A party turned into a disaster when an attendee of a crowded Memorial Day pool party at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri tested positive for Coronavirus.
The Camden County Health Department pronounced the news on May 30. After doing contact tracing they discovered that the patient has been at a pool party at Backwater Jacks bar, and also has been in bars and public places.
Based on the timeline of the illness, the patient was probably in the incubating stage at the time of the party, which means that they could have infected the people around them.
The Camden County Health Department wrote on Facebook:
“Camden County Health Department has been notified of a Boone County resident who has tested positive for Covid-19 after being in the Lake area on May 23 & 24. The case arrived here on Saturday and developed illness on Sunday, so it was likely incubating illness and possibly infectious at the time of the visit.
Due to the need to inform numbers of unknown people, we are publicly releasing the following timeline, which was provided by the case. An investigation is in progress by the Boone County Health Department, with Lake Area Health Departments assisting with local contacts.
There have been no cases reported in Camden County residents this week.”
Backwater Jack’s bar owner, Gary Prewitt, stated on May 25 that he decided to commence the party but adhering to the strict protocols of checking temperatures, adding sanitizers for the guests, and social distancing. He also said that they did not violate any rules and ‘social distancing is not a crime.’
Unfortunately for the bar owner, photos emerged showing that the partygoers did not follow the social distancing guidelines even though there were signs and instructions on the venue.
With this, Lyda Krewson, St. Louis’ Mayor, instructed that everyone who did not observe social distancing during the said party is subject to two weeks of self-quarantine. She stated:
“If you were part of a group that didn’t socially distance or wear masks, please, for the health of your family, coworkers, and friends, stay home for the next 14 days,”
The Mayor also expressed her disappointment over the happening:
“This reckless behavior endangers countless people and risks setting us back substantially from the progress we have made in slowing the spread of COVID-19,’ County Executive Sam Page added in a statement. ‘I encourage everyone to follow the Department of Public Health advisory to determine a safe path forward in the workplace.”