Seven infected in outbreak linked to Grey Cup event at Corktown pub
Hamilton public health says as many as 200 people attended a Grey Cup event at a local pub that is now the site of a COVID outbreak.
According to public health, the event was a ticketed Tiger-Cat and Grey Cup-themed" gathering held at the Corktown Irish Pub, located at 175 Young St., on Dec. 10. So far, it has resulted in an outbreak with seven patrons" infected. The outbreak was declared Dec. 18, eight days after the event.
The Spectator was unable to reach the Corktown Pub on Monday.
A Facebook event shows a Funk Bash" was held at the pub on Dec. 10 and 11, hosted by the Box J Boys, a group of Ticats superfans. The Friday, Dec. 10 event ran from 12 p.m. to close and included a live DJ. Cover was $10.
It's unclear if all 200 Friday attendees would be considered close contacts.
The outbreak comes as public health says it is falling behind on contact tracing.
As a result, public health is now asking people who test positive for COVID to reach out to their close contacts and inform them they have been exposed. From there, close contacts are meant to self-isolate and monitor for symptoms for 10 days after the point of last contact.
Previously, the advice had been that those who are fully vaccinated could go ahead with their daily schedules but because we are seeing transmission even among those that are fully vaccinated, please stay home and isolate," said Hamilton's medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson. Do not wait for a case or contact manager to contact you. We are asking everybody to do these things proactively."
So far, there are no known instances of spread in connection with the Dec. 12 Grey Cup game at Tim Hortons Field. More than 26,000 people attended the game. Though it was an outdoor game, which helps to mitigate the potential spread of the virus, people were unable to physically distance and many were not wearing masks.
It appears no other outbreaks are linked to Grey Cup events.
Asked to confirm that no other ongoing outbreaks - such as those at bars from the same weekend - are Grey Cup-related, public health spokesperson James Berry said: Any CFL-sanctioned events related to the Grey Cup festival will be posted to the city's status of cases dashboard, and would be classified as such."
The city was abuzz the weekend of Dec. 10, with CFL fans pouring into Hamilton from across the country. Grey Cup events were held daily leading up to the big game that Sunday.
Asked at a Monday news conference about how public health deals with outbreaks involving people from other cities, Richardson said staff work collaboratively and share information. Someone from outside Hamilton would still be included in our outbreak numbers, but not our overall COVID case count, she said.
As for the Corktown Pub outbreak, public health says the pub is co-operating and its outbreak investigation is ongoing.
There are currently 26 active outbreaks in Hamilton, with most of those being school-related.
Public health is warning the public that COVID is continuing to spread, and the Omicron variant is highly transmissible." Booster shot appointments opened up Monday to anyone 18 years old and up - previously the jabs were limited to people at least 50 years old. Still, there was widespread frustration across Hamilton as residents struggled to secure bookings.
With files from Fallon Hewitt.
Katrina Clarke is a reporter at The Spectator. katrinaclarke@thespec.com