Extent of Hamilton outbreak unknown

Public health officials confirm 11 new cases; spin studio’s tally tops 61

HAMILTON— The number of cases linked to a Hamilton SpinCo COVID-19 outbreak climbed to 61 on Tuesday as Premier Doug Ford weighed in on what is believed to be one of the largest outbreaks at a gym in Canada.

Hamilton public health confirmed Tuesday there are11new cases associated with the downtown spin studio outbreak — five in patrons and six in secondary or “household-spread” contacts — bringing the spin studio’s tally to 61.

The total number of people potentially exposed may never be known.

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s medical officer of health, said Tuesday that public health doesn’t have an “exact count” of how many family, friends or other contacts were potentially exposed to the virus.

To date, 42 riders and two staff have tested positive, though as many as 100 may have been exposed. Of their contacts — those exposed second-hand —17 have tested positive.

“There has been a lot of transmission associated with it,” Richardson said. “It is concerning.”

Asked about the SpinCo outbreak Tuesday, Ford says he feels “terrible” for small gym owners in general.

“I feel bad for all the gyms, but I really feel terrible about the smaller gyms that follow protocols and have done everything they possibly can to make sure that they have a safe environment,” he said at the province’s daily news briefing, pledging his support to small business owners but not getting into specifics. “How can your heart not break for these people and not be there to support them every which way we can?”

Hamilton public health says SpinCo followed all of public health’s guidelines. And while the medical officer of health has the power to close gyms locally — the province has already shuttered gyms along with indoor restaurants in Peel, Ottawa and Toronto for 28 days due to surging cases — there are no plans to close gyms in Hamilton as of yet, Richardson says.

Richardson said public health would move to close all gyms if they “saw something that extended beyond this one particular instance.”

“We want people to be able to operate their businesses and go about their lives as much as they possibly can while continuing to look at where are the higher-risk activities and bring them down,” she added.

Ford also would not commit to closing gyms outside the three “hot spots” or imposing more restrictions on gyms.

To date, no one has been hospitalized. Of those who are sick, three-quarters are women. Ages range from late-teens to late 50s, Richardson said. It’s unclear when SpinCo will reopen.