Public health directs anyone at Ancaster Sports Centre on night of Oct. 16 to self-isolate

Public health has directed 15 to 20 people to immediately self-isolate after someone who was at the Ancaster Sports Centre on the night of Oct. 16 tested positive for COVID-19.

Officials say a person who visitedthe facility at 1030 Lower Lions Club Rd. from 9:30 to 11 p.m. that night is infected.

"All participants and spectators of this private event have been identified as close contacts and are asked to immediatelyself-isolate," read a media release from Hamilton Public Health Services Wednesday.

The direction to go into quarantine right away isn't commonly seen in communicationfrom officials, but public health spokespersonJacqueline Durlov said all close contactsare asked to do so following exposure to a confirmed case of COVID-19.

They're then interviewedas part of the contact-tracing process, she added.

Durlov said the event in question was a "private sports event" booked at the complex, but did not share any more details about it.

In a statement shared on Facebook, the sports centre said staff were notified about the positive test on Oct. 20.

"Further investigation narrowed the suspected case to a private field rental from a social gathering that had secured the final time slot of the night and, further, that the suspected positive individual associated with the group[that] entered the building," it reads.

The centresays it "sprang into action,"calling in a team to carry out an emergency disinfection of the field house within an hour.

The staff member who worked on Oct.16 was told to get tested, according to the statement. The centre,it said,iscommitted"to the safety and security" of its employees and clients.

Public health says anyone at the centre that nightshould monitor themselves for symptoms and call the public health COVID-19 hotline at 905-974-9848, option #3.