July winery event linked to 83 coronavirus cases
Emily Tian
A “name that tune” event at a Henry County winery has been linked to more than 80 coronavirus cases.
It’s a figure that continues to grow after the July 11 event at Leisure Time Winery. Gov. Mike DeWine said 53 cases had been linked to the winery while he was speaking during a coronavirus news briefing late last week, urging Ohioans to take more seriously the need to wear masks and social distance. Now the event has been linked to 83 total cases, local health officials said this week.
Of these 83 cases, 33 have come from Henry County, 18 from Fulton County, 15 from Defiance County, and 13 from Williams County. According to Henry County Health Department records, Wood County has traced three positive cases to the event, and Lucas County has identified one. But investigation of the outbreak is still ongoing, and it’s likely that there are still more cases in surrounding counties that can be linked to the event.
“Some of those cases are from secondary exposure. Someone who went to the winery became ill and infected another individual,” said Bethany Wachter, the health communications specialist for the Henry County Department of Health.
The live game show held at the popular winery in Napoleon was hosted by Dave Zwayer, who regularly runs a music knowledge entertainment program at venues in Toledo and around Ohio. Zwayer himself was symptomatic and tested positive for coronavirus last week.
About 70 guests reserved advance tickets to the event, which was downsized from full capacity. And according to a July 24 public Facebook post written by Jessica Durham, the daughter of owners Jerry and Lori Shaver, hand sanitizer was readily available, checkout stations were covered with plexiglass and queues featured social distancing markers.
“We did take steps to make this as safe as we felt possible, while still trying to provide an experience our guests are accustomed to,” she wrote. “ALL these things followed state regulations! However, it is clear more needs to happen.”
But while tables were six feet apart from each other, the seated guests were not, said Zwayer.
“I don’t think I saw one person with a mask on. Maybe a staff member running around [wore one],” he said.
Leisure Time Winery owners did not respond to a request for comment.
Zwayer said he didn’t wear a mask while hosting his show, although he usually wears one if his guests preferred.
He walked from table to table, allowing guests to speak into a microphone as they took turns guessing the song.
“I did try to keep my distance when I went to the tables,” he said. “I was kind of making a joke. Somebody would go to fist bump me, and I’d wipe my fist off with a towel I carried around.”
State health officials have implemented a color-coded system to track the severity of outbreaks county-bycounty. The system ranges from Level 1, where there is low risk of infection and low spread, to Level 4.
At the time, Henry County’s coronavirus risk assessment was classified at Orange Level 2, according to the state’s color-coded public health advisory system. Since the event took place almost two weeks before the governor enacted a statewide mask mandate on Thursday, Henry County residents were not required to wear masks in public.
However, because of the spike in coronavirus cases attributed to the winery outbreak, Henry County was re-evaluated last week as a Red Level 3 county.