The owner of a Kingsville restaurant said he was disappointed with how the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit handled the news that two customers recently tested positive for COVID-19.
On Friday morning, the health unit issued a public alert to customers of three establishments after two patrons tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
According to the press release sent out by the health unit, two people visited Wineology Restaurant in Kingsville, El Diablo Restaurant in Kingsville, and Muscedere Vineyards in Harrow on August 21. The customers were symptomatic at the time of their visit but had not yet been tested for COVID-19.
John Perciballi, one of the owners of El Diablo, told Blackburn News that he feels it was unfortunate how the situation was handled. According to Perciballi, he found out that the two customers had tested positive through the news.
"I was at home with my son, my wife was at the restaurant already," he explained. "My phone started blowing up around 10 [a.m.] and I thought it was my friends playing a joke on me... I opened up the link they were sending me and all of sudden I [saw] our restaurant in the [news]."
In the alert, the health unit asked anyone who visited the establishments on that date to take an online COVID-19 self-assessment and monitor for symptoms closely.
Perciballi said he was disappointed that he didn't have a chance to inform his staff and patrons of the situation before it was made public. In addition, he said the restaurants were also not given any advanced warning that the news would be made public by the health unit.
"I didn't get anything from anybody," he said. "No health board, no government, nobody contacted us. I found that very, very weird that they would put that kind of information in the public eye without contacting me or giving me the heads up."
A statement on Muscedere Vineyards echoed many of Perciballi's concerns.
"In regards to today’s news from the WECHU regarding our establishment. Two patrons who dined with us between 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. on Friday, August 21 and were previously exhibiting symptoms tested positive for COVID-19. Unfortunately, we were not made aware of this prior to the release this morning. We found out like everyone through the media. In addition, we were later told by the health unit that it was their responsibility to complete calls to our contact tracing list," stated the Facebook post. "We do apologize for any anxiety or stress this may have caused our guests. Today the health unit completed a full inspection. Based on our physical distancing policy and sanitizing techniques the risk of exposure to any guests at the winery at the time of the incident was extremely low and there is no risk to those who visited in the following days. Our contact tracing list is now in the hands of the health unit for further follow-up."
As a locally owned business, Perciballi said it's hard not to feel singled out by the health unit and its handling of the situation.
"If those people went to work that day or went to the supermarket or the bank or a hundred other places, why was it just the three restaurants they were at," he questioned.
According to Perciballi, officials from the health unit visited El Diablo, completed an inspection and gave them the go-ahead to continue operating. Perciballi said the restaurant's staff members also voluntarily got tested as a precaution, adding that no one is showing any symptoms of the virus.
Perciballi said he hopes that the recent news doesn't discourage people from dining out at restaurants.
"Now that COVID has been around, I think restaurants are very safe places to eat because we do follow protocols better than most places because we're always cleaning, sanitizing, washrooms are always being cleaned. Every time something is touched we wipe it down," he said.
In the initial alert by the health unit, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed said the advisory was issued as a precaution, adding that the potential exposure of COVID-19 to any customers remained low.
The health unit has issued a handful of other public notices for potential exposure to COVID-19 at local establishments, including one for Chuck's Roadhouse in Windsor on July 31 after a worker testing positive for the virus and most recently for Spirit Halloween at Devonshire Mall.
As of Sunday afternoon, the Windsor-Essex region has 2,517 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 2,366 of them listed as being recovered.
