Masks and spacing were not consistently maintained at an event, the CDC said.
An opening event inside a rural Illinois bar in February led to 46 COVID-19 infections, the closure of a school and the hospitalization of a resident of a long-term care facility, according to a report released Monday of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency took a look at the incident at the unidentified business, which had a maximum capacity of 100 people. Illinois began reopening indoor bars and restaurants to customers in late January, with strict capacity limits and other health protocols.
Although the CDC report said the agency did not count the number of people who attended the reopening of the bar, which took place around February 3, four people had similar COVID-19 symptoms on the same day they attended.
The bar had no outside airflow, and consistent use of masks and social distancing were not maintained, according to the report.
Two weeks after the reopening, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported a connected outbreak that had serious consequences for others.
The report said that 26 employers and three staff members who attended the opening event contracted COVID-19. According to the CDC, there were 17 secondary cases related to the bar, including a dozen cases in eight households with children.
None of these cases led to hospitalizations, according to the report.
Two secondary cases were of people on a school sports team and three cases were in a long-term care unit (LTCF), according to the report.
“The transmission associated with the opening event led to the closure of a school that affected 650 children (9,100 people lost-school days) and the hospitalization of an LTCF resident with COVID-19,” the report said.
CDC researchers warned that “the number of cases described in this report is probably less than the actual number of participants in the bar and secondary cases associated with the event.”
The Agency emphasized that businesses need to adhere to the mandate mask, gradually expanding capacity and appropriate ventilation as they reopen in the coming months.