NAPOLEON, Ohio — UPDATE: We're learning more about a coronavirus outbreak traced to a winery in northwest Ohio.
Governor Mike DeWine talked about the event in his briefing Thursday when giving the latest COVID-19 numbers for Henry County.
The "Name that Tune" event at Leisure Time Winery in Napoleon is now linked to 65 confirmed coronavirus cases.
"During the past two weeks, they've seen over half of their cases during the entire pandemic," DeWine said in his briefing.
The Henry County Health Department has traced 65 total confirmed cases back to the event on July 11. People from four different counties (Henry, Fulton, Defiance and Williams) were exposed at the event.
Health commissioner Mark Adams said they now know people showed up to the event with symptoms, but there were also asymptomatic people there.
"We didn't have someone that was going up and touching people to give them coronavirus," he said. "They were at a distance unmasked and were able to pass coronavirus onto them."
Adams wants people going out in public to know social distancing alone cannot stop the spread of the virus. He said people need to also wear masks and wash their hands.
"Not forcing your clients and customers to come in with a mask is not going to work," Adams said. "Proves it positive with that situation and with every other outbreak that we've had in Ohio and everywhere else, social distancing, that one form is just not going to work in preventing COVID-19."
Kati Finn of Defiance attended the winery event and tested positive five days later. She said the winery followed all safety measures from spacing out tables, limiting number of guests, having employees wear masks and plenty of hand sanitizer stations for guests.
"I really don't feel like there was anything they could've done differently to prevent this from becoming a center," she said.
But Adams believes businesses need to be more proactive in protecting the community.
"If you're that restaurant owner and you see people that are essentially climbing on top of each other," Adams added, "not social distancing, you absolutely, it is your responsibility to go and take an active role and get involved in public health."
Adams also stresses the importance of self-quarantining to protect others. And Finn said she had to self-quarantine right away because she lives with her elderly parents.
"Had I not read Leisure Time come out with that statement, I would have never gotten tested to be honest," she said. "I felt like it was just like an allergy or sinus infection and in Ohio, that's a typical feeling this time of year."
Adams expects the cases from this outbreak to go up because of secondary exposure of people bringing this home to their family or friends.
Leisure Time Winery is working with the health department in response regarding the event and any related cases.
Anyone who attended the event is urged to call their local health department.
"We urge anyone who attended the event to watch for symptoms and contact their healthcare provider should they begin to experience any," stated Julie Lauf, Director of Nursing. "Every guest in attendance longer than 15 minutes should self-quarantine through July 25 and seek a COVID test if you have any symptoms. This includes remaining at home during these days, watching for symptoms, and if possible stay away from others, especially those who are at a higher risk for getting sick from COVID-19."
Leisure Time Winery has announced they will be closed until July 31, issuing a statement on their Facebook page acknowledging the positive cases of coronavirus from the "Name That Tune" event and additionally urging anyone feeling unwell to get tested.
Symptoms of COVID-19 may appear between 2-14 days after exposure to the virus.
Symptoms may include:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
The Henry County Health Department can be reached at 419-599-5545. Additional information regarding COVID-19 and testing locations is available at their website.
The Fulton County Health Department can be reached at 419-337-0915.
The Ohio Department of Health's COVID-19 hotline is available by calling 1-833-427-5634.