This Westport bar closes, for now, after COVID-19 outbreak reported among staff
The Westport Ale House is temporarily closing following an outbreak of the new coronavirus among its staff.
“At the request of the Kansas City Health Department, we will be temporarily closed as we continue to cooperate in their investigation into COVID-19 outbreaks in our area,” according to a Tuesday evening post on the bar’s Facebook page.
Bar employees did not say when they will reopen, only that it will be “soon.”
Kansas City health officials said last week that they were 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 on Sept. 9 when officials visited the bar in response to complaints of mask and capacity violations.
Bar management told health officials the same day that two staff members had tested positive for the virus. That number grew to seven by Friday, health department officials said.
According to Tuesday’s Facebook post, the bar plans to implement a number of COVID-19 precautions when it reopens. This includes forehead temperature checks outside the building, requiring masks for all staff and guests and requiring staff to wash their hands every 30 minutes.
The bar’s practices will include, in part, hand sanitation stations, frequent cleanings of tables and chairs, the use of virtual menus and requiring staff to wear sanitized gloves when handling silverware.
In addition to the staff members who tested positive, 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, health department officials said Friday. 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.
“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 was still open as of Saturday.
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.”
On Saturday, the health 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 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.
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 virus.
As of Tuesday, the Kansas City area had a seven-day average of 280 new COVID-19 cases per day.
The Star’s Cortlynn Stark contributed to this report.
