One person is reported to have tested positive for coronavirus at a southeast Calgary McDonalds, but Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health said eating from restaurants is still safe.
According to a media statement, McDonalds Canada confirmed that one person tested positive for COVID-19 at the 20 Riverglen Drive SE location. The location is being shut down for a cleaning, and other employees who were in contact with the employee have been asked to self-quarantine.
They said the employee last worked March 9 from 5 to 8 p.m. and recommends that anyone that may have attended the restaurant at that time to take the precautions prescribed on the Alberta Health website.
Not a food borne illness, said Dr. Hinshaw
When asked about the potential for spread from this McDonald’s situation, she said she didn’t have specific knowledge of the case.
“I would caution all of you if you’re getting reports that sometimes those reports are simply as someone who is sick as being tested, and they may not actually be a confirmed case,” she said.
She said with respect to eating food from this restaurant, Hinshaw said it’s not a food borne illness. She reiterated that it was safe to be ordering from restaurants.
“We talked about the fact that if you’re ordering food, to be absolutely safe you can transfer that food into your own dishes, wash your hands,” she said.
“But again, the likelihood that you would be exposed to COVID through the packaging would be very low with respect to going into restaurants or going through a drive thru, for example.”
Hinshaw added that to take extra precautions, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer prior to eating the food.
