Cheer on a team at this Westport bar? 7 employees tested positive for coronavirus
Kansas City health officials are investigating a coronavirus outbreak linked to the Westport Ale House after seven employees tested positive for the virus.
In a news release Friday, the Kansas City Health Department said it first learned of cases Wednesday when officials visited the bar in response to complaints of mask and capacity violations.
Bar management told health officials Wednesday that two staff members had tested positive for the virus. That number, the news release said, grew to seven by Friday.
In addition to the staff members, the release said, two KC residents who had COVID-19 visited the bar on Aug. 29 with seven coworkers who came to the city for a business trip. The out-of-town visitors, the release said, returned home on Aug. 30 and 31.
A Westport Ale House manager, Jasmine Yam, said Saturday that capacity at the bar’s rooftop patio had been reduced and staff members who develop symptoms of the virus are not allowed to work until they either test negative or have no symptoms for 10 days.
Staff members, she said, are directed to remind guests to wear masks.
If someone has to be asked multiple times, Yam said, they are escorted off the premises.
“We as an establishment are being very strict on at least the staff end and trying to hold customers accountable when they are in,” Yam said. “People’s hygiene depends on what they want to do.”
Yam said the bar is still open. She was not involved in the discussions with the health department and could not comment on the bar’s decision-making processes.
In a statement provided Saturday afternoon, bar spokesman Brandon Foster said management has been “proactive and transparent in informing the community” and posted physical signs at the bar, as well as social media posts, about the cases.
Foster said after one staff member expressed concern about symptoms the week of Aug. 17, the entire staff was tested. Then, a cleaning company provided “extensive hospital-grade cleaning.”
As of Friday, the Kansas City Health Department had investigated two of the staff cases but had been unable to investigate the other cases because calls were not returned.
“Because of this, it is unclear if these employees continued to work while they waited for their test results or if they were working prior to their symptoms, when they also could have been transmitting the virus,” the release said.
On Saturday, the department issued a statement to The Star, saying that because of the seven known positive cases and the reported disregard for wearing masks, “all customers should be tested immediately if symptomatic and if not symptomatic, seven to 10 days after their last possible exposure at Westport Ale House.”
Anyone who visited the bar between Aug. 18 and Sept. 11 is asked to quarantine and/or call the health department if they begin experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or test positive for the virus, the Friday release said. That includes anyone who visited the bar to watch the Chief’s season opener on Thursday.
The health department said they have directed employees who test positive or who were contacts to those who tested positive to quarantine for 14 days. The bar was also directed to sanitize and follow mask and capacity orders.
Because the bar’s general manager is out of town, the statement said, next steps will be determined on Monday.
In a Twitter post Friday, the health department asked residents planning to head out over the weekend to leave if social distancing isn’t possible or the people near them aren’t wearing masks.
A White House task force has recommended that two-thirds of Missouri counties, including Jackson County where the Westport Ale House is located, close bars and restrict restaurant seating to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
As of Friday, the Kansas City area had a rolling average of 277 new COVID-19 cases per day.
The Star’s Cortlynn Stark contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 9:53 AM.
