Charlotte bars cited for COVID violations. Mecklenburg surges ahead of Christmas.

Law enforcement issued four citations to businesses in Charlotte over the weekend, including an uptown sports bar that came under fire when a video surfaced showing more than 100 people inside drinking with almost no one wearing masks and little social distancing.

Mecklenburg County Deputy Public Health Director Raynard Washington retweeted a video from inside Clutch Kitchen & Pour House, saying: “So many in our community are grieving/experiencing loss, kids are struggling to learn virtually, seniors are trapped in their homes, hospitals are strained more than ever, and meanwhile...”

Continued public gatherings as COVID-19 spreads rapidly — and the backlash against businesses that follows — come as the Charlotte area reached a 12% positivity rate over a seven-day period ending Dec. 16. Two months ago, Mecklenburg’s positivity rate was 6.5%.

On Monday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department spokesman Thomas Hildebrand told the Observer CMPD officers issued citations to Clutch Kitchen & Pour House and Bulldog Taproom on Saturday, “after each business continued to operate in violation of the (governor’s) orders.”

Two adult arcades, Fish Table Computer Games on Albemarle Road and a Skilled Arcade on The Plaza, were also cited for COVID-19 violations, Hildebrand said.

Videos from inside Clutch Kitchen and el Thrifty Social — which were widely shared on social media this weekend — showed dozens of people clustered together with no social distancing and face masks.

At Clutch Kitchen, Clemson and Notre Dame fans were shouting during the ACC Championship Game. In a vocal tweet, Justin LaFrancois, publisher of alternative newspaper Queen City Nerve, emphasized employees weren’t wearing masks either.

“Obviously, it’s not something that we’d like to see because it puts multiple people at risk for COVID,” Public Health Director Gibbie Harris told reporters Monday, without naming any specific businesses.

“The amount of virus that we have in our community right now is widespread, so any time you’re in that type of situation, you’re putting yourself at risk, which means you’re then putting your loved ones at risk if you become infected.”

In a statement on Facebook Monday afternoon, Clutch Kitchen apologized for the incident and said it was “committed to ensuring this does not happen again.”

“While safety precautions were in place, including professional security and staff mask and safety training, in preparation for the expected ACC Championship game crowd, we realize that at points on Saturday, our establishment exceeded capacity and that COVID-19 safety measures were not followed,” the post reads.

Mecklenburg County’s COVID-19 caseload will likely spike in January, but the exact magnitude and strain on medical resources largely depends on whether people give in to “coronavirus fatigue” over the holidays, Harris said.

Lax behavior observed at crowded bars and restaurants in Charlotte, she said, is exacerbating the pace of infections — on top of ill-advised travel and colder weather that’s prompted more people to gather indoors, where transmission risk is higher.

CMPD is still using an “education-based philosophy” for businesses, rather than proactively checking on restaurants and bars, Deputy Chief Steven Brochu said Monday.

In a revised mask mandate last month, Cooper explicitly gave law enforcement officers the ability to directly cite people who fail to wear masks.

“We continue to ask for voluntary compliance from both the community and our business community,” Brochu said, adding CMPD wants “people to understand the gravity of not being in compliance.”

COVID-19 spread in bars

Restaurants and bars are one source of COVID-19 transmission, case investigators and contact tracers in Mecklenburg have found. But infected individuals are still hesitant to fully tell health officials about their whereabouts, making it difficult to pinpoint clusters and break the transmission chain, Harris said.

In recent months, Mecklenburg officials have singled out establishments like Olde Mecklenburg Brewery and QC Social Lounge for openly violating health guidelines. After a controversial Mecktoberfest, for example, Harris had urged all patrons to get tested for COVID-19 to avoid potential outbreaks in the community.

Harris said the vast majority of businesses are following the governor’s ongoing coronavirus restrictions, including a 9 p.m. alcohol curfew and early closure times designed to slow the spread of COVID-19. But the handful of flagrant violations, she said, are what tend to reap the attention on Twitter.

Mecklenburg’s COVID-19 ambassadors, tasked with educating local businesses on health protocols, found that about 84% of bars and breweries were complying with Cooper’s mask mandate, according to data Harris shared with county commissioners last week. By comparison, about 94% of restaurants were compliant, but only 68% of gyms and fitness centers received good marks.

Ambassadors say the most common issues revolve around mask wearing, social distancing and occupancy limits.

For now, Mecklenburg is not contemplating tighter rules for the hospitality sector, like stopping indoor dining, Harris said. But it’s unclear what steps Cooper may take as case tallies and hospitalizations skyrocket across the state.

“What we’re hoping is that our community will help us and do what needs to be done — without having to implement those restrictions — because we know the negative impact that has on businesses in our community, ” Harris said.

Mecklenburg appears to now be in the “red zone” under the state’s county alert system, indicating critical community spread of the virus, Harris said.

The county has logged 56,517 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported Monday.The local death toll is 518, Mecklenburg officials said.

A Charlotte Observer analysis of state COVID-19 data shows an average of 660 new cases reported in Mecklenburg daily over the last seven days. The caseload has drastically increased since late November, when the seven-day average of new cases was 370.

Harris pleaded with the public to stay vigilant around the holidays, stressing the continued need to avoid large gatherings, wear face masks and practice social distancing, among other coronavirus safeguards.

“Have a wonderful holiday, but do it in a responsible way that helps us protect ourselves and our community,” she said.

This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 4:08 PM.