An individual who visited a downtown Toronto strip club, where a COVID-19 exposure warning has been issued, has recently tested positive.
On Aug. 14, Toronto Public Health (TPH) warned that approximately 550 individuals may have been exposed to COVID-19 at the Brass Rail Tavern, after an employee of the venue tested positive for the virus. All those who attended the venue between Aug. 4-9 during select hours, were asked to monitor for symptoms.
The latest case involves a patron who was at the Brass Rail during those times. According to CP24, officials can not yet definitively say if the employee and patron’s cases are linked.
Dr. Vinita Dubey, a senior TPH official said to CP24 that the person was identified after officials worked their way through the Brass Rails’ contact tracing log. The person had symptoms and later tested positive.
“This person lives outside of Toronto and TPH is working with the applicable health unit, who will request information about possible sources of infection as part of their investigation,” said Dubey.
Contact tracing logs were one of the additional new health measures that were introduced July 31 for restaurants and bars, when Toronto and Peel joined most of the province in Stage 3 of reopening. Strip clubs were also able to open under that stage of the province’s economic reopening plan.
On Aug. 14, when officials announced that an employee tested positive, Dubey said to CTV News Toronto said that upon inspection, the Brass Rail Tavern wasn’t following physical distancing protocols between tables, as well as for staff and patrons, and its visitor log was incomplete. In some cases, Dubey suggested that some patrons didn’t provide their real contact info upon entry.
The Brass Rail has since worked with TPH to ensure that COVID-19 protocols are in place, while the venue has remained open. Officials have said that there is no risk of COVID-19 to people who attended the Brass Rail Tavern outside of the hours between Aug. 4-9.
