COVID variant infects 10 people at Saskatoon sports bar

The Saskatchewan Health Authority says that so far, 10 people have been infected with a COVID-19 variant at Sports on Tap, a Saskatoon bar near Prairieland Park.

Those who have tested positive for the virus include staff and patrons, according to the SHA.

On Tuesday, the health authority issued a special notice about someone who came to the bar while infectious, and asked anyone who may have been there during several specified times to immediately self-isolate for 14 days following the date of exposure.

Those dates include April 5 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., April 9 from 11:25 a.m. to 5:25 p.m., and April 10 from 11:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The SHA says the special notice was issued for the following reasons:

“The variants of concern and the higher risk of transmission was one reason for the need for timely public notification about Sports on Tap. It has been standard practice that public health will issue a public service announcement about locations or events when there is an elevated public risk, to ensure potential contacts take immediate action to self-isolate and get tested.”

It’s not clear at this time which COVID variant is involved. In the same notice, the SHA also advised everyone in Saskatoon about increased risk of variants of concern, and urged people to avoid all unnecessary travel.

650 CKOM contacted Sports on Tap on Wednesday, but was told no one would be available for comment.

So far, there have been 328 cases of variants of concern identified in Saskatoon.