Peterborough police have concluded their investigation into the February 20th gatherings at Severn Court Student Residence that led to a major COVID-19 outbreak without laying any charges or issuing any fines.
“We, unfortunately, do not have enough evidence to reasonably lay charges for the events that allegedly transpired on or around February 20,” said medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra during a Peterborough Public Health media briefing on Thursday (April 1).
“It’s unclear, from what we know, where those gatherings were, who hosted the gatherings, and if everyone who attended has disclosed that they were there,” she added. “And we have no proof that the indoor capacity limits, which at the time were 10 people, were exceeded at any of those parties. We just don’t have enough good evidence to be able to take any further action at this time.”
Following Dr. Salvaterra’s comments in the briefing, Peterborough police issued an email confirming the investigation has ended.
“A lot of the information was related to health information and it was not clear as to what happened and what rules were breached given the restrictions at the time,” the email reads. “Peterborough police attempted to access that information through a search warrant. That request was declined. Peterborough police will not be proceeding any further with the investigation.”
The outbreak at Severn Court Student Residence, a privately owned student housing complex near Fleming College, resulted in almost 60 cases and the death of a 31-year-old student. That student, who refused to participate in the gatherings because he was afraid of being infected, was subsequently hospitalized after becoming seriously ill.
Meanwhile, with the Ontario government’s announcement on Thursday of a four-week province-wide shutdown to contain the spread of variants of concern, Dr. Salvaterra noted the variants now account for 67 per cent of all Ontario COVID-19 cases, and are associated with a 63 per cent increased risk for hospitalization, a 103 per cent increased risk of ICU admission, and a 56 per cent increased risk of death.
The grim news of yet another lockdown is in stark contrast to what has been good progress made on the local vaccination front.
According to Dr. Salvaterra, 30,433 local residents have received at least their first dose of vaccine — 6,124 more than one week ago. She said 84 per cent of residents age 80 and up have received their first dose,n vaccinated, 40 per cent of those aged 70 to 79, and 30 per cent of those aged 60 to 69.
In addition to those encouraging numbers, Dr. Salvaterra noted a new shipment of AstraZeneca is expected to arrive as early as this weekend.
“This will be made available to people aged 55 and up,” she said, noting three pharmacies in the region will receive a supply of AstraZeneca soon with more to come on board at a later date.
The three pharmacies, all located in the City of Peterborough, are Costco Pharmacy (485 The Parkway), High Street Guardian Pharmacy (815 High Street, Unit 9), and Wal-Mart Pharmacy (1002 Chemong Road). Vaccinations at each location are by appointment only.
Turning to the local status of cases, there are currently 55 active cases in the region. March, with 225 new cases detected, represented the largest one-month case count locally since the pandemic began. Of even greater concern are the 206 variants of concern cases — a jump of 41 since last week.
Meanwhile, the outbreak picture has improved somewhat, with an outbreak at the Brock Mission declared resolved, and two ongoing outbreaks — at Trent University’s Gzowksi College and Empress Gardens Retirement Residence in downtown Peterborough — described by Dr. Salvaterra as “stable”.
However, two workplace outbreaks which have resulted in eight total cases were declared Wednesday (March 31), with one of the two being a business where there was customer interaction.
Also commenting during Thursday’s media briefing were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien, Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, and Peterborough board of health chair and Selwyn mayor Andy Mitchell.
Mayor Therrien spoke specifically to the just-announced shutdown, making it clear she feels it doesn’t go nearly far enough to make a difference one month from now.
“This is not a full lockdown,” she said. “Big box stores are allowed to continue to operate with impunity. Small businesses and self-employed people are going to be the ones to suffer. Front-line essential workers still don’t adequate access to paid sick days, and schools will remain open. This isn’t going to get us to COVID zero.”
“If you’re going to do a lockdown, to prevent the spread in a meaningful way, it needs to be tough across the board and enforced,” Mayor Therrien added. “Without that happening, I’m worried that we’re setting ourselves up for another wave and shutdown and an unsustainable pattern going forward.”
