Missouri resident who attended packed pool party tests positive for coronavirus
The person began exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms after arriving and may have already been infectious, officials say
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A Boone County, Missouri, resident who attended a pool party at the Lake of the Ozarks has tested positive for coronavirus, county officials said.
The person traveled from Boone County to Camden County Saturday for the weekend festivities and began showing symptoms on Sunday. County officials said it was possible the person was already infectious when he or she arrived at Lake of the Ozarks.
The "Zero Ducks Given Pool Party" at the Backwater Jack's bar went viral on social media after it drew large crowds over Memorial Day weekend as Missouri started to ease lockdown restrictions, according to local news outlet KHBS.
"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 [and] 24. The case arrived here on Saturday and developed illness on Sunday, so was likely incubating illness and possibly infectious at the time of the visit," the Camden Couty Health Department wrote in a Friday Facebook post.
No Camden County residents had tested positive last week, officials said, but they warned party-goers to look out for COVID-19 symptoms and to get tested.
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"Investigation is in progress by Boone County Health Department, with Lake Area Health Departments assisting with local contacts," the Department wrote.
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Missouri health officials called the party "reckless behavior" in a statement last week, saying it "endangers countless people and risks setting us back substantially from the progress we have made in slowing the spread of COVID-19."
Crowds of people gather at Coconuts Caribbean Beach Bar & Grill in Gravois Mills, Missouri, Sunday, May 24, 2020. (Shelly Yang/Kansas City Star via AP)
The owner of Backwater Jack's Bar & Grill said no laws were broken in a May 26 statement, and that revelers had their temperatures taken before entry.
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"We stand with our decision to move forward with Memorial Day Weekend plans," owner Gary Prewitt wrote last week. "We love our customers and will continue to do our best to provide delicious food, drink, and entertainment at Backwater Jack's."