A pre-emptive COVID-19 check prior to hosting her Toronto-area family over the weekend led to a positive test for a Tiny Township woman.
Midland Golf and Country Club general manager Ian Kirkpatrick said the woman, who is a club member, decided to get tested for COVID-19 since she and her husband planned to welcome their family to their cottage for a Father’s Day get-together.
“Interesting that this individual did it as a random test, there were no symptoms,” Kirkpatrick said, noting the couple had requested their children and grandchildren from the city be tested before coming up to visit.
“And they said, ‘well we made our kids do it, we should get tested, too’ and then one of them tested positive. She was asymptomatic.”
According to the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, the woman is in her 60s and acquired the virus through community transmission and represents the first case reported in Tiny since May 14.
“They’ve been up here at their summer home for a couple of months and were doing the right things,” Kirkpatrick said, adding the couple has been very careful by always wearing protective masks and gloves and only going grocery shopping once a week to try to limit their exposure.
The positive test also meant the golf club had to shut its doors Saturday as a precaution and to ensure it could initiate a thorough cleaning and sanitizing of its facilities, according to Kirkpatrick.
“We were in touch with the public health unit,” Kirkpatrick said, noting tracking was initiated to ensure everybody the woman had played with or eaten with earlier in the week was contacted.
“We reopened on Sunday. We’ve had our staff tested. Some of the people are not back at work yet because they’re waiting for the test results.”
Kirkpatrick said the case serves to illustrate the need for continued perseverance in combating the virus and adhering to public-health guidelines.
“She didn’t show any symptoms,” he said. “It really resonates that it’s in this community and it’s everywhere.”
Kirkpatrick said the club, which opened for the season last month, continues to closely follow public health and provincial directives to ensure player and staff safety.
“Golf, itself, is a pretty low-risk situation,” he said. “From our point of view, it shows how it’s around, but we don’t hear much about it. It shows in the community that you can’t assume much.
"You can’t assume everybody’s healthy.”
