WINDSOR, ONT. -- A petition circulating online is demanding the closure of Devonshire Mall over concerns of possible COVID-19 exposure.
The petition on Change.org says two mall employees have tested positive for COVID-19, but Windsor-Essex medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed would not confirm the claim.
"I don't want to create a sense of concern where there is none," says Ahmed. “And I also don’t want to overemphasis that that is the only place that you should be concerned about and not the rest of the places.”
The petition says Devonshire Mall tenants were notified of the cases on Saturday, but not told which stores the employees worked.
Ahmed says he can’t release those details with any workplace unless it poses a risk.
“All I can say is we are investigating workplaces,” says Ahmed. “If there’s any chance these cases are linked together, if we have reason to believe they are transmitted through the workplace, we do issue those advisories.”
The petition claims this “puts every patron and employee at the mall in grave danger of contracting COVID.”
The mall is open 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday – Saturday and 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Windsor malls were ordered closed on March 20, but reopened with several new safety protocols when the city advanced to Stage 2 of reopening on June 25.
CTV News has reached out to Devonshire Mall management for comment.
With files from Ricardo Veneza.
