The Illinois Department of Public Health identified 29 individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 or had COVID-19-like symptoms within 14 days of opening the inner bar. All 29 cases were confirmed by COVID-19 antigen or nucleic acid amplification assays, with the exception of one likely symptomatic case which was not tested.
The details were outlined Monday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report did not mention the name or location of the bar.
According to the report, the pub visitors came into close contact with at least 71 others. 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 COVID-19 cases were student athletes who were in close contact with a bar attendant with COVID-19 attending indoor sports drills and in-person classes. The school, with 650 children, has been closed for two weeks from February 18 after 13 staff members were unable to work due to isolation, quarantine or their child in quarantine.
Three of the secondary COVID-19 cases were residents of a long-term care facility who were in close contact with a bar attendant working as a licensed nursing assistant. The nurse tested positive for COVID-19 four days after opening the bar. One person who contracted one of these secondary COVID-19 cases was hospitalized within 14 days of the positive test result. However, the person was fired the same day.
Two weeks after the event, the seven-day mean daily COVID-19 incidence in the province has more than doubled to at least 86 cases per 100,000 people, according to the report.
“Bars may play a role in the spread of COVID-19 in the community because of the limited use of masks while eating or drinking and the lack of consistent physical distance,” the authors wrote in the report. “These findings show that SARS-CoV transmission from a business such as a cafe affects not only the bar’s customers and employees, but also an entire community.”
The bar event was held indoors with no outside air flow. Participants cited inconsistent mask use and ignoring the 1.8 meter physical distance guidelines. While the total number of people attending the event is unknown, the bar can seat about 100 people, the report said.
The high percentage of symptomatic people linked to the event, 82.6%, as well as many people’s reluctance to disclose contacts, suggest the actual number of cases was higher than what was found, according to the CDC report.
As community businesses reopen, these findings underscore the importance that businesses and individuals adhere to public health prevention and mitigation guidelines to reduce additional community transmission, including isolation after receiving a COVID-19 diagnosis and while continuing to COVID. -19-like symptoms, even as vaccination efforts increase, ‘the authors wrote in the report.
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