- A Missouri resident who attended a crowded pool party at the
Lake of the Ozarks has tested positive for thecoronavirus , local outlet KMBC reported. - Footage of the crowded party garnered condemnation online.
- The owner of the bar that hosted the event defended his decision.
A Missouri citizen who attended a crowded pool party at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri over
The Camden County Health Department said one person who attended Backwater Jack's began to develop symptoms on Sunday and was likely "incubating illness and possibly infectious at the time of the visit," according to KMBC.
Business Insider previously reported that health authorities in Missouri urged people who were filmed that pool party to self-isolate to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
Footage of the crowded party, where no social distancing was observed, was condemned online.
Partygoers could be seen packed close together, enjoying the sun in pools and bars, and not the following guidelines from the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advised people to stay six feet away from one another to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
"This reckless behavior endangers countless people and risks setting us back substantially from the progress we have made in slowing the spread of COVID-19," Sam Page, the St. Louis County executive said in a statement on Monday.
The owner of a bar, Gary Prewitt, defended his decision to host the party and issued a statement on Facebook on Tuesday standing up for the event, called "Zero Ducks Given."
Prewitt emphasized that social distancing is not a legal requirement, and said: "no laws were broken."
He also said medical staff had been hired to perform no-contact temperature checks on attendees, and those with a temperature of over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit were turned away.
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