Community outbreak of COVID-19 linked to indoor bar opening event
Forty-six cases of COVID-19 were traced back to an indoor bar opening event in a rural Illinois county. The outbreak led to a school closure and the hospitalization of a long-term care facility resident, according to results published in MMWR.
“Event attendees reported inconsistent mask use and not maintaining greater than 6 ft of physical distance, despite table spacing and signs encouraging physical distancing and mask use,” Samira Sami, DrPH, of the CDC’s COVID-19 Response Team, and colleagues wrote in the report.
One attendee received a COVID-19 diagnosis the day before the event; four more attendees were symptomatic the day of the event and received a diagnosis after.
Of the 46 cases, 26 occurred in patrons and three in staff who were present at the opening event, and 17 were secondary cases. The secondary cases affected eight households with children; two of the five children who tested positive were on a school sports team. The subsequent school closure affected 650 children, totaling 9,100 lost person-days of school, according to the report.
One long-term care facility employee who was at the event tested positive for COVID-19; three secondary cases, including two in residents, “were identified in the facility 5 [to] 9 days after the event,” the authors wrote. The resident who was hospitalized “was discharged the same day,” the authors continued. They added that none of the four long-term care facility staff and residents who tested positive had received the COVID-19 vaccine, despite it being previously offered.
Sami and colleagues wrote that asymptomatic cases account for an estimated 40% to 45% of infections, and 82.6% of cases linked to the event were symptomatic, which they said “suggests that the total number of cases in this outbreak was higher than reported and highlights the need for increased testing and reporting through contact tracing, in combination with isolation and quarantine, to promptly reduce transmission.”
According to the report, the Illinois Department of Public Health was notified of the outbreak on Feb. 17; on that same day, the state reported 1,795 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, including 24 additional deaths, a press release said. On April 2, the state announced 3,235 new cases of COVID-19 and 24 deaths in a press release. As of April 5, each county in Illinois is in Phase 4 of reopening, according to the state regional phase dashboard, which means that dining parties of 10 or fewer may be seated 6 or more feet apart indoors, with standing areas operating at 25% capacity, the state’s Coronavirus Response website said.
“As community businesses begin to reopen, these findings underscore the importance of businesses and individuals adhering to public health prevention and mitigation guidelines to reduce additional community transmission, including isolation after receipt of a COVID-19 diagnosis and while experiencing COVID-19–like symptoms, even as vaccination efforts expand,” Sami and colleagues wrote.
References:
- Bridge phase. State of Illinois. https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/bridge-phase. Accessed April 5, 2021.
- Public health officials announce 1,795 new cases of Coronavirus disease. State of Illinois. https://www2.illinois.gov/Pages/news-item.aspx?ReleaseID=22804. Accessed April 5, 2021.
- Public health officials announce 3,235 new cases of Coronavirus disease. State of Illinois. https://www2.illinois.gov/Pages/news-item.aspx?ReleaseID=23058. Accessed April 5, 2021.
- Regional phase dashboard. State of Illinois. https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/restore-illinois-regional-dashboard. Accessed April 5, 2021.