Anchorage Naming Businesses Visited by Customers with Virus

The Anchorage Department of Health released a list of businesses where people who later tested positive for COVID-19 spent extended periods of time.

The health department named 19 locations in the Municipality of Anchorage, Palmer and Seward to which the coronavirus patients were traced on specific dates in mid- to late-June.

Several of the most popular bars in downtown Anchorage were on the list the city released Friday.

Matt Tomter, owner of Matanuska Brewing’s Eagle River restaurant, which was on the list, said there is no evidence the two infected people said to have visited his establishment passed the virus to workers or other patrons.

The city is unfairly singling out bars and restaurants as officials have not named other types of businesses visited by infected people, he said.

Tomter described ultraviolet air cleaning machines and sanitation protocols that have been added to protect the restaurant.

“I think we’ve done just about anything anyone can possibly do to reduce the spread of any kind of infection,” Tomter said.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. But for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.