Concern over a positive case of COVID-19 and confirmation that it has since been identified as a variant of concern has prompted the temporary closure of the Barrie courthouse for two days.
The courthouses in Orillia and Bradford have also been closed as a precaution since some employees travel between the locations, according to a memo distributed to “participants” of the three Simcoe County courthouses, by the manager of court operations.
The courthouses were to remain closed Thursday and Friday.
They do not appear on the list of outbreak locations posted by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.
Court operations have experienced delays across the province since an emergency was first declared as a result of the pandemic in March. Many of the court operations have since pivoted to online and remote operations.
As a result, Barrie criminal lawyer Gary Pickard, who heads up the local criminal lawyers’ association, said 90 per cent of his work is being done remotely and the current closure isn’t expected to impact his practice.
“The only thing that was a concern — bail hearings and guilty pleas for custody people for today and tomorrow were being adjourned to Monday — and so they’re trying to make some accommodation for people who would normally be released today or tomorrow,” he said.
“They’re doing everything they can not to have people spend a weekend in jail unnecessarily," Pickard added.
According to Wednesday’s memo, one person tested positive for COVID-19 in the Barrie courthouse and was last there on Feb. 12. A preliminary workplace exposure risk assessment was conducted on Feb. 14 to identify anyone in the courthouse who potentially experienced a high-risk exposure to the positive case.
Five people were identified, tested and went into self-isolation for 14 days. Three have since tested negative for COVID, but they are expected to be tested again in 10 days.
On Wednesday, the confirmed positive case in the Barrie courthouse was identified as a variant of concern, leading to Thursday’s closure. The specific variant has not yet been identified.
“The variants of concern are a new development in the pandemic, and this is the first instance where a variant of concern has been detected in one of our courthouses,” Dana Bush, manager of court operations, wrote in the memo. “As a result, given the unprecedented situation, the ministry, in consultation with the Chief Justices of the Superior Court of Justice and Ontario Court of Justice, has decided to act in an abundance of caution while these investigations are underway and temporarily close the Barrie courthouse on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 18 and 19, 2021.
“Further, we understand that there may have been staff that travelled between Barrie, Orillia and potentially Bradford. Because of this potential contact between staff across the three sites, for the same cautious reason, the ministry will also close the Orillia and Bradford courthouses on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 18 and 19, 2021.”
Bush declined comment for this article.
The memo further outlines precautions that have been implemented, including entrance screening, physical distancing, hand hygiene, personal protective equipment and source control face coverings, to reduce the possibility of COVID transmission in the workplace.
According to figures posted by the Simcoe Muskoka Health Unit on Wednesday, 160 local cases have tested positive for the easily transmissible B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the United Kingdom, and an additional 154 cases have screened positive and are awaiting confirmatory testing.
But earlier this week, local medical officer of health Dr. Charles Gardner said the number could be in the range of about 500 people in this area when including COVID-positive cases that are associated with outbreaks identified to be linked to a variant.
