Barhop in the Ozarks Last Weekend? So Did COVID Patient

One Missouri partyer has tested positive for virus, and was 'possibly infectious' while at bars
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 30, 2020 8:00 AM CDT
Ozarks Partyer Tests Positive for COVID
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/petrenkod)

Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks made headlines across the nation as crowds converged over Memorial Day weekend and ignored social distancing guidelines. Now there's bad news for one of those partyers, per CNN. On Friday, the Camden County Health Department announced it had been informed that a Boone County resident who spent Saturday and Sunday barhopping there has tested positive for COVID-19. "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 department notes. It also released a timeline tracking the person's movements, "due to the need to inform mass numbers of unknown people."

Per that timeline, the person in question on Saturday spent about nine hours visiting Backwater Jack's—which was the subject of a viral video showing people crowded in a pool—Shady Gators, Lazy Gators, and then Backwater Jack's again. On Sunday, the person had a somewhat shorter six-hour day frequenting Buffalo Wild Wings and Shady Gators. The health department is asking anyone who may have visited any of these places over the holiday weekend to monitor themselves for virus symptoms, and to "please contact your physician, and isolate until test results are known" if symptoms do develop. Restaurants in Missouri are now allowed to offer dine-in services, but social distancing measures must be adhered to. Backwater Jack's insists it didn't break any laws. (More Ozarks stories.)

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