Residents of Mississauga, Ont., condo tested after coronavirus variant cluster found

Residents of a condominium in Mississauga, Ont., were tested for COVID-19 on Monday after a cluster of five cases of the coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa was discovered at the building.

The widespread floor-by-floortesting was made available for residents "out of an abundance of caution," and to prevent any further rapid spread of theB1351 variant, according toDr. Lawrence Loh, Peel Region's medical officer of health.

"We are trying to find every possible case that might be in the building at this point in time and ensure that this is being contained," Loh said onMonday.

"We're essentially trying to identify how the transmission may have occurred but I think what's very concerning about this specific situation is that the cases involved do not appear to know each other, have not appeared to have significant close contact and don't report it in the extensive interviews we've done with them."

Ashleigh Hawkins, spokesperson for Peel Region, said in an email on Tuesday night that testing is nowcomplete and was conducted floor by floor.

Hawkins could not say how many residents were tested.

The building has been identified by CityTowers Property Management Inc.,its property management company, asChicago Condominiums at385 Prince of Wales Dr.

Loh saidthere areconcerns that the variant spread through common elements in the building such as corridors and elevators.

Loh said 1,800 people are affected including residents and staff at the condominium and theyhave received a letter from Peel Public Health to make them aware of the situation.

"Given that the 1351 variant has not been detected elsewhere in the Region of Peel and is not necessarily circulating widely in the province of Ontario, this is an attempt to really try to get ahead of the variant," he said.

Whilethe floor-by-floortesting wasvoluntary, Lohcalled it "highly recommended."

The testing was scheduled to happen from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.

The province's first case of the B1351 variant was detected in Peel Region on Feb. 1. As of Sunday, the province hadseen six cases of the B1351variant and 303 cases of another highly transmissible variant known as B117, which wasfirst detected in the United Kingdom.

In a statement on Monday, the board of directors of ChicagoCondominiumssaid the building has more than 400 units and testing was conducted with the help ofRegion of Peel, Ontario Health, Paragon Security, and CityTowers Property Management Inc.

"We requested door-to-door testing as it is more convenient and private for our community, and it minimizes transmission through the aggregation of crowds within our building," the statement reads.

WATCH | Covid-19 variant cluster found atToronto-area condo building:

Officials scramble to contain COVID-19 variant outbreak in Toronto-area condo building

4 years ago

Duration 1:57

Health officials are scrambling to contain an outbreak of the COVID-19 variant first discovered in South Africa inside a Mississauga, Ont., condo building. At least five people have been infected so far.

"Management and the Board of Directors are communicating with Region of Peel health officials on a daily basis. Peel Public Health were on-site on Sunday, February 14, 2021, for a comprehensive building inspection, and it was noted that our building has already taken extreme measures to ensure the health and safety of our residents and staff."

Since last March, the boardsaid it has made changes to the operation of the building to ensure it is safe for residents.These changes include:

• Closure of communal spaces (amenities, gym, pool, media room, etc.).
• Installation of protective glass around the common areas of the building.
• Limit on number ofbuilding visitors and contractors/
• Implementation of parcel delivery lockers, and prohibited delivery personnel access to residential area.
• Implementation of contact-less entry and exit access points.
• Distribution and availability of masks and sanitization stations around the building.
• Enforcement of all public health recommendations, including the wearing of masks.
• Increase of cleaning and sanitization of common areas of the building.
• Re-configuration of theelevator system to limit occupancy.
• Penalization of contractors who violate the health and safety protocols of our building.

"We are always open to implementing further measures to support to the health and safety of our residents and staff. We are working closely with the Region of Peel to implement additional recommended safety precautions, such as installation of additional hand sanitizer stations on every floor, and floor markings to enforce social distancing," the boardsaid.

"The privacy of our residents is paramount."

The province, meanwhile, announced on Friday that stay-at-home measures would lift for 27 other health units on Tuesday, allowing them to move back to Ontario's colour-coded pandemic response framework.

Toronto, Peel and York regions, and the North Bay-Parry Sound districtwill remain underthe current shutdown until at least Feb. 22, according to the province.

"Even as the province moves towardthe return to the provincial framework on Feb. 22, we need to be very clear that any reopening or loosening of measures at this point in time risks explosive growth to the variant and we must be very careful," said Loh.