Crowds gather at a bar in Osage Beach, Missouri
Crowds of people gather at a bar in Osage Beach, Missouri for Memorial Day weekend.
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Partygoers in Missouri who flouted social distancing guidelines over Memorial Day weekend have been urged by health officials to self-quarantine.
St. Louis County officials on Monday issued a travel advisory and encouraged those who attended pool parties at the Lake of the Ozarks to self-quarantine for 14 days or until they test negative for COVID-19.
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“Recent news reports indicate that many people, including those from the St. Louis region, did not follow any protective practices over the holiday weekend. Large crowds at Lake of the Ozarks showed no efforts to follow social distancing practices essential to curbing the spread of the virus. As a result, many members of the public and employers have asked St. Louis County how to best proceed in safely opening their businesses when social distancing practices are not being followed,” a statement from the St. Lous County Government reads.
Over the weekend, footage of packed bars and pools in Missouri's Osage Beach of the Lake of the Ozarks emerged on Twitter and other social media platforms, ultimately prompting the new coronavirus travel advisory and self-quarantine recommendations
"This reckless behavior endangers countless people and risks setting us back substantially from the progress we have made in slowing the spread of COVID-19," Dr. Sam Page, the county executive, said in a statement.
The footage also prompted the Camden County sheriff to release a statement, saying those who frequented bars and other establishments over the weekend “made a conscious decision to attend each even and frequent each location.”
“It was the right and responsibility of each individual who made those decisions to assess the risks inherent to those decisions.”
"Social distancing is not a crime and therefore the sheriff's office has no authority to enforce actions in that regard," added Sheriff Tony Helms. "We expect residents and visitors alike to exhibit personal responsibility when at the lake. We also respect the right of citizens to move freely around the lake and take responsibility to protect themselves from any expected dangers related to COVID-19. We need to trust, engage and empower Missourians to continue health safety measures while adjustments to restrictions are considered and being implemented."
However, Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel had a different reaction to the gatherings, which occurred in Missouri and elsewhere over the weekend. Siegel said Tuesday he was "deeply disturbed" to see the social-distancing guidelines so openly ignored.
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"The states I mentioned [Missouri, Texas and Florida] have flattened the curve but if you see this kind of cavorting going on, you know, there's a lot of asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 and we don't know exactly how it spreads, but close contact will definitely spread it," Siegel said on "America's Newsroom," emphasizing that keeping a safe distance from people is even more important than wearing a mask when it comes to avoiding the virus.
"I don't think the mask does nearly as much as the social distancing does."
Fox News’s David Montanaro contributed to this report.
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