COVID-19 alert issued to patrons of strip club

Visitors to a Vancouver strip club may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus on several evenings last week, health officials have warned.

Vancouver Coastal Health said people who visited Brandi’s Exotic Show Lounge, on Hornby Street, between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. on the nights of June 21, 22, 23, 24, and the early-morning hours of June 25, might have come into contact with someone with the virus.

Several people who tested positive for COVID-19 attended the strip club on those dates, according to a VCH statement on Saturday.

Health officials said there was no risk to anyone attending Brandi’s outside of these dates and times, and there is no ongoing risk to the community.

VCH spokesman Clive Camm would not say whether any employees tested positive or how many people tested positive.

Brandi’s has temporarily closed, according to a message on the company’s phone.

COVID-19 is spread by respiratory droplets when a person who is sick coughs or sneezes. It can also be spread when a healthy person touches an object or surface with the virus on it, and then touch their mouth, nose or eyes before washing hands.

VCH is advising anyone who attended Brandi’s during the dates to monitor themselves for 14 days and to seek COVID-19 testing if they develop symptoms. Symptoms can include loss of smell, fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, cough, malaise, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea.

As strip clubs reopen they are coming up with ways to maintain physical-distancing.

Another Vancouver strip bar, No. 5 Orange, has put up Plexiglas on the stage to prevent the spread of potentially infected droplets between dancers, staff and customers.

Vancouver Coastal Health said it has been in contact with strip clubs about their reopening plans, and that they should follow two WorkSafe B.C. guidelines.

VCH said a combination of the performing arts guidance and the restaurant and pub guidance would address many of their issues.