Canada Post union leader learned of COVID-19 exposure through social media
Kenmount Road facility shuttered until Wednesday night
A union leader at Canada Post's Kenmount Road facility in St. John's isn't happy with how he found out he'd been exposed to COVID-19.
Craig Dyer and at least a dozen of his coworkers were at the same funeral home over a three-day period this month. They are all now quarantined and one worker has tested positive for the virus.
"I found out through social media," Dyer said. "It became the talk of the town and people knew that we were there."
It's believed one person who did not work with Canada Post attended the funeral home after returning from international travel.
This weekend, Caul's Funeral Home reported that patrons were being contacted if they had visited the LeMarchant Road building between March 15 and March 17.
Canada Post's Kenmount Road facility is now shut down until at least Wednesday night to give public health authorities time to finish contact tracing.
The building will also undergo a "deep clean," which is something Dyer said was already done but — according to his members — not done right.
"It seems like they made an effort over the weekend to do what they called a deep clean," Dyer said. "Several people identified that it wasn't cleaned properly."
CBC News contacted Canada Post on Tuesday morning, but has not yet received a response.
Dyer is not showing any symptoms, but still could be infected. He said the situation has been difficult to deal with.
"Not just for me but for all my peers and my coworkers. The fact that I didn't know, and the fact that I do have a family."
Clarenville court also closed
Officials say one person in the Eastern Health region has been responsible for infecting eight others so far.
Meanwhile, the Clarenville Provincial Court isn't taking any chances.
A decision was made Monday night to close the courthouse indefinitely after staff were potentially exposed to COVID-19.
There was no information available on how they might have come into contact with the virus.
At least four trials and one bail hearing had been scheduled at the court for this week.
