Officials were told that several people who attended the party work in the restaurant industry, Duncanson said.
After the news about the group of positive cases was published, several restaurants said on their Facebook pages that they had temporarily closed or were reducing the service and some had similar messages on their phones.
Duncanson said officials were told that 30 to 50 people may have attended the party and that the contact trace is underway. According to state public health guidelines, anyone who has been in close contact with someone from the party should be quarantined for 14 days, he said.
Any restaurant whose employee or employees were at the party must close at least 24 hours for cleaning and disinfection, he said. He said the city health officer briefed the group’s local restaurants Wednesday and told them to advise employees to be vigilant of anyone with symptoms and to take “appropriate precautions.”
Duncanson said that nine of the 10 party attendees who tested positive do not live in Chatham.
“This was definitely our first group, absolutely,” said Duncanson.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, said the risk to coworkers and customers who may have been in contact with an infected restaurant employee depends largely on whether the employee had a suitable facial covering.
“If people who might have been affected were waiting at tables without wearing masks, and customers weren’t wearing masks while eating, it certainly is something that could have been done that way,” Walensky said. Those who think they might have been exposed to an infected person should be quarantined for 14 days, he said.
“The great lesson here, for people who are not near Chatham, is that we have every chance that this blow will be very close to home again,” he said. “Just because it looks like it’s somewhere else right now, I promise you there are still cases in this state, and we still have to keep our watch.”
At the Chatham Selection Board meeting Tuesday, Duncanson addressed the group.
“Apparently there was a party in Chatham in the second week of July that was attended by a large number of people who were not wearing masks,” Duncanson told the board.
The group, told the selectmen, “only highlights the fact that these big parties where people don’t practice social distancing and don’t wear masks can have significant impacts.”
He told board members that “these kinds of events are really troublesome, and now they are coming home to the Cape.” We have all heard them in other parts of the country but, in fact, it can happen here. ”
In a statement, the state Department of Public Health said it is in “close contact with local health officials in Chatham and the surrounding communities and is conducting active surveillance in collaboration with local officials to identify possible cases and contacts associated with the event”.
The department “will continue to support and provide guidance to local health officials in these communities.”
The Department of Public Health defines groups in general. A spokeswoman said the groups are defined as multiple cases linked to a common environment. As such, groups can occur with as few as two or three positive cases.
State Senator Julian C. Cyr, a Democrat representing the Cape and the Islands, said by phone Thursday that officials were concerned that some party goers were not responding to contact calls, possibly over consumer-related concerns. of alcohol by minors.
Cyr, who also serves as a spokesperson for the Cape Cod Reopening Task Force, urged anyone contacted by the trackers to “be frank” in answering questions.
“We are not here to get anyone in trouble,” said Cyr. “We just want to make sure we get information that helps keep people safe.”
Shareen Davis, chairman of the Chatham Board of Selectmen, said the group was concerning.
“The news is really alarming, but unfortunately not surprising,” Davis said, citing the influx of summer visitors to the region and recent cases of people gathered in crowds, sometimes without masks.
Davis said some local restaurants have temporarily closed, but authorities are not sure whether those closings are related to the group.
Among Chatham restaurants that have reduced operations as a result of the cluster is Hangar B.
“Due to recent Covid 19 cases in our surrounding community, we will only be making takeaways for the next few weeks,” the restaurant said in a statement Thursday on its website.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Hangar B said he was “happy to report negative test results from our team, we have still asked some staff members to be quarantined for 14 days to be more careful.”
A Hangar B manager said Thursday that no staff member attended the July 12 party. The manager, who would only identify himself as Chris P., said he was unaware of the party until a news team stopped by Hangar B on Wednesday to ask about it.
Another local restaurant, Larry’s PX, had no cases, according to a man who answered the phone at the establishment on Thursday and identified himself as the owner.
“Most of our employees are on the older side, so they weren’t at the party,” said the man, who would only give his first name, Jay.
Bob Luz, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said in an email that the focus should not be on restaurants following the Chatham group.
“This was a party at home in a personal residence, where several people in attendance tested positive,” Luz wrote. “The Governor’s and physicians’ guide to limiting group interaction is the story, not that some of those who attended work in restaurants. They were personal friends who decided to get together and have a party. “
Chatham Town manager Jill R. Goldsmith described Wednesday’s pandemic as a “storm” in her regular community update posted on the city’s official website.
Noting that a “rare tornado” hit the region in July 2019, Goldsmith wrote that this year, “we are facing a much longer-lasting storm with impacts not on trees and power lines, but on lives and livelihoods. No I know how long we will have to endure this public health emergency, but I am confident that we will support each other for as long as it takes to see our community through it. ”
On Monday, Goldsmith said, the city Board of Health voted to extend the hours that require wearing masks in the center by one hour, until 10 pm
“The request for this extension was made by several downtown merchants in recognition that more people use Main Street later than initially expected,” he said. The board clarified that those who remove the masks to eat or drink should be seated and / or socially distanced from non-family members in doing so.
According to the Board of Health’s order, the city is “concerned that … the combination of large crowds and narrow roads and sidewalks will make it difficult to maintain social distancing” as demanded by Governor Charlie Baker.
Anyone who violates the order is subject to a written warning for the first offense, a $ 100 fine for a second violation, and a $ 300 lien for a third or later violation.
World correspondent Jeremy C. Fox contributed to this report.
Travis Andersen can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.
