the event. Dr. Henry earlier said the gathering was “a warning to us all” and that the public should not get too comfortable despite the decrease in B.C’s new COVID-19 cases because the world’s fight against the pandemic is not yet over.