by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
A few days ago I commented in this space about the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Arkansas after a teen swimming pool party, and Governor Asa Hutchinson's dangerous drivel about quarantining being "contrary to the American spirit." I also mentioned the recent news articles about a what appeared to be a packed "pool party" at the Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend. That event was actually a party at a pool bar, a large venue featuring drinks served to revelers in and out of a large swimming pool - accompanied to noise provided by one of more deejays.
Actually, it turns out there are at least three of these large pool bars in Lake Ozark, Missouri, and each did a booming business over the recent holiday weekend. Missouri has recently gone back to some semblance of business as usual, and restaurants and bars are able to resume service but with social distancing within the establishments. Anyone who saw the photos from these monster pool parties at the Lake of the Ozarks over that weekend knows that there was no social distancing being observed.
A group of very entitled people were having some fun in the sun, and the rest of the world be damned. Well, now the party is over - and the bills are coming due.
My son told me about a sign that he saw in the window of a nail salon near his home in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City. It read: "If you've recently been to the Lake of the Ozarks, please don't come inside for two weeks." It was apparently posted in earnest, and it was a sound business decision.
Yesterday the fallout from the wild weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks began to be felt. The Camden County (which is home to the town of Lake Ozark) Health Department reported that a resident of Boone County, Missouri, who had partied at all three of the large pool bars over the holiday weekend had tested positive for COVID-19. The local health director said that it was likely the disease was incubating in the individual during his (or her) visit to Camden County - and that the individual could have spread it to others.
(Boone County, Missouri, is the home to the main campus of the University of Missouri, a fairly well populated area - by Missouri standards - that would also offer a favorable environment for the transmission of disease.)
Because Lake Ozark was so congested over the Memorial Day weekend, and because the confirmed case visited several of the more crowded spots - and for extended periods of time - contact tracing is virtually impossible. The health department director chose instead to publish a list of places visited by the carrier - along with approximate times - in the hope that persons who were in those locations at the same time would voluntarily self-isolate.
On Saturday, May 23rd, the carrier was at Backwater Jack's (a pool bar) between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. and then went to Shady Gators and Lazy Gators pool bars from 5:40 until 9:00 p.m. From there the person went back to Backwater Jack's from 9:40 until 10:00 p.m.
On Sunday, May 24th, the carrier had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lake Oark from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. and then went to Shady Gators from 2:30 until 7:00 p.m. He or she then took a cab to a private home.
The Camden County health director asked that anyone who may have been in those places monitor themselves for symptoms including fever, cough, shortness of breath, body aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of taste or smell. Those who are symptomatic should contact a physician for testing and then isolate until the results are known.
Meanwhile that soup of humanity that partied hearty at the Lake of the Ozarks is quietly spilling out across Missouri, the Midwest, and the nation. The party is over, but the bills are just starting to arrive.
Citizen Journalist
A few days ago I commented in this space about the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Arkansas after a teen swimming pool party, and Governor Asa Hutchinson's dangerous drivel about quarantining being "contrary to the American spirit." I also mentioned the recent news articles about a what appeared to be a packed "pool party" at the Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend. That event was actually a party at a pool bar, a large venue featuring drinks served to revelers in and out of a large swimming pool - accompanied to noise provided by one of more deejays.
Actually, it turns out there are at least three of these large pool bars in Lake Ozark, Missouri, and each did a booming business over the recent holiday weekend. Missouri has recently gone back to some semblance of business as usual, and restaurants and bars are able to resume service but with social distancing within the establishments. Anyone who saw the photos from these monster pool parties at the Lake of the Ozarks over that weekend knows that there was no social distancing being observed.
A group of very entitled people were having some fun in the sun, and the rest of the world be damned. Well, now the party is over - and the bills are coming due.
My son told me about a sign that he saw in the window of a nail salon near his home in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City. It read: "If you've recently been to the Lake of the Ozarks, please don't come inside for two weeks." It was apparently posted in earnest, and it was a sound business decision.
Yesterday the fallout from the wild weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks began to be felt. The Camden County (which is home to the town of Lake Ozark) Health Department reported that a resident of Boone County, Missouri, who had partied at all three of the large pool bars over the holiday weekend had tested positive for COVID-19. The local health director said that it was likely the disease was incubating in the individual during his (or her) visit to Camden County - and that the individual could have spread it to others.
(Boone County, Missouri, is the home to the main campus of the University of Missouri, a fairly well populated area - by Missouri standards - that would also offer a favorable environment for the transmission of disease.)
Because Lake Ozark was so congested over the Memorial Day weekend, and because the confirmed case visited several of the more crowded spots - and for extended periods of time - contact tracing is virtually impossible. The health department director chose instead to publish a list of places visited by the carrier - along with approximate times - in the hope that persons who were in those locations at the same time would voluntarily self-isolate.
On Saturday, May 23rd, the carrier was at Backwater Jack's (a pool bar) between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. and then went to Shady Gators and Lazy Gators pool bars from 5:40 until 9:00 p.m. From there the person went back to Backwater Jack's from 9:40 until 10:00 p.m.
On Sunday, May 24th, the carrier had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lake Oark from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. and then went to Shady Gators from 2:30 until 7:00 p.m. He or she then took a cab to a private home.
The Camden County health director asked that anyone who may have been in those places monitor themselves for symptoms including fever, cough, shortness of breath, body aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of taste or smell. Those who are symptomatic should contact a physician for testing and then isolate until the results are known.
Meanwhile that soup of humanity that partied hearty at the Lake of the Ozarks is quietly spilling out across Missouri, the Midwest, and the nation. The party is over, but the bills are just starting to arrive.
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