‘Social distancing was nonexistent,’ says one person at the party in Missouri, where measures to limit the spread of Covid-19 are still in place
Scott Pasmore, an anchor for CNN affiliate KTVK, shot the video at Backwater Jacks Bar & Grill in Osage Beach on Saturday.
Jodi Akins, from Blue Springs, told CNN in a message that she visited the bar with four friends for a pool party on Saturday.
“When we walked up my first words were ‘oh my gosh’ it was intense for sure!! Social distancing was nonexistent. However everyone was enjoying themselves. It was a very carefree environment but security was heavy!!” she wrote to CNN.
She said the bar took some safety precautions.
“They checked all of our temps and had thousands of little bottles of hand sanitizer!! They did a good job with what they had to work with!!” she wrote.
“The venue has worked with and taken the advice of government officials and management teams and will be following social distancing guidelines. Extra precautions and safety measures will be taken to provide a safe environment for you to enjoy the event,” the bar said.
The bar said it would be operating at reduced capacity, attendants would be continually cleaning and sanitizing bathrooms and that there would be a paramedic on staff for the duration of the event.
Large turnout was expected
“It’s supposed to be one of the biggest Memorial Day weekends we’ve seen at the lake here in years,” Bill Morgan, manager of Robins Resort in Lake of the Ozarks, told KTVI earlier this week.
“It definitely seems like more (traffic) than last year,” he said. “It seems like everyone is having the same idea, to come to the lake to enjoy summer, because you can social distance at the same time.”
Ed Yong, a writer at The Atlantic, cautioned that overcrowded pools may not represent the broader American public’s attitude toward social distancing.
“It’s much more compelling to show someone flocking out into a public space than to show, for example, me sitting at home and following guidelines,” he said. “Yet the latter is probably more reflective of what most Americans are actually doing.”
CNN’s Fenly Foxen contributed to this report.
