TORONTO -- Despite a COVID-19 outbreak in two nail salons that resulted in 30 confirmed cases, Kingston, Ont. is being praised by its own regional medical officer for the community's response.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a community that has to respond to these types of threats and our community has risen to this occasion,鈥� the region鈥檚 medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, told CTV News Channel on Tuesday. 鈥淭hey participated aggressively in testing. We鈥檝e had over 3,000 people in Kingston get tested this week.鈥�

Last week, the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Health Unit declared a novel coronavirus outbreak at Binh鈥檚 Nails and Spa salon in which 16 people, including six employees, tested positive for the disease.

Since then, Moore said 30 new cases have been linked to Binh's and another nearby salon, Kingdom Nails & Spa, where an employee was in close contact with a worker from the first salon.

While employees, clients and close contacts of both salons have tested positive for COVID-19, Moore said he was pleased to report that no one has had to be hospitalized or admitted to the ICU as a result of the outbreak.

The city is also being applauded for its handling of the outbreak, which included a prompt order for mandatory face mask use in all indoor public spaces as well as increased testing, self-isolation orders and contact tracing.

In addition to increased testing, Moore said the public health unit instructed 500 customers who visited the nail salon between June 12 and 24 to self-isolate at home and monitor for symptoms of the disease. If they exhibited symptoms, they were asked to get tested immediately.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not out of the woods yet,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e actively engaged, investigating other potential sources of infection in the community. And we'll have to maintain this high level of vigilance, high level of testing. Everyone has a role to play to reduce the spread of this virus.鈥�

Moore said health officials have shared their experience with other health units so similar outbreaks can be prevented. 

He said the investigation revealed that some clients weren鈥檛 wearing masks in the salon, hand hygiene wasn鈥檛 up to standards and better protocols for separating people inside these small business is needed.

鈥淪o lots of lessons learned for us,鈥� he said. 鈥淣o one鈥檚 blaming, we want to learn from this, and we want to do better.鈥�

Following the outbreak, Moore said it's recommended that employees in these businesses get tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, even if they don鈥檛 exhibit any symptoms. He also said officials are ensuring these businesses adhere to the province鈥檚 guidance by conducting audits and partnering with them so they feel supported. 

鈥淲e want our economy to succeed. We don鈥檛 want our businesses to fail, but we want to do so safely,鈥� he said.

Vigilance will be important to maintain in the months ahead, Moore said, particularly when flu season returns in the fall. 

鈥淭his virus wants to come back into any one of our communities at any time and it only takes one exposure -- and it could be a minimal exposure, just like getting your nails done -- that the virus can spread,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a community, we just have to remain vigilant.鈥�