Patrons who visited an East Vancouver restaurant on New Year's Eve may have been exposed to COVID-19 during their end-of-year celebrations, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) warns.
The health authority on Friday, Jan. 8 added Park Drive to its current public exposures list. According to VCH, the potential exposure took place at the 1815 Commercial Drive restaurant on Dec. 31 between the hours of 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.
While public health officials say the potential exposure event is believed to be low risk, VCH asks anyone who visited Park Drive Restaurant during the above times to self-monitor for symptoms of the coronavirus. There is no known risk to anyone who attended the restaurant outside of the specified date and times.
This marks the second time the East Vancouver eatery has been identified by VCH as the site of a potential COVID-19 public exposure event. The restaurant first appeared on the health agency's current public exposures list in October 2020.
As VCH explains, the symptoms of COVID-19 may include, among others, fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, loss of taste and/or smell, and/or diarrhea.
If those who visited a location flagged for possible COVID-19 exposure remain healthy and do not develop any of the above-mentioned symptoms, there is no need to self-isolate, and those individuals can continue with their usual daily activities.
If one does develop any symptoms related to COVID-19, however mild, those individuals are advised to call their family doctor or 8-1-1, seek testing and immediately self-isolate.
VCH's public health team only issues public exposure alerts if contact tracers have determined that there was a risk of public exposure and if officals are unable to contact everyone who may have been exposed.
