The Illinois Department of Public Health identified 29 people who tested positive for COVID-19 or had similar COVID-19 symptoms within 14 days of opening the indoor bar. All 29 cases were confirmed by COVID-19 antigen or nucleic acid amplification tests, except for one probable symptom that did not receive tests.
Details were presented Monday in the CDC’s weekly report on morbidity and mortality. The report did not disclose the name or location of the bar.
The report said that the participants in the bar came into close contact with at least 71 people. Of the 37 close contacts tested for COVID-19, 17 tested positive within 14 days of contact.
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Two of the secondary cases of COVID-19 were sports students in close contact with a bar participant with COVID-19 who participated in indoor sports and in-person classes. The school, with 650 children, closed for two weeks starting February 18 after 13 staff members were unable to work due to isolation, quarantine or their quarantined child.
Three of the secondary cases of COVID-19 were long-term care residents in close contact with a bar participant who worked as a certified nurse nurse. The nurse tested positive for COVID-19 four days after the bar opened. A person who contracted one of these secondary cases of COVID-19 was hospitalized within 14 days of a positive test result. However, the person was discharged on the same day.
Two weeks after the event, the average daily incidence of COVID-19 for seven days in the county doubled to at least 86 cases per 100,000 people, according to the report.
“Bars may play a role in the spread of the COVID-19 community due to the limited use of masks while eating or drinking and the lack of a consistent physical distance,” the authors wrote in the report. “These findings show that SARS-CoV transmission from a business, such as a bar, not only affects the bar’s customers and employees, but can affect an entire community.”
The bar event took place inside, with no outside airflow. Participants mentioned inconsistent use of the mask and ignorance of six-foot physical distance guidelines. Although the total number of people who attended the event is unknown, the bar can accommodate about 100 people, the report said.
The high percentage of symptomatic people related to the event, 82.6%, as well as the reluctance of many people to disclose contacts suggest that the actual number of cases was higher than found, according to the CDC report.
“As Community businesses begin to reopen, these findings underline the importance of businesses and individuals adhering to public health prevention and mitigation guidelines in order to reduce additional Community transmission, including isolation after receiving a COVID-19 diagnosis and in time. experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms. “Even if vaccination efforts expand,” the authors wrote in the report.
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