42 people test positive for COVID-19 following birthday party at Kingsville restaurant
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has issued a 'high risk' exposure alert after more than 40 people who attended a birthday party in a Kingsville restaurant tested positive for COVID-19.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit issued a 'high risk' exposure alert for Elite Restaurant from Nov. 18 to Dec. 2 after 42 people tested positive for COVID-19 following a birthday party. The health unit will not release the exact date of the party, but multiple people who say they were in attendance tell CTV News it was on Nov. 20.
"It is the most number of people who have tested positive in any one restaurant in Windsor-Essex since the beginning of the pandemic," said Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai.
Forty-two people have since tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the health unit to issue a "high risk" exposure alert.
That means anyone who attended the restaurant between Nov. 18 and Dec. 2 "should get tested immediately and isolate upon the development of symptoms, even mild ones."
The call to get tested also applies to household members of anyone who attended the restaurant during that same time period.
“If you’re sick, call your doctor and get treatment and stay at home and self isolate.”
According to Nesathurai, vaccination rates across Windsor-Essex are not as high as the health unit would like to see. The real concern, he added, is that these 42 cases could spread through hundreds of people in the region.
The health unit is asking all employers in the community to administer "active screening for all staff daily," due to "increasing local community risk" in Kingsville and Leamington.
“Some of these places could be a long-term care facility, a hospital, the residences of migrant farm workers.”
A co-owner for Elite Restaurant told CTV News Windsor that staff followed public health guidelines during the party, such as ensuring all patrons provided proof of vaccination.
About 50,000 people in Windsor-Essex are eligible for the vaccine -- but have not yet received it.
"If we can get more people vaccinated, it’ll be one additional step on top of the public health measures to try and bring COVID under control," said Nesathurai.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.