Lessons from the gym outbreak in Quebec City, one of Canada’s largest COVID-19 superspreader events

The gym was closed on March 31st because of the city Blockade again..To date, 222 people have been infected in the gym with another 356 related cases in 49 workplaces. 40-year-old man died..

However, authorities have not yet provided important details about the outbreak that can help inform the public, including whether it was caused. More contagious And Potentially more deadly Variants and whether they were driven by aerosol transfer, or microscopic airborne particles.

The outbreak is currently under epidemiological investigation, but some details of how the virus spreads are kept secret, said Matthew Boybin, a spokesman for local health authorities.

Health officials say they had violated at least three public health orders before Jim was closed. Jim staff reportedly did not ask patrons if they were suffering from COVID-19 symptoms, clients were not two meters away, and employees were wearing the necessary personal protective equipment. did not.

Jim’s owner, Dan Marino, has not responded to requests for comment. In a Facebook post, he defended his efforts to comply with public health regulations.

Dr. Isabel Bertrand, a doctor in the emergency room at Opital Saint-Francois Dasse in Quebec City, began seeing the direct consequences of the outbreak earlier this month.

One of her patients was a man infected with the virus from his son who was infected with the virus while exercising in the gym.

Now, she said, it’s more difficult to know how a patient was infected with the virus. That’s because she spreads widely in the community at a fast pace, likened to a “mouse lecture.” Bertland said her ER was “more and more busy.”

“We’re really getting closer to worrying again,” she said.

“Stunning” outbreaks and more contagious variants

Outbreaks aren’t the only reason for the recent surge in cases in Quebec City, but health experts say it was a major driver.

Raymond Terrier, an infectious disease expert, medical microbiologist, and professor of associate medicine at McGill University, called the outbreak “amazing.”

“This is a setting where aerosol-related superspreader events can occur if there is not proper ventilation and there is too much congestion,” he said. “This is noteworthy.”

It is also not the first outbreak of this kind associated with a Canadian fitness center.

Another Superspreader Event in Downtown Spin Studio, Hamilton, Ontario In October, at least 85 people were infected with COVID-19.

Similar to the outbreak in Quebec City, in Hamilton’s Spinco, 54 people were infected with COVID-19 in the studio, followed by 31 in homes, schools, day care centers, medical facilities and other workplaces.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States Present research Fifty-five of the 81 participants who broke out at a gym in Chicago in August were infected. Masks were rarely worn during exercise by patrons — some had COVID-19 symptoms.

However, the difference between these outbreaks and the outbreak in Quebec City is that more contagious variants of the coronavirus were not as widely distributed in the community at the time as they are today.

A year later, policy is still lagging behind science

Professor Linsey Marr, an expert on the aerial transmission of viruses at Virginia Tech, said that this type of outbreak is still occurring a year after the pandemic, given the growing number of studies in which aerosol transmission causes hyperproliferation events. He said that was amazing.

She said the outbreak in Quebec City had all the characteristics of a “classical” Superspreader event.

You can’t expect the public to follow all the latest science … if they see the gym open, they’ll assume it’s safe.-Virginia Technic Institute and Technology Airborn Virus Expert, Professor Linsey Marr

“We can’t expect the general public to follow all the latest science, so they will probably live their lives based on whether they are open or not,” she said. “And when they see the gym open, they think it’s safe.”

Mr Ma also said the situation emphasized how public policy did not evolve to reflect the scientific evidence that COVID-19 spreads primarily in the air rather than on the surface.

“People tend to grab what they hear first, which was to wipe out your groceries a year ago,” Ma said. “But I think we really need a campaign to show people how the virus is infected and to reveal policies that match it.”

See | Quebec City’s COVID-19 surge leads to more restrictions.

In Quebec, more COVID-19 restrictions are imposed as the number of cases increases, especially in the city of Quebec, where variants have gained control. Quebec City, Levi’s, Gatineau and Bose face tight controls, while Montreal and Laval have returned to a curfew at 8 pm. 2:02

Later, in Quebec City, the gym was ordered to close. They were also closed in Montreal and Laval last week as part of restrictions aimed at preventing the already ongoing variety surge in the capital.

However, in some hit areas, indoor fitness classes are permitted or, until recently, throughout Canada. Increased risk of infection from variants..

Manitoba Moved to resume Same day as recording gym and indoor fitness classes in early February First case of B117, And so far Third wave Of a pandemic.

Alberta Reopened gym Despite the surge in atypical cases, in late January, but last week, the state Return to the limit in step 1, Included closing them.

BC allowed indoor fitness Mask needed only when not exercising Until the end of March when it was implemented Three-week “circuit breaker” style blockade The gym was closed, but one-on-one fitness classes were allowed.

See | Inside some of Canada’s most hit hospitals in the third wave of COVID-19:

More patients than ever before in a pandemic are fighting for life in the Ontario ICU. CBC News confirms impact on Toronto’s Scarborough Health Network. 7:34

“There is pandemic fatigue when variants emerge, and expectations for vaccination are too high,” Terrier said.

“We shouldn’t be alert too soon, and that’s what’s happening now.”

Terrier said the recent rapid changes in public health regulations in Canada’s most devastated areas have directly responded to the epidemic of variants, but whether these measures will have an impact. I don’t know yet.

“The government thought it could be a little more open, which people wanted, but it’s not working,” he said.

“In the next few months, we need to resign to the fact that life has not yet returned to normal, and due to the high communicability of these variants, we need to be more careful than before. This is unfortunately this is it. “