News
Friday, July 3rd 2020, 3:25 PM AKDT
On Friday afternoon the Anchorage Health Department released a list of multiple bars, restaurants and a strip club warning that people with COVID-19 have spent significant amounts of time there, exposing other customers to the disease.
The businesses and dates of exposure are:
| City | Businesses | Dates | No. of case visits confirmed |
| Anchorage | Anchorage Moose Lodge #1534 | June 23-28 | 8 |
| Anchorage | Panhandle Bar | June 16-24 | 6 |
| Anchorage | JJ’s Lounge | June 15-18 | 6 |
| Anchorage | The Gaslight Bar | June 25-27 | 5 |
| Anchorage | Williwaw Social | June 20, 21, 25 | 3 |
| Anchorage | Chilkoot Charlie’s (Koot’s) | June 18-25 | 2 |
| Anchorage | The Cabin Tavern | June 24-25 | 2 |
| Anchorage | F Street Station | June 20, 25 | 2 |
| Anchorage | Eddie’s Sports Bar | June 18 | 1 |
| Anchorage | Humpy’s Great Alaskan Alehouse | June 25 | 1 |
| Anchorage | Pioneer Bar | June 20 | 1 |
| Anchorage | Bernie’s Bungalow Lounge | June 25 | 1 |
| Anchorage | The Great Alaskan Bush Company | June 24 | 1 |
| Anchorage | Asia Garden | June 24 | 1 |
| Anchorage | The Blue Line Pub & Cafe | June 17 | 1 |
| Eagle River | Homestead Sports Lounge | June 26 | 1 |
| Eagle River | Matanuska Brewing Company | June 26 | 2 |
| Palmer | Spurs Bar and Grill | June 23-27 | 3 |
| Seward | Yukon Bar | June 23-25 | 2 |
The health department encourages anyone who was at these businesses during these timeframes to stay away from people most vulnerable to COVID-19, monitor for symptoms and check their temperatures twice a day for two weeks after the possible exposure.
The recent uptick in Anchorage cases has strained the department’s ability to contact everyone who may have been exposed.
“With the current surge in cases and related contacts, our public health tracing capacity is maxed out,” said Anchorage Health Department Director Natasha Pineda. “At this time, particularly at locations where physical distancing and use of face coverings are unlikely to occur, the number of contacts is too large and complex for traditional contact tracing.”
The department also asks people to keep track of the businesses they visit and who they come into close contact with, in case those people need to be contacted later.
Anchorage Moose Lodge #1534, which was at the top of the department’s exposure list, released a statement Friday evening.
The statement read, in part:
“Prior to the announcement on Friday morning, the Board of Officers decided it would be best to close the lodge until further notice because of the Covid-19 cases we were notified of. We have followed every suggestion from the MUNI/CHARR guidelines by going above and beyond what we were required to do. We have too many members and families that are vulnerable to Covid19 and we felt this was the best thing to do to keep our members, staff, and community safe.”
The statement continued, saying employees started wearing masks in May when they reopened, eight sanitizing stations were added, members were asked to wear masks after Mayor Ethan Berkowitz announced the order for masks in public places and areas were sanitized after patrons left. The business also canceled all horseshoe games for the rest of the season.
For those who think they may have been exposed and want to get tested, it’s available seven days a week at 4115 Lake Otis Parkway in Anchorage from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and on weekends from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. People are asked to preregister online.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with information about Anchorage Moose Lodge’s statement.
Copyright 2020 KTVA. All rights reserved.
