COVID-19 outbreak at Kitchener restaurant likely spread after popular Friday lunch special

KITCHENER - The COVID-19 outbreak at the Algarve restaurant likely happened on a Friday afternoon when construction workers, who usually come in for the Friday meal special, were eating at the Kitchener restaurant.

Somebody may have had the virus without even knowing it, said restaurant owner Frank Ventura.

Ventura said he follows all the public health protocols including wearing a mask when you enter the restaurant, getting names and phone numbers for contact tracing, placing tables two metres apart, sitting four people at a table and consistent sanitizing.

About a week later, people in the close-knit Portuguese community were talking about a couple of construction workers likely having COVID-19.

A server at Algarve, who didn't have symptoms but noticed her sense of smell was off, decided she should get tested as a precaution. Within days she had a positive test.

That's when Ventura decided to get tested. His results were positive.

I closed down the restaurant myself," said Ventura who notified public health.

Region of Waterloo Public Health declared an outbreak with six confirmed cases at the Stirling Avenue South restaurant on Nov. 8 and the next day in an unusual step, publicly named the restaurant.

Dr. Julie Emili, acting associate medical officer of health, said the Algarve restaurant outbreak was unique because of the sheer numbers involved.

Public health said about 175 people could have been exposed to the virus and suggested that anyone who had been at the restaurant between Oct. 28 to Nov. 4 could have been exposed. They recommended anyone who had been there that week get tested.

Emili said the restaurant was named because public health was unable to contact 175 people in a timely manner.

We didn't have the ability to deal with them individually," she said. Naming the restaurant and notifying the media was the best way to get the information out quickly, she said.

Ventura said the book he used to keep track of customers for contact tracing is with him at home. Public health told him they were going to pick it up but they didn't.

Instead, he read names and numbers over the phone to them.

As of Tuesday, public health said the number of confirmed COVID cases associated to the outbreak at the restaurant had grown to 29.

Public health has said that the virus spread from a private social gathering to the restaurant and from there to other people. Public health wouldn't identify other settings even though there have been at least three outbreaks in construction settings after the Algarve incident.

An outbreak has been declared in another workplace setting with connection to cases who attended Algarve Restaurant," said public health spokesperson Kerri Hutchinson in an email this week.

Concerned about COVID-19 spreading within the Portuguese community, other organizations have voluntarily shut down.

A day after public health released the name of the restaurant, the Kitchener Portuguese Club on Westmount Road posted on its website that it was closing its doors to the public.

Given the accelerated rate of COVID-19 infections in Waterloo Region, and more specifically the recent news of an outbreak at a local Portuguese restaurant, our board of directors has decided for the protection of its volunteers, members, patrons and the local Portuguese community as a whole, we will be closed to the public for all events until at least Thurs., Nov. 26."

The club was holding Friday night socials where people could eat in or order take-out.

Asked if club members had tested positive for COVID-19, Dan Rocha, a member of the board of directors, cited privacy concerns and said questions on positive cases should be directed to public health.

Msgr. Murray Kroetsch, spokesperson for the Diocese of Hamilton and administrator of Our Lady of Fatima Church, the Portuguese church in Kitchener, said the number of congregants at Sunday service is down by half. Capacity at the church under public health guidelines is 30 per cent which is about 90 people, but only 40 attended mass on Sunday, he said.

I am aware that many in the Portuguese community have been affected by the confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting from contacts at Algarve Restaurant," Kroetsch said.

Obviously, parishioners are being extra careful in light of the recent outbreak," he said.

Ventura and his wife, Filomena - the owners of the Algarve - are both at home self-isolating after positive COVID-19 tests.

Ventura, 66, is the cook and has been serving the Portuguese community and others with popular cuisine since 1987. When the pandemic hit, he closed the restaurant and then reopened at the end of May. He had set up a tent outside the restaurant for diners, which was well received and busy throughout the summer.

Now, he's worried about a stigma attached to his restaurant after the COVID-19 outbreak.

People might be afraid of coming to the restaurant," he said in his native Portuguese.

He's also worried about his community and how quickly the virus spread, even though he followed the rules.

People need to be careful. I keep thinking about what happened," he said.

Liz Monteiro is a Waterloo Region-based general assignment reporter for The Record. Reach her via email: lmonteiro@therecord.com