Almost all of the currently active COVID-19 cases in Chatham-Kent can be traced back to the same community outbreak at a church in Blenheim.
Chatham-Kent's Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said Thursday morning that approximately 30 of the 32 active cases in the municipality -- including two of the three cases that are currently in the hospital -- can be linked back to the church.
Dr. Colby did not specifically name the church affected by the outbreak, but Blenheim's Word of Life Church recently notified its members via Facebook that it would be closed for two weeks.
At that time, Pastor Tim Joyce at the church also announced that one of his church families had tested positive for COVID-19.
Dr. Colby said not all of the active cases that are linked to the church outbreak contracted the virus in the church building, noting that some of the cases that can be traced back to the church outbreak are classified under different categories such as "close contact of a case."
Dr. Colby also confirmed that the COVID-19 case at a recent blood donor clinic in Chatham last week Tuesday is connected to the church outbreak.
Approximately 150 people who attended that clinic were later ordered to self-isolate and self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days because they may have come into contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.
When it comes to the setting of the church outbreak itself, Dr. Colby said he believes the spread of the virus there was tied to a "breakdown in precautions somewhere along the line" but added that he can't pinpoint exactly how that took place.
"The information that we have from interviewing church members is that they were respecting physical distancing rules... and paying attention to hand hygiene, but I note that it's a storefront church that is very small inside, and we know crowding and singing can make a difference," said Dr. Colby. "Supposedly, precautions were taken, but we do have a large number of cases associated with that environment, so obviously, there was a breakdown in precautions somewhere along the line."
Dr. Colby said as a follow-up, public health officials will be starting from "square one" by re-emphasizing all of the precautions that are currently mandated for houses of worship.
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When asked about possibly imposing stricter regulations on houses of worship across the municipality in response to the outbreak in Blenheim, Dr. Colby said that is not something he is considering at the moment.
"We're looking at what the risk factors were associated with this rather large and unwieldy outbreak that we've had," said Dr. Colby, noting there are a lot of other churches and other places of worship of other faiths in Chatham-Kent that have not been associated with outbreaks. "If I start to see a pattern of risk and transmission, I will move definitively, but this appears to be -- at least at the moment from what we know -- a singular situation."
In addition to the church outbreak, there are currently two other outbreaks in Chatham-Kent.
Dr. Colby said the first one -- a workplace outbreak that was declared last week -- is "settling down nicely" adding that he is hoping to declare that outbreak over very shortly. No cases are currently active in connection with that outbreak and it is not believed to be connected to the church outbreak.
The third outbreak in Chatham-Kent involves two active cases in a "congregate living" setting and is linked to the outbreak at the Blenheim church.
Dr. Colby said both of the two active cases connected to that outbreak have been isolated within their residences.
"We are hoping that there will not be more," said Dr. Colby. "But that is what we do, we manage that kind of setting."
There have been a few cases of COVID-19 reported in Chatham-Kent schools over the past two weeks as well, but Dr. Colby notes that so far, there is no evidence of the virus spreading within the school setting.
