You MUST leave your mask on.
A strip club in downtown Toronto may have exposed as many as 550 people to COVID-19, city health officials warn.
Toronto Public Health issued the warning after an employee at Brass Rail Tavern tested positive for the disease. The employee worked several night shifts from 4 August to 9 August.
Authorities advised anyone who attended the club during those dates and times to monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days since their last visit during that period.
Toronto Public Health said they received a notification from the club on Thursday and have since reached out to “all known close contacts” of the employee and asked them to self-isolate for 14 days and get tested.
They also notified the clients that had left their details in the club’s contact tracing log. The Brass Rail’s operator was also given a non-compliance order.
Mayor John Tory said on Friday that the incident shows why businesses need to keep a contact tracing log.
“I just hope the result of all the follow up that Toronto Public Health is doing proves that nobody contracted the virus from that person,” he added.
Potential exposure took place just days after the Brass Rail Tavern emerged from the coronavirus shutdown.
One of the city’s best-known strip clubs, the Brass Rail reopened on 31 July, with social distancing restrictions. Strip clubs in Toronto are required to conduct temperature checks and disinfect surfaces. All customers and employees must wear a mask, including in the case of lap dances.