Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, speaks with reporters on March 12, 2020. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, speaks with reporters on March 12, 2020. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
Windsor

Worker at Chuck's Roadhouse tests positive for COVID-19

The Medical Officer of Health in Windsor-Essex stressed the owners of Chuck's Roadhouse appears to have done everything right, and yet, the health unit is reporting an employee there has tested positive for COVID-19.

Doctor Wajid Ahmed said staff at the restaurant were wearing masks and social distancing.

"It is not an indication or reflection of any activities or any action taken by the employer," he said. "I think they were all doing the right thing."

However, health inspectors will be at the restaurant on Tecumseh Road East in Windsor Friday to investigate.

Part of that investigation will include checking to see if the restaurant kept a detailed list of everyone in the establishment on July 24 and July 25.

Those people will need to be contacted and possibly tested for COVID-19. Ahmed is advising any customers who visited the restaurant on those days to monitor for COVID-19 symptoms over the next two weeks.

“While the risk of contracting COVID-19 is low, it is important for customers to watch for the development of signs and symptoms consistent with the novel coronavirus," he explained." Anyone who develops symptoms should be tested as soon as they can."

Ahmed would not say if the worker is male or female or worked in the kitchen or as a waiter.

He also said it is likely the worker had no idea they were infectious when they went to work.

"They may not have even known about their symptoms," he said. "If I start showing symptoms today, I'll have to go back 48 hours so that anyone I came in contact with -- I will be notifying them."

Ahmed said there is evidence the worker had some contact with the public, which is why the health unit has decided to name the business.

"If there was no interaction with anyone, we might not even be reporting it," he said.

Ahmed has resisted naming other businesses that have tested positive, saying the public should always be vigilant and assume everyone they come in contact with has the virus.

On Friday, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reported 21 new cases of COVID-19. Of those, 11 are in the community. Another seven are in the agri-food sector, and the rest are under investigation.

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