yorkdale covid

Yorkdale Mall store shuts down after employee diagnosed with COVID-19

At least one case of COVID-19 has now been linked to an employee at Canada's third-largest (and first-richest) mall: Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

Mall management issued a notice to all tenants of the sprawling facility at Highway 401 and Allen Road in Toronto on Thursday with the heading  "Yorkdale — COVID-19 Confirmed Case."

"Today Yorkdale Management was notified that an employee in the shopping centre has been diagnosed with a presumptive case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)," it reads. 

"In compliance with our Global Pandemic Planning protocols, we are advising all tenants at Yorkdale accordingly."

The mall does not appear to have posted the notice publicly anywhere online. Rather, an internal email to employees was published to Reddit by the friend of someone who works in the mall.

It is also unclear where in the mall the infected employee had been working, though Yorkdale management confirmed that the impacted store closed down on August 27.

Yorkdale, which resumed operations in late June under Stage 2 of Ontairo's reopening plan, said in its notice that it has been following all pandemic-related guidelines issued by the Public Health Agency of Canada "for the well-being of our customers."

"The tenant's space and all common areas in the surrounding area along with all customer touch points have been fully disinfected with specialized cleaning in compliance with PHAC's pandemic cleaning protocols," it reads.

Yorkdale first shut down alongside all other shopping centres in Ontario under pandemic-mandated government closure orders in March.

Anyone who thinks they may have been exposed to the virus, or who is experiencing symptoms consistent with a coronavirus infection, is encouraged to use provincial government's COVID-19 self-assessment tool for further advice on how to proceed.

Lead photo by

Yorkdale Shopping Centre


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