An outbreak declared Tuesday at the Guelph Ontario Court of Justice at 36 Wyndham St. was due to three positive cases of COVID-19 with an epidemiological link occurring within a 14-day span, says a manager of the site.
The three employees who tested positive were last in the building between Jan. 6 and Jan. 8 and all are currently self-isolating following Public Health guidance, said Jacquie Rodden Yetman, manager of court operations, Waterloo-Wellington in a memorandum from the Ministry of the Attorney General.
The memorandum said Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health declared an outbreak at the courthouse due to the situation. WDG Public Health was not available for comment at the time of the deadline for this story.
All three employees could have reasonably acquired their infection in the workplace, said Rodden Yetman in the memorandum.
Individuals who may be deemed a high-risk exposure have been contacted after the completion of an assessment. All staff and stakeholders are being asked to self-monitor.
In an abundance of caution a one-time targeted cleaning was conducted at the courthouse on Tuesday evening in the main public corridor, Guelph Police Service administration office, camera room and in a meeting/lunch room and associated washrooms.
The courthouse had already been conducting enhanced cleaning practices since March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic.
The enhanced cleaning is part of the overlapping preventative measures in place in the courthouse, including screening before attending, appropriate masking, hand hygiene and physical distancing, among others.
“The health and safety of the public and all court participants, including the judiciary, court staff, litigants, and witnesses, continues to be our top priority,” said Rodden Yetman in the memorandum. “I encourage everyone to continue to be vigilant to health and safety including not attending a courthouse if you are unwell.”
