Public health officials vow new reporting standards as more Rochester bars close

Zach Ohly, co-owner of Cameo restaurant in Rochester, said he was caught off guard last Thursday when Olmsted County Public Health issued a warning to the public that a large number of Covid-19 cases had been linked to downtown Rochester, particularly eating and drinking establishments.

Cameo, like many Rochester businesses, had worked diligently to put into place safety protocols in order to limit transmission of the coronavirus. But despite not registering a single case, Ohly soon found himself fielding calls and emails from past customers who wondered if they should be tested.

The issue was exacerbated after a local television station inaccurately broadcasted video of Cameo while reporting on the downtown cluster of cases. Ohly said the confusion, compounded with road construction outside of his front door, made for a difficult week.

“We are taking this seriously,” Ohly said by phone Monday. “But we all know that’s not the case in every place. So, to lump [downtown businesses] all together, you are just adding to a poor time for us.”

Among Ohly’s primary points of frustration was Olmsted County’s policy to not list the businesses behind the outbreak. While Cameo stuck to limiting indoor capacity per the state guidelines, a number of other local establishments — downtown and elsewhere — were lax on enforcing social distancing recommendations. In the weeks leading up to Public Health’s announcement, bar-hoppers could be seen moving from place to place, shunning guidance from experts on distancing and mask-wearing.

“I feel like if we are going to do that type of reporting, it’s the responsibility of whomever is doing the reporting to name the places so that people can be aware of, ‘Ok, I went out to the bar so I should get tested’ — not doing a broad shot and then having places without confirmed cases, that are adhering to every guideline and precaution, viewed as unsafe,” he said.

That same frustration was felt a few blocks south of Cameo, at Nellie’s on 3rd. The pub, located in the former Grand Rounds Brewing space, took to social media on Friday urging customers to “NOT lump us into the category of an irresponsible operator simply because we are downtown.”

“We have worked diligently to maintain and exceed what needs to happen for us to safely be open, as many of us downtown have,” the business wrote in a Facebook post. “We know it is already difficult with the current situation and the massive amount of construction, but for us to be lumped into the downtown restaurants and bars are ‘not safe’ category is not only frustrating, it is heartbreaking.”

In an interview Monday, Olmsted County Public Health Director Graham Briggs acknowledged the concerns regarding the reporting process, and said new reporting standards have since been adopted by the department.

He said the early decision not to call out specific businesses was based on the fact that many of the bar-goers who have tested positive in recent weeks reported visiting multiple places. With information constantly evolving, Briggs said he wanted to be certain that before naming an establishment they could confirm it was the most likely source of transmission.

“If I am going to go out and tell the public that we see a risk, I need to know where I am crossing the line into theorizing and where am I solid on, ‘this is it.’ And what [our epidemiologists] told me was that we can say: if you were in a downtown bar and you were around people that were not masked or six feet away from people that there is a significant risk there,” said Briggs.

In focusing on a type of behavior, versus naming specific locations, Briggs said he hoped to clearly articulate what types of high-risk activity people should be looking out for, while not jeopardizing a particular business.

The reporting method was a stark contrast to how some counties across the country, including nearby La Crosse County, have been reporting potential Covid-19 exposures. There, the public health department maintains an online list of places with a public risk of exposure to a confirmed case of Covid-19. The venues are sorted by ‘low,’ ‘medium’ and ‘high’ risk.

County sets new reporting threshold

While no similar list exists here in Olmsted County, Briggs said he has spoken with the Minnesota Department of Health about adopting a clear and consistent reporting threshold.

The department, in concert with state standards, will now begin releasing the names of places with at least seven unique cases of Covid-19.

“If you can identify an establishment where there have been seven cases — and those people had not been anywhere else, so you know they were exposed there — you should really consider that everyone in that facility has been potentially exposed and should be aware of the risks,” said Briggs.

The only name on the list thus far is Dooley’s Pub, which had 26 confirmed cases from June 20 to July 5, including nine people who only worked at/visited Dooley’s. The total includes six employees, three of whom were working while they were infectious. One person has been hospitalized in connection to the outbreak at Dooley’s. The business has since voluntarily chosen to close its doors with no set re-opening date.

According to public health data, there is also a second bar that contact tracers are monitoring. While it has not yet met the threshold for reporting its name, it has been connected to 17 confirmed cases, four of which have been linked directly to the one bar. No staff have reported being infected.

Briggs said with a “marked increase” in testing since this last Friday, he expects more facilities to eventually meet the reporting threshold. He said the goal is not to punish businesses, but to get the word out about who may have been potentially exposed and should consider getting tested.

He said — like with the debate over masks — the evolving policies on reporting protocols reflect how fast the science is playing out before us.

“We are learning as we go with this, too, about what the public needs to know, how to share it, and how to get the message out to the right populations,” said Briggs.

Since Friday, several businesses have voluntarily shut down in response to concerns over the spread of Covid-19. Forager Brewery, located just outside downtown, said it was temporarily closing out of precaution after one of its part-time employees tested positive. Other establishments, such as Legend’s and Bitter and Pour, have said while they have no confirmed cases, they are halting operations as a safeguard against transmission of the virus.

Briggs said while he has not told any bar they must close down, he supports businesses that are taking strides to protect their customers and employees — and ultimately their ability to remain open long-term.

“Not that we would say a place has to close, but if you run out of wait staff or bartenders because you have transmission happening, that may turn from being an option to being a necessity from the businesses’s perspective,” said Briggs, pointing to reports from other cities around the country citing business closures as a result of Covid-related staff shortages.

‘No business can do this alone’

With Olmsted County now on the state’s radar as a potential hot spot, and downtown at the center of the uptick, local leaders are hopeful the reports will not overshadow the efforts downtown restaurants and bars have been making to keep their establishments open safely in the face of a pandemic, road construction, and reduced employee numbers downtown.

“The majority of Rochester’s downtown businesses have always taken extra care with their guests’ safety, knowing that they serve many customers who may have underlying health conditions,” said Holly Masek, executive director of the Rochester Downtown Alliance.

Masek acknowledged Rochester is not unique in what it’s experiencing — a growing number of states and municipalities in the U.S. have ordered bars closed in response to rising case numbers.

Still, she said, it is important downtown is not painted with a broad brush. With so many challenges already facing businesses, this is a time where they need customer confidence and support more than ever, said Masek.

“We hope that everyone that joins us downtown shares in our efforts to support local businesses while serving customers safely,” said Masek. “No business can do this alone.”

Meanwhile, back at Cameo, Ohly said that consumer confidence is waning in the wake of recent reports of a spike in cases. Already operating at only 15-20 percent regular sales, he worries that current trends could lead to greater seating limitations, or worse, getting shut down again.

As a business owner, Ohly said he understands restaurants and bars needing to generate revenue after months of severe restrictions. However, he said businesses will only remain sustainable if more people are aware of — and proactive about — the risks posed by Covid-19.

It is a responsibility Ohly believes starts at the top.

“Right now we have an administration that has offered conflicting reports [about the risks of Covid-19]. Our president wants to retweet conspiracy theories about how it’s a hoax,” he said. “On the other side, we have 125,000 people who have died from it, so we will be taking it seriously.”

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.

Cover photo licensed via Getty