40-Person BBQ In Ottawa Forces Over 100 People To Go Into Quarantine

A single gathering can have far-reaching consequences. That’s the lesson learned after a giant BBQ in an Ottawa park led to over 100 high-risk contacts who had to self isolate and get tested.

A chart shared by Ottawa Public Health traced the transmission following the BBQ.

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“A 40-person BBQ in a park led to 105 high-risk contacts in schools who had to self-isolate for 14 days & be tested," wrote the public health unit.

According to Global News, two people tested positive for COVID-19 in the days following the gathering.

"Parents had to miss work, kids had to miss school & 105 more people in line for testing. All from a BBQ.”

“It really had a significant impact in terms of two workplace outbreaks,” said Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Vera Etches.

The first workplace was a childcare centre, where transmission was seen amongst staff.

Then, two children from that centre rode school buses to two different schools, which led to further exposure.

The chart shows a total of 33 confirmed cases resulting from the BBQ.

Earlier this month, a similar example was shared by Etches, which showed a 10-person cottage party leading to 40 confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the course of nine days.

Ottawa Public Health would like to remind people that "our actions matter" and to make responsible choices.

New gathering restrictions imposed by Premier Doug Ford would now ensure that this gathering would've been illegal.

Last weekend, Ford announced that he was reducing the number of people who could legally gather in an uncontrolled setting to 25 people outdoors and 10 people indoors.

And no — that doesn't mean you can have 35 people over.