15 COVID-19 cases tied to Sask. resort inn outbreak, hospitalized owner says public health rules too harsh

Health officials say 15 cases of COVID-19 are tied to an outbreak at a northeastern Saskatchewan resort inn and another 16 infections are under investigation for potential links. 

The restaurant and hotel's owner — who is hospitalized with COVID-19 and has been fined — says officials took an unnecessarily "big stick" approach to containing the outbreak by ordering the site closed and requiring all of his staff to self-isolate for 14 days, costing the operation thousands of dollars in business. 

On Friday, the inn was fined $14,000 for not following public health orders.

"My beef with public health is why go in and [not] have a contingency plan of how we can shorten the downtime and keep this business viable," Bryan Baraniski wrote from his hospital bed, while on oxygen, at Saskatoon's Royal University Hospital on Tuesday.

"I didn't go out looking for COVID but I got it and I'm the bad guy, not a victim," he said of how he felt he was treated.

'Subsequent social gatherings facilitated transmission'

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) declared an outbreak at The Shorebird Inn at Tobin Lake, Sask., located 34 kilometres northeast of Nipawin, on March 10.

The next day, the SHA said one or more people had been at the Shorebird's restaurant while infectious from March 1 to 9.

That outbreak was also a factor in why the health authority subsequently warned the public several days later of the increased risk of COVID-19 transmission in the Nipawin area, an SHA spokesperson said in an email to CBC News this week.

The health authority also tightened visitor rules at local health care facilities.

"Initial transmission occurred at The Shorebird Inn and subsequent social gatherings facilitated transmission," the spokesperson said. 

The 15 cases linked so far to the outbreak are from the northeast area of Saskatchewan, according to the SHA. 

"The contact tracing investigation is continuing, and we have not confirmed any positive cases outside of that area," the spokesperson said. 

As of Thursday, the "North East 1" area, which includes Tobin Lake, Nipawin and 10 other communities, had 49 active cases of COVID-19 — more than any surrounding area. 

'They came in with the big stick'

On March 7, three days before the Shorebird Inn outbreak was declared, a relative took Baraniski to the hospital because he had the shakes and was not feeling well, he said.

"I thought maybe I could hide out at home and it might go away," Baraniski said of his illness. 

The next day, Baraniski tested positive for COVID-19. He was under intensive care for several days but is now in a room with three other COVID-positive patients in Saskatoon, he said. 

"Still holding my own," Baraniski said over the phone Thursday, his oxygen supply emitting a faint hiss. "I'll be here for a while longer yet." 

The day Baraniski tested positive, public health workers went to the inn and ordered the business closed and all workers quarantined for two weeks, Baraniski said. 

"Anyone considered a close contact with someone who has tested positive must self-isolate for 14 days," the SHA spokesperson said. 

Baraniski said he spent most of his time in an office at the 13,000-square-foot inn and not in the restaurant section. He said public health cast too wide a net when deciding on close contacts, including staff he did not come into frequent contact with.

The spokesperson for the Saskatchewan Health Authority said that when close contacts of a COVID-positive person are found, "case investigators evaluate the risk for all potential close contacts and inform individuals if they are to self-isolate or self-monitor based on that risk assessment. This may result in many employees at one business having the self-isolate."

The Shorebird Inn reopened with health officials' permission on Monday, after a week of deep cleaning, he said. 

Baraniski said he should have been allowed to reopen sooner using retired and ex-staff. 

"I think public health could have sat down with [us] and said, 'OK, we've got to shut this place down, we've got to clean it up, cleanse it, and then somehow get you guys back up and running.' There was no such talk. There was no consideration that this building is on autopilot. As far as I was concerned, they came in with the big stick."

March is the Shorebird's fourth busiest month. Baraniski estimated the business lost at least $60,000 by being closed for two weeks.  

"The government might be trying to slow down the transmission of COVID but [it's] killing the hospitality industry in doing so," he said. 

Owner previously ticketed for not wearing mask

This month's shutdown was not Baraniski's first brush with COVID-19 rules. 

In January, Baraniski was ticketed $2,800 for allegedly not wearing a mask at the inn back in December. He wrote on his Facebook page about RCMP officers' delivery of the ticket.

"They made a random visit to Shorebird [during which] they videotaped me not wearing a mask," he wrote. "A nice $2,800 fine. Off to court I go because I am refusing to pay it for now. Will bring cash on court day in case I lose."

On Wednesday, Baraniski wrote on his Facebook page that "there is no science-based evidence that masks work."

"I'm against masks," he told CBC News when asked if he is an anti-masker, adding that he does not believe they should be mandatory. 

"I wear them in respect for other businesses, never had a problem doing so. I do not believe they work. And I do not think that had anything to do with me catching it. The doctors here say all it takes is one aerosol droplet from an infected person to land on something and you touch your eyes or mouth and you have it."

Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, reinforced the importance of wearing masks in helping prevent the spread of COVID-19 in September 2020.

"We know that wearing a mask reduces community transmission of the COVID-19 virus," then-Health Minister Jim Reiter said. "High levels of mask usage in other jurisdictions have been associated with reductions in COVID-19 cases."

The Shorebird Inn took precautions against COVID-19, including spaced-out tables and daily sanitization, Baraniski said.

"We try to social distance the best we can as it's sometimes tough on that end," Baraniski said. "Most of my staff wore masks all the time. Some would remove them to around their neck once they were away from the customers or behind the bar making drinks.

"I didn't push the issue," he continued. "But [I] wanted them to make the attempt if they couldn't social distance themselves. They all knew the fine that could come with it."

The health authority said "subsequent social gatherings facilitated transmission" in the Shorebird Inn outbreak, but did not offer any more detail.

The inn advertised on Facebook that it was offering takeout meals on March 6. According to that post 200 people were signed up to participate in an ice fishing derby happening on Tobin Lake that day. 

"Customers always come in with their masks on. They remove them once they are seated. We do lots of takeout so they would keep their masks on," Baraniski said. 

The derby was organized by a volunteer board unrelated to the inn, said Amy Shipley, the mayor of Tobin Lake. 

"They were there for, like, 10 seconds to give us their name, we gave them their envelope and that was it," Shipley said. "They were told they had to follow all the regulations for public health rules."

Everybody had a mask on and participants emailed pictures of their fish, she added.  

Owner feels business was targeted

Asked about his own mask usage at the inn, Baransiki said, "There's several times I wasn't wearing a mask."

Baransiki said he feels like his business was targeted.

"I would like to know if I would've been treated differently if we were all following the guidelines tighter than what we were. Or was this a 'We'll show him?'"

CBC News asked the Ministry of Health on Wednesday how many times The Shorebird Inn has been ticketed for COVID-19 rule violations and what the nature of those alleged infractions were.

The ministry referred to the provincial government's daily COVID-19 news releases, which include mentions of any tickets issued but do not identify the recipients.