People may have been exposed to COVID-19 at 7 bars in La Crosse area

Health officials in Wisconsin are warning people that if they went to one of seven bars in early June, they may have been exposed to COVID-19. 

The La Crosse County Health Department posted on Facebook Monday asking people who visited one of the bars, listed below, between June 5-7 to fill out this form so the department can contact them about the next steps they should take. 

The post says a public notification like this is necessary when there is a "current, actionable risk to the public and we do not know who all the close contacts may have been through disease investigation and contact tracing, and we see many unconnected positive COVID-19 cases associated with a business."

The bars

Health officials say this public notification is only for the following bars: 

• Blue Moon, Onalaska
• The Library (Bar), La Crosse
• Legends and the Twisted Moose, La Crosse
• Pettibone Beach, La Crosse
• The Crow, La Crosse
• Brothers, La Crosse
• Broncos, La Crosse

Wisconsin reopened in May

Life returned to "normal" earlier in Wisconsin than it has in Minnesota after the state Supreme Court ended the state's safer-at-home order on May 13. 

Within hours, patrons packed bars with many not following social distancing guidelines nor wearing masks.

"The best advice is to be very careful when going to bars and restaurants to avoid possible exposures, and we are seeing a trend in our cases visiting these places," La Crosse County Health Department said in a Facebook post Monday.

Many health officials have stressed the importance of gradually reopening after many states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin, shut down in mid-March to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and "flatten the curve." 

As of Monday, 22,932 people in Wisconsin had tested positive for COVID-19, with 694 deaths.