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October 16, 2020 - 3:19 PM
A Tim Hortons in Merritt has closed down as Interior Health is investigating a COVID-19 outbreak associated with the restaurant.
"The owner has voluntarily closed the restaurant and we appreciate Tim Hortons efforts and cooperation in managing this situation," Interior Health senior communications consultant Karl Hardt said in an email. "The business has appropriate precautions in place to prevent COVID-19 transmission to the public and our investigation has determined that there was no COVID-19 exposure to the general public."
All confirmed cases at the 3340 River Ranch Road location are isolating and contact investigation is underway. There is no risk to the general public and IH did not give the number of employees or customers affected due to the small size of the community for privacy reasons, Hardt said.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced today in the latest provincial press release that an outbreak has been declared at the Tim Hortons location.
Public Health is contact tracing and will follow up with all other employees who may have been exposed.
"Interior Health will increase testing capacity in Merritt to address any possible additional demands. It is important to stress that testing is not required if you do not have symptoms of COVID-19. People can take the self-assessment test on the B.C. CDC website, call 811, or contact the local testing centre at 250-378-3407 to find out if they need a test," reads the email from IH.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control notes that risk of exposure is low from touching surfaces and there is no evidence that COVID-19 is spread through food made by infected people. COVID-19 is spread from person-to-person through respiratory droplets.
There is a theoretical risk that a person infected with COVID-19 could spread the virus by sneezing on food or by directly touching food with their hands, Interior Health said. However, there have been no cases reported of such transmission with COVID-19.
- This story was updated at 3:45 p.m. to add information from Dr. Bonnie Henry and additional information from Hardt.
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