Fabricland in Newmarket has been shut down until York Region comes out of lockdown with seven COVID-19 cases now confirmed in employees.
The first positive case was confirmed last week, while the location on Davis Drive remained open, with six additional cases likely resulting from workplace exposure, according to a company spokesperson.
Fabricland was open and allowing shoppers inside for at least one day last week, despite the lockdown that began in York Region on Dec. 14 and forced non-essential businesses to close or switch to curbside pickup.
After the first positive COVID-19 employee case, the store was closed and all staff were required to get tested last Thursday and Friday.
"A total of seven staff members, including the first person, tested positive," confirmed a senior manager at Fabricland's head office who declined to give their name because they are not an official company spokesperson.
"We have no way of verifying (if they all contracted the virus at work), but it stands to reason because all six people who tested positive were working in the building with the original person. That would lead us to believe it was workplace transmission."
An employee who contacted NewmarketToday said the first person who was infected last worked on Saturday, Dec. 12.
The store allowed customers inside to shop on Wednesday, Dec. 16 before it was closed again. The senior manager confirmed the store was open to the public last week but didn't know for how many days.
"After staying closed and doing curbside pickup on Monday and Tuesday because of the lockdown, we got a call saying we had to go back to work for an open store on Wednesday," said the Newmarket employee who asked not to be identified due to potential retaliation at work.
"I couldn't understand for the life of me what the heck would prompt them to open the store," the employee said.
"With people coming up from Toronto, keeping two metres away is impossible. The tables are not two-metres long as they should be. And we have (physical distancing) dots on the floor, but constantly have to be asking people to stand on them."
The senior manager said the store had been open despite the lockdown as Fabricland is considered a "safety supply store" that sells materials needed to make homemade PPE, as well as the commercially manufactured kind.
"We do sell ready-made PPE such as vinyl gloves, hand sanitizer, disposable face masks, and supplies for making PPE such as face masks, scrub gowns, caps. So there are about 40 products we sell that are essential for making PPE and are in high demand," said the manager.
Newmarket bylaw officers did not agree with this interpretation of the provincial lockdown rules after a complaint was received about the situation.
"We have been advised by the bylaw enforcement that we will most likely have to close down, and we have heeded that advice. The provincial law is being interpreted differently across different municipalities, and in York Region, it is being interpreted in that way. Which is fine; we will always follow the advice given by public health and bylaw enforcement," the manager said.
