Laval restaurant closes after at least 30 infected in outbreak; early testing shows Omicron

A Laval restaurant is closing voluntarily for at least a week after a staff member and about 30 other people caught COVID-19 in holiday-party season.

At least one of the infections linked to the Boating Club restaurant, on the city's north shore, is presumed to be Omicron, said Laval public health spokesperson Marie-Eve Despatie-Gagnon.

It isn't believed the popular restaurant was breaking any public health rules, she said -- it was just a case of "bad luck" and the new, very transmissible virus.

"We have excellent collaboration with the Boating Club," said Despatie-Gagnon.

The restaurant decided on its own to close, rather than being ordered closed by public health, she said. In an announcement on its Facebook page on Thursday afternoon, the restaurant's ownership said it made the decision after getting test results back from health authorities.

"We regret to inform you that Laval Public Health has just informed us that a case of Omicron has been detected at our restaurant bar," read the restaurant's announcement.

"We have decided as a precaution to close the restaurant and bar for the week," it added, saying it may reopen just before Christmas but "definitely December 28th."

Apologizing to customers that had reservations in that time, it said "stay safe and see you soon!"

Radio-Canada first reported the news of the outbreak, which it said was linked to a single office holiday party, infecting 31 out of 32 attendees.

"There were Christmas parties," said Despatie-Gagnon, and there were about 30 to 32 resulting infections, but she couldn't confirm that they all came from a single party.

Testing is still ongoing -- only one employee's infection has been confirmed, but the rest of the staff are currently being tested.

Likewise, only one test sample has been tentatively confirmed as Omicron after genetic pre-screening, but Laval Public Health is waiting until the full DNA testing from Quebec's public health institute to declare that it's definitely the new variant.

Pre-screening results, however, are surefire enough that public health authorities act on them as if they are positive, aggressively tracing and managing outbreaks in an effort to delay Omicron's spread. That's happening now with this outbreak, given the one presumed case, Despatie-Gagnon said.

Laval is tied with Montreal as the third-highest COVID-19 rate in Quebec, with 259 active cases per 100,000 people, or about one out of every 400 people currently infected. 

Both are among the top 10 hardest-hit public health units in Canada right now, according to daily charts maintained by an Ontario statistician.

Quebec Premier François Legault made an urgent announcement on Thursday evening, saying that over 3,700 new cases will be announced Friday and that a series of public health measures are being tightened as of Monday.