Community Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Associated with a Local Bar Opening Event — Illinois, February 2021

Details

• Personal Author:
  Sami, Samira ; Turbyfill, Caitlin R. ; Daniel-Wayman, Shelby ; Shonkwiler, Stacy ; Fisher, Kiva A. ; Kuhring, Macey ; Patrick, Aaron M. ; Hinton, Stephanie ; Minor, Amanda S. ; Ricaldi, Jessica N. ; Ezike, Ngozi ; Kauerauf, Judy ; Duffus, Wayne A.
• Corporate Authors:
  CDC COVID-19 Response Team. ; Illinois. Department of Public Health. ; Douglas County Department of Public Health (Tuscola, Illinois)
• Description:
  What is already known about this topic? Gatherings in settings where mask wearing and physical distancing do not occur are known to increase the spread of COVID-19.
  
  What is added by this report? Forty-six cases of COVID-19 were linked to an indoor bar opening event that occurred during February 2021 in a rural Illinois county. Event patrons were linked to secondary cases among household, long-term care facility, and school contacts, resulting in one hospitalization and one school closure affecting 650 students.
  
  What are the implications for public health practice? Opening up settings such as bars, where mask wearing and physical distancing are challenging, can affect the community. As community businesses reopen, Prevention measures should be emphasized, including limiting building occupancy, improving ventilation, prioritizing outdoor seating, enforcing correct mask wearing and physical distancing, staying home when ill, and encouraging COVID-19 vaccination to reduce Transmission on site and within the community.
  
  During February 2021, an opening event was held indoors at a rural Illinois bar that accommodates approximately 100 persons. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and local health department staff members investigated a COVID-19 outbreak associated with this opening event. Overall, 46 COVID-19 cases were linked to the event, including cases in 26 patrons and three staff members who attended the opening event and 17 secondary cases. Four persons with cases had COVID-19–like symptoms on the same day they attended the event. Secondary cases included 12 cases in eight households with children, two on a school sports team, and three in a long-term care facility (LTCF). Transmission associated with the opening event resulted in one school closure affecting 650 children (9,100 lost person-days of school) and hospitalization of one LTCF resident with COVID-19. These findings demonstrate that opening up settings such as bars, where mask wearing and physical distancing are challenging, can increase the risk for community Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the Virus that causes COVID-19. As community businesses begin to reopen, a multicomponent approach should be emphasized in settings such as bars to prevent Transmission* (1). This includes enforcing consistent and correct mask use, maintaining ≥6 ft of physical distance between persons, reducing indoor bar occupancy, prioritizing outdoor seating, improving building ventilation, and promoting behaviors such as staying at home when ill, as well as implementing contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine when COVID-19 cases are diagnosed.
  
  Suggested citation for this article: Sami S, Turbyfill CR, Daniel-Wayman S, et al. Community Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Associated with a Local Bar Opening Event — Illinois, February 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 5 April 2021
  
  mm7014e3.htm?s_cid=mm7014e3_x
  
  mm7014e3-H.pdf
  
  
• Subjects:
  CoronaVirus Infections/Transmission COVID-19/Transmission Disease Outbreaks Disease Transmission, Infectious Restaurants SARS-CoV-2
• Source:
  MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2021; v. 70 Early Release
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  70
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:40239ffdd9ba7c0e316251d6f0e6b66a5f9d4ad5a4ef2f3239f55415a618d25a51b2dae08f7065e9e18443af64c92d6378c2e5b0c63f3ea913af1c90e2d290eb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/104763/cdc_104763_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 170.81 KB ]