Cautionary COVID tales from which to learn
A karaoke bar in Quebec City is the latest hot spot in a series of summer outbreaks of COVID-19 across the country, as Canadians attempted — and sometimes failed — to balance pandemic restrictions with the burning desire to not sit indoors any longer.
One night, Aug. 23, at Le Kirouac, is responsible for 40 cases of COVID-19; at least six other bars were visited by people who had been infected, and 10 family members have also fallen ill, including three students who returned to school.
It’s a textbook example of how one event can lead to a cascade of cases and community spread, said local health officials.
That’s a message we’ve been hearing for months. “I think there really is some fatigue setting in,” said Tim Caulfield, the Canada research chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta. “When that happens, you’re going to start to see these kinds of incidents happen more often.
“People may not really get a sense of the harms they are inflicting,” said Caulfield.
As the Labour Day long weekend approaches, it’s a good reminder that — yes — the pandemic’s still with us. It is also an occasion to look back at the peak COVID moments of the summer, the sort of super-spreader events where we should have known better.
Here is the National Post picks of the top COVID gatherings to learn from:
A FAMILY GATHERING IN FRASER RIVER REGION
In British Columbia, an early June outbreak was traced back to that most innocent of activities: a family gathering. Thirty people attended the gathering in the Fraser River Health region, and 15 positive cases resulted. The event took place both indoors and outdoors, and occurred as limits on gatherings were restricted to 50 in the province.
CANADA DAY WEEKEND, KELOWNA
At least 60 COVID-19 cases were traced to festivities in the Okanagan city over the Canada Day long-weekend, according to local public health officials. In a throwback to earlier and more innocent times, hordes of partiers descended on the lakeside area from other parts of B.C. and Alberta. There were crowded bars, packed beaches and people crammed onto boats and water rafts.
THE BRASS RAIL TAVERN, TORONTO
Between Aug. 4 and 8, an employee of The Brass Rail Tavern, a strip club in downtown Toronto, worked while infected with COVID-19. Toronto Public Health was tasked with tracking down approximately 500 contacts with the employee. One patron tested positive, though it’s not clear if that person caught it at the strip club.
HOUSE PARTY, BRAMPTON, ONT.
A massive house party in Brampton, in Peel Region, at the end of July was attended by as many as 200 people at a time when Peel was still in Stage 2 of lockdown restrictions; gatherings were limited to 10 people. The party was broken up by police and bylaw officers, and the hosts are facing fines of up to $100,000.
TRINITY-BELLWOODS PARK, TORONTO
On the May 24 weekend, desperate city-dwellers broke free of their nearby condos and apartments to the downtown Trinity-Bellwoods Park to take advantage of one of the first warm sunny days. Social media erupted. It is unknown how many cases of COVID resulted, but the images were shocking in the early days of social distancing.