Masks and distancing were not consistently enforced at an event, the CDC said.
An in-house opening event at a bar in rural Illinois in February led to 46 COVID-19 infections, a school shutdown and hospitalization of a resident of a long-term care facility, according to a report released by the Centers on Monday. for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency looked into the incident at the unidentified company, 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 does not take into account the number of people attending the bar’s reopening, which took place around Feb. 3, four people had COVID-19-like symptoms on the same day they attended.
The bar had no external airflow, and consistent mask use and social aloofness were not maintained, according to the report.
Two weeks after the reopening, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported a related outbreak that seriously affected others.
According to the report, 26 customers and three staff attending the opening event had 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.
According to the report, none of those cases resulted in hospital admissions.
Two secondary cases involved individuals on a school sports team and three cases were in a long-term care facility (LTCF), the report said.
“Transfer in connection with the opening event resulted in a school closure involving 650 children (9,100 person-days lost at school) and hospitalization of an LTCF resident with COVID-19,” the report said.
CDC researchers cautioned that the “number of cases described in this report is likely to be lower than the actual number of bargoers and secondary cases related to the event.”
The agency stressed that companies must adhere to masking mandates, phased capacity expansions, and good ventilation when they reopen in the coming months.