A Port Moody eatery is feeling the heat after Fraser Health flagged it for COVID-19 exposures last week.
After closing for several days for deep cleaning, the St. James's Well plans to issue a statement on social media.
A spokesperson for the Alliance of Beverage Licensees (ABLE BC) said the business plans to issue a statement today (Thursday); the owner declined requests for comment from the Tri-City News.
Wednesday, media trucks were parked outside the pub after it was revealed the pub hosted a trivia contest.
“While we are unable to confirm specific details involving individual businesses, we can confirm that an event involving a trivia night at a pub in the Fraser Health Authority has resulted in 24 primary cases of COVID-19 as well as numerous secondary cases, including an outbreak at a child centre," Fraser Health said in a statement to the Tri-City News Wednesday.
And while it wouldn’t link the pub outbreak to a growing caseload at the SFU Childcare Society, Fraser Health did confirm that there are 26 COVID-19 cases at that child care centre.
This is the first COVID-19 outbreak declared at a daycare within the Fraser Health region.
Recently, Fraser Health added the Feb. 2 trivia night at the St. James's Well pub in Port Moody to its exposures webpage.
In a Feb. 12 Facebook post, St. James's Well said both staff and customers contracted COVID-19 between Feb. 2 and Feb. 7. The post said the pub was closing until Feb. 16.
In her Tuesday press conference, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry warned that social gatherings were responsible for 40% of new COVID cases. As well, she noted that an establishment hosted 50 people for a "games night” resulting in cases at work places, schools and a child care centre.
The Tri-City News has not independently confirmed that she was speaking about St. James’s Well.
Meanwhile, news about the local pub comes as a Port Moody hockey team revealed COVID-19 cases among four members, and some Tri-City grocery and drug stores had cases among staff.
