The Grey Bruce Health Unit is working with Golden Dawn Senior Citizen Home (Long-Term Care) to address a single case of COVID-19 associated with a staff member. As per ministry guidelines, a single case of COVID-19 triggers an automatic outbreak within the facility. This outbreak is reflected on the Public Health website.

Public Health is the lead in all outbreaks and case management. Public Health will let you know if you are a close contact with someone who has COVID-19, based on a thorough risk assessment completed only by Public Health.

The case who tested positive has been contacted directly by our COVID-19 Case and Contact Management Team. We are working with the case and the Long-Term Care Home to identify others, both in and out of the work environment, who may have been exposed and to determine their risk level.

Determining who is a close contact is a decision that can only be made by Public Health. A Public Health case manager will contact anyone identified as a contact to the confirmed case, both in and outside of the Long-Term Care environment. Those at risk of infection will be contacted within 24 hours of the investigation.

Anyone NOT contacted by Public Health is not considered at risk and need not take any additional steps including asymptomatic testing.

The Grey Bruce Health Unit will direct staff and residents in the Long-Term Care home to test within the facility as directed by Public Health, and those considered at risk outside of the work environment, to test within their local assessment centre, or other feasible location on the appropriate and recommended date(s). There is no value in anyone being tested ahead of being notified and instructed to do so by Public Health as results would be unreliable and would put individuals at risk of more testing than is required.

All contact tracing and determination of individual and community risk is made by Public Health. This is true of all cases, whether in Long-Term Care, workplaces or the community. A health care provider or workplace official cannot make this decision.

source: media release, Grey Bruce Health Unit