Toronto Public Health (TPH) says about 550 individuals may have been exposed to COVID-19 after a worker at a downtown strip club tested positive for the virus.
The local public health unit said the employee works at the Brass Rail Tavern, an adult entertainment club, on Yonge Street, south of Bloor Street.
The employee had four shifts at the beginning of August:
- August 4 from 7:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
- August 5 from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.
- August 7 from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.
- August 8 from 7:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
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TPH noted there was no risk to anyone attending the strip club out of these dates and times.
People who provided their name and contact information as part of the contact tracing log were contacted by the local public health unit.
“As a precaution, TPH is advising anyone who attended the Brass Rail Tavern during these dates and times to monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms for the 14 days after their last visit during this time period.”
Toronto’s associate medical officer of health confirmed investigators “identified issues related to non-compliance” as it relates to safety measures at the Brass Rail.
“This included physical distancing regulations that were not being followed in the establishment, e.g. appropriate physical distance of two metres between tables and between staff and customers, and not maintaining a complete log for contact tracing purposes,” Dr. Vinita Dubey wrote in a statement.
While Toronto Mayor John Tory did not want to comment on the establishment itself, he did say that he is happy to hear how quickly public health moved to contact trace.
“It proves why a contact log is something that is useful. It’s something that was fought to have included in all of the different rules and regulations as part of Stage 3,” Tory said.
“It also shows you in a crowd like that how easy it could be to spread the virus and get us right back to where we were and none of us want to go there.”
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