As of Tuesday, the United States has reported 15.2M cases of COVID-19. 286,000 people have died from the virus. In Ohio, on the same day, those statistics were 510,000 reported cases and 7,103 deaths. And yet, just three nights before those numbers posted, 500 people packed into a 15,000 square foot club in Columbus, Ohio for a Trey Songz performance. No one wore masks. Everyone sweated and danced, close together, as if it was a normal, virus-less year. Trey, who contracted the virus himself last October and had promised to “take it seriously”, sang to his fans pressed up against the stage, with no physical barriers between them. Not even the club’s staff wore any form of PPE. The event had been well advertised in advance and well documented with photos of the crowd and complete lack of any social distancing blasted all over social media. However, they weren’t allowed to slide this time. The club, named The Aftermath *snicker*, has been cited and the matter has been turned over to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office who will work with the Ohio Liquor Control Commission on the case.
An Ohio club was cited for “egregious violations” of health orders after hundreds of maskless fans desperate to see R&B singer Trey Songz packed the indoor venue.
Undercover agents observed roughly 500 people late Saturday at the jam-packed, 15,000-square-foot nightspot in a Columbus shopping plaza, the Ohio Investigative Unit said in a statement.
“Patrons were congregated throughout the premises with no attempts to maintain social distancing and no physical barriers in place,” authorities said.
“Agents observed patrons standing, walking freely and sharing alcoholic beverages directly from the same bottle as they were passed between groups.”
The club, Aftermath, also had no physical barriers in place and “most of the crowd” weren’t wearing masks or practicing social distancing, the agency said.
The venue was cited for improper conduct and disorderly activities. The incident has been referred to the Ohio Liquor Control Commission for potential penalties, including the revocation of its liquor license, authorities said.
I am so frustrated with these stories, I wish this’d play out like a Hollywood movie scene, where masked authorities bust in and rip the club’s liquor license off the wall, leaving a sign reading “COVID – and the Commission – come for everyone.” But apparently this will all be by the book and Variety reports it will take a few weeks for the case to even be heard by the Liquor Control Commission. They also get to decide the penalty. However, People reported that the city of Columbus did temporarily,“shut the establishment down pending further separate court action.” I also wish Trey or his label would get some form of slap on the wrist too, even if it was symbolic. Trey apparently also held a show in Texas prior to Ohio, but took down all evidence from his social media after the Ohio backlash.
CB just wrote about the need to start coming after violators in the US like they do in Britain and I agree with her. I read tweets like this from doctors and nurses and I just think violators need more than a tsking. Putting my dramatic hat back on, at the very least, these people who blatantly ignored rules and restrictions cancelled the holidays for the rest of us. At the most, they’ve contributed to the deaths of what will soon be 300K Americans.
Instagram and Getty Images
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