Eight staff who work at Ontario Provincial Police general headquarters in Orillia have tested positive for COVID since Jan. 1.
“Four have since recovered, while four remain in isolation,” OPP Staff Sgt. Carolle Dionne told OrilliaMatters.com.
The general headquarters is located on Memorial Ave.
An outbreak in a workplace setting is defined by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit as confirmed COVID-19 cases that are linked to a place of employment that is not open to the public (e.g., farms, food processing plants, manufacturing). It applies to employees and employers and is based on epidemiological investigation of cases in employees of a workplace who worked in proximity and at the same time of other confirmed cases.
“There are no concerns from the public health unit or the Ministry of Labour (in regards to) our policy to protect our employees,” said Dionne. “We follow all the health guidelines to prevent acquiring and transmission.”
Dionne said many staff that work at OPP headquarters are working from home, however added that all eight positive cases had been in the building at some point.
When in the building, staff are required to wear PPE, including safety glasses and masks.
When asked if any of the positive cases were out patrolling while possibly infectious, Dionne said she didn’t have that information, however in the past if an officer has tested positive for COVID-19, they have provided public health with information on who they may have come in contact with to aid in contact tracing.
When contacted by OrilliaMatters.com, the health unit confirmed the outbreak.
Leslie Gordon, spokesperson for the health unit, said the workplace outbreak only has one listed case in the health unit’s reporting as the other seven cases live out of the health unit’s jurisdiction.
