With Hamilton public health no longer declaring outbreaks in workplace and community settings, what happens now?

Gone are the days when Hamiltonians could find a list of COVID outbreaks affecting their favourite eateries or local grocery store.

On Dec. 23, Hamilton public health announced it would no longer declare new outbreaks associated with workplace and community settings across the city.

Instead, staff will focus their efforts on investigating outbreaks in high-risk settings including hospitals, long-term-care homes, retirement homes, shelters, supportive housing, correctional institutions, child-care centres and schools.

The change comes as the city grapples with an unprecedented surge in COVID cases as a result of the emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, which has overwhelmed" the city's ability to provide outbreak management in all settings.

Prior to the switch, the city's online outbreak list would be dotted with settings such as gyms, bars, car dealerships and salons.

Now, it's up to the businesses, workplaces and those in charge of community settings to disclose outbreaks and cases to the public.

The Spectator asked Hamilton public health a number of questions about what businesses and community settings and the public should do moving forward - here are some of their responses.

What should businesses or community settings with confirmed cases/outbreaks do?

Hamilton Public Health Services strongly recommends local workplaces, sports teams and other non-high-risk community settings with five or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 consider discontinuing operations for a period of 10 days to break transmission in the setting.

Employees should notify their supervisor if they have been in contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and advise of any direction received that may impact their work (e.g. advised to self-isolate).

Employers should communicate with staff if advised that a staff member or customer at the store has tested positive with COVID-19.

What should those who test positive do?

A COVID-19 positive or probable case in your workplace will need to self-isolate for 10 days from when they first developed symptoms of COVID-19, or if they are asymptomatic (they do not have symptoms), they will need to self-isolate for 10 days from their test date.

Positive cases are to identify all individuals they have had a high-risk close contact with 48 hours before symptom onset and notify them of this exposure.

Who is a high-risk close contact?

A high-risk close contact is a person who:

• Has had close personal interaction (two metres) with a positive case for 15 minutes or longer. This time can be cumulative across multiple encounters during their infectious period.

• Had direct contact with the person with COVID-19, such as hugging or sharing items like drinks, vapes and cigarettes.

Do businesses and restaurants still have to report outbreaks/cases to public health even though the information will not be posted publicly?

No.

Will public health alert restaurants and businesses of exposures reported and confirmed through contact tracing?

No, rather contacts such as employees should notify their supervisors/managers if they have been in contact with or are a confirmed COVID-19 case.

Will public health collect any kind of data on outbreaks in community settings and workplaces?

No. With the changes in approach to focus case and contact management activities in high-risk settings, Hamilton Public Health Services will not have data from these community settings.

Has public health considered issuing public exposure notices, similar to strategies used in the City of Toronto and New Brunswick?

In the past, this was done only in circumstances where those exposed could not be reached directly. Going forward, with the changes in approach to focus case and contact management activities in high-risk settings, Hamilton Public Health Services will not have exposure information on community settings and will not be issuing public exposure notices.

How can patrons get information from businesses about potential COVID exposures and outbreaks?

Without the information being made public through the city, it's up to residents to contact individual businesses or community settings with questions they may have on outbreaks or confirmed cases.

Some Hamilton businesses and organizations have opted to make the information public, mostly through social media, despite not being required to.

I'm a business owner and this change has left me with questions. Where can I go?

The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce is recommending businesses in need of guidance call the Hamilton COVID Concierge service at 905-521-3989.

Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com