A hairstylist with coronavirus worked for eight days this month, exposing as many as 91 customers and coworkers in Missouri, CNN reports, citing health officials.
“At least 84 customers and seven coworkers exposed got services from the hairstylist at Great Clips,” said Clay Goddard, director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
According to the report, the stylist worked May 12 through Wednesday. At the time, businesses such as barbershops and hair salons were allowed to operate in the state, health officials said Friday
Goddard said health officials have reached out to the people who were exposed, adding that the hairstylist had kept impeccable records that made contact tracing possible.
But he cautioned about the risks of overwhelming resources. “I’m gong to be honest with you: We can’t have many more of these,” he said at a news conference. “We can’t make this a regular habit or our capabilities as a community will be strained.”
It’s unclear how many other people were exposed outside the salon. During this time, the stylist visited a local Dairy Queen, a Walmart and a CVS pharmacy, according to CNN.
More than 96,000 people have died from coronavirus in the United States, where the number of confirmed cases is over 1.6 million. Missouri has nearly 12,000 cases of infections and more than 600 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Center.
