Cluster of new GTA cases linked to Muskoka

11 out of 30 people who took weekend trip now infected with virus

The outbreak of 11 COVID-19 infections in a group of GTA families who visited Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka underscores the risks of ignoring public health guidelines — especially keeping to social circles of the same 10 people, Ontario’s chief medical officer says.

“You can’t say ‘Well, it’s a holiday and we just slip, we let the standards slide.’ That’s not acceptable,” Dr. David Williams told a briefing Thursday as the province reported 78 new infections with the virus, a number he said was artificially low because of a snag in compiling numbers from Toronto.

Williams urged anyone who thinks that they might have been in contact with an infected person to avoid travel. “If you’re positive, don’t go,” he added. “If you have signs and symptoms, don’t go.”

Several members of the Deerhurst group of about 30 people also visited the nearby Three Guys and a Stove restaurant in Huntsville. The popular eatery has temporarily closed as a precaution until results of tests on the staff are known, likely in time for the weekend.

“It’s the cost of doing business in a pandemic,” said owner Jeff Suddaby.

The closure of the dining spot on Hwy 60 — a high-traffic route that leads to Algonquin Park a half-hour drive to the east — prompted Williams to rebuke the unidentified visitors, who did not show symptoms or test positive until returning home from their getaway on the August long weekend.

“Some people were less than responsible and conscientious in handling things,” he noted.

Williams warned that this is how COVID-19 cases could fan out across the province from a tourist area that thousands of people are passing through, as well as posing a danger to residents of the Huntsville area.

“I understand those ones at those gatherings were not exercising the six-foot distancing. They probably weren’t in the same social circle,” Williams said. “Respect those local people … we do not want to spread infections up in that area in any way at all, at any time.”

The medical officer of health for Simcoe-Muskoka said he was notified by local health officials in the GTA of the 11 infections among the visitors and has not been informed of any related new cases since last weekend.

“There was a certain amount of mixing (among the 30 visitors) that led to transmission,” Dr. Charles Gardner told the Star in an interview. “We are continuing the investigation.”

Gardner noted one server from Three Guys and a Stove is self-isolating and praised the restaurant for going public and temporarily closing even though if had not been ordered to do so. “It reflects well on them,” he said.

With half the residents of Muskoka being seasonal and some being tested for COVID-19, Gardner said he is pressing the province to provide details to the health unit on positive cases because notifications go back to their home health units in Toronto and elsewhere.

Williams said his office has been getting reports of visitors from abroad and residents returning from overseas who are violating the 14-day quarantine requirement and going to social gatherings.

“We should say, if someone shows up, ‘You shouldn’t be here,’ ” he said.

Health officials are eager to continue the downward trend in cases as schools prepare to reopen in September.

Of Ontario’s 34 public health units, 19 reported no new cases in Ministry of Health figures released Thursday that were based on data received at 4 p.m. the previous day. Nine had fewer than five new cases with the largest increases being in Peel with 19, Ottawa with 10, Windsor-Essex with nine and Middlesex-London with six.

There were 43 people in hospital with COVID-19 across the province, a decrease of six, with 20 of those patients in intensive care and 10 of them on ventilators. At the peak of the first wave, there were more than 1,200 Ontarians who required hospitalization for the highly contagious virus at the same time.

Williams said the University

Health Network, which includes Toronto General and Toronto Western hospitals, had no coronavirus cases as of Thursday morning, freeing up more space for patients with other medical conditions and those waiting for elective surgeries that were postponed because of the pandemic. He called that “a remarkable milestone.”

Ontario’s case numbers contrast favourably with neighbouring Michigan, which reported 1,121 new infections Thursday, the highest since May14. That state has had more than 90,000 confirmed cases and almost 6,300 deaths.

A Star compilation of data from Ontario health units at 5 p.m. Thursday found 96 new confirmed and suspected cases in the previous 24 hours, although that number nets out to 72 after Toronto removed 24 previously reported cases. Ontario has now had 42,451 cases since late January. There were four more deaths reported, raising the toll to 2,829 people.

The Ministry of Health reported 891 active cases across the province, a decline of 99 as more people who tested positive for COVID-19 were considered to be recovered.

“Respect those local people … we do not want to spread infections up in that area in any way at all, at any time.”

DR. DAVID WILLIAMS

ONTARIO’S CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER