Infected himself and his whole family - Canadian man contracted COVID in quarantine hotel
The man paid a large sum of money for the accommodation, but it did not keep him away from the virus.
As of February 2021, all international flight passengers who arrive in Canada must undergo a 3-day quarantine at one of the government-approved hotels.
A family from Toronto is outraged by these "futile measures": their 74-year-old father believes he contracted the coronavirus specifically at the hotel.
On March 2, Syed Shah flew to Pearson International Airport, Toronto, on a flight from Pakistan, where he needed to resolve issues with tenants of a property his family owns. At the airport he was taken for a COVID-19 test and then proceeded to the Sheraton Hotel.
Like many Canadians, the stay at the hotel was not entirely smooth: phones not working, no hot water, unstable Wi-Fi, cleaning problems. But it didn't end there.
On March 5, Syed received a negative test result and was allowed to go home for self-isolation. The bill for the three days' stay was $1,546 CAD. Syed was also given a COVID-19 home test kit to swab himself after 10 days. But by the fifth day, he, his wife, daughter and two sons felt symptoms of the disease.
All family members except Syed, who was on self-isolation, tested positive for COVID-19.
The family endured the illness with difficulty. Syed himself eventually made it to the emergency room, but the man showed no signs of pneumonia. On 17 March, COVID-19 was confirmed in him as well, and later the family was told they had one of the newer strains of the virus, which is more contagious.
A spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada said they were aware of Syed Shah's first negative test. However, the agency declined to comment on the alleged contamination at the hotel and did not respond to reporters' question about whether the hotel was under investigation. The Toronto Public Health Agency could not be reached for answers either — they cited confidentiality.
Toronto's deputy chief medical officer of health, Dr. Vinita Dubey, said because of the high number of cases in the city, the Public Health Agency is not tracking who the infected people have been in contact with.
Syed Shah's son, Syed Haider, is shocked that they became infected while complying with the measures imposed by the government. He says their family takes the pandemic seriously, does not come into contact with other people and follows all public health rules, while many Canadians would rather just pay the $750 CAD fine on arrival and not stay in the hotel for quarantine.
