TORONTO — Public health officials say 23 COVID-19 cases have resulted from four events related to a wedding in the Greater Toronto Area, as they continue to track close contacts of people who were in attendance.
The York Region Public Health Unit late Saturday warned anyone who attended the wedding events that they may have been exposed to the virus, and to monitor for symptoms until Sept. 12.
The unit initially reported 11 cases from the events, but increased the tally to 23 on Sunday evening as contact tracing efforts continued.
Three of the events took place Aug. 28 at a private home in Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ont., Rexdale Singh Sabha Religious Centre in Toronto, and Lakshmi Narayan Mandir Temple in Toronto.
The other took place on Aug. 29 at a private home in Markham, Ont.
A statement from the health unit says of the confirmed cases, “18 are residents of York Region, four are residents of Durham Region and one is a resident of Peel Region.”
The health unit said it issued the public notice to help it trace the contacts of people who attended the gatherings.
It said it has followed up with known close contacts of the identified cases and directed them to get tested and self-isolate for 14 days.
The warning follows a COVID-19 outbreak linked to a wedding reception in Maine sickened more than 140 people and killed three.
It also comes as Ontario reported 158 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, along with two more deaths due to the coronavirus.
There were also 111 cases newly marked as resolved.
The total number of cases in Ontario now stands at 43,161, which includes 2,813 deaths and 38,958 resolved cases.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said Toronto reported 49 new cases on Sunday, Peel Region reported 44 and Ottawa 21.
She said 29 of the province’s 34 public health units reported five or fewer new cases, and 20 are reporting none.
The province was able to complete 28,955 tests over the previous day.
This article by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2020.
—with files from The Associated Press
Shawn Jeffords, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version stated that the potential exposures happened at four separate weddings; in fact, it was four events related to the same wedding.
