More than 100 cases of COVID-19 have now been linked to a single bar in Michigan.
According toCNN, health officials have now confirmed that "at least 107" coronavirus cases have been traced to Harper's Restaurant & Brew Pub in East Lansing. In response, regional health officials are telling anyone who visited the establishment between the dates of June 12 and June 20 to self-quarantine.
"Large crowds are difficult to control,"Â Ingham County Health Officer Linda S. Vail said in a statement on Monday. "By allowing no more than 75 people, restaurants and bars will be better able to enforce social distancing and the use of masks and face coverings. I strongly encourage all bars and restaurants to strictly enforce safety measures and to do all they can to help stop the spread of coronavirus in our community."
The current total includes 95 primary cases, i.e. people who visited Harper's during the range of potential exposure dates, and 12 secondary cases (i.e. people who were merely in contact with someone who visited). Of the 107 cases, per officials, at least 40 percent are students or recent grads from Michigan State University.
"Our oversight of the line on our stairs has been successful, but trying to get customers to follow our recommendations on the public sidewalk has been challenging," a rep from Harper's said in a Facebook-shared statement announcing a temporary closure. "Because we have no authority to control lines on public property, we are left with the dilemma of staying open and letting this situation continue, or closing until we can devise a strategy that eliminates the lines altogether."
Please do fucking better, everyone. The sooner we can all achieve some sort of unity on containment efforts, the quicker we can get back to doing all the shit we're missing out on in 2020.
