Three friends believe they caught COVID-19 in a MS Coast bar. One of them is dead.
Everyone was waiting for Bobby Lewis to rebound from COVID-19 and return as host of a popular weekly trivia night, including Bobby himself.
Bobby thought he had COVID-19 but didn’t get tested.
On Oct. 7, Pour Judgment Bar and Grill canceled Bobby’s popular Exit 28 Trivia, named for an interstate exit to Long Beach, where he lived and the bar is located. Bobby expected to return Oct. 14.
He was riding out his illness at home with his brother, who was also sick. Bar owner Tan Ly said he talked to Bobby Oct. 13, the day before the next trivia night. Bobby said he was feeling better but needed to sit out another week.
“That was the last time I talked to him,” Tan said.
On Oct. 14, Bobby died in his bed. COVID-19 was named as a contributing factor in Bobby’s death but, because he had not been tested, respiratory failure was listed as the cause, Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer said.
Bobby’s fans and friends are mourning his death and trying to raise money for his cremation and associated expenses. His brother, according to public Facebook posts, is recovering from COVID-19 in the hospital.
“Bobby was, to say the least, a great man,” Ly said. “There was never a day he actually came to work because every day he came to work, it wasn’t work for him. He enjoyed doing what he did.
“It was a packed bar every time he showed up.”
Trivia nights packed bar
Bobby Lewis had two expressions: a smile and an intense look of concentration, said his boss at Graphic Tee Co. in Long Beach.
Graphic Tee owner Brandon Hursell and his girlfriend loved Bobby’s trivia night. Hursell said that he mentioned while talking to Bobby at the bar that Graphic Tee needed an employee. Bobby immediately volunteered and went to work there in March.
Bobby took to the business, working until the shop closed at 5 p.m. and often staying until 2 a.m. to teach himself graphic design even though his job as manager was handling customers and the front of the shop.
“He is absolutely irreplaceable,” Hursell. “He wanted to know everything about the business to make it better.”
Bobby was the same way with trivia. His games were different. He didn’t stand there with a microphone and rattle off questions from a card. Instead, he put together PowerPoint presentations with music. His trivia games featured unique themes and categories — Harry Potter, Mardi Gras, life in Mississippi.
Bobby also loved to joke around, his friends say, often at his own expense.
Each trivia night was different. He spent hours researching his questions. It took him six hours to put together a show, Hursell said. Bobby also did trivia nights at Chandeleur Island Brewing Co., where his favorite craft beer was Freemason.
Bobby lived with his brother, but the folks at Graphic Tee, Pour Judgment and Chandeleur were also family. He hung out with employees and patrons.
Hursell marveled at the hours Bobby worked, moonlighting at Graphic Tee, pulling together and hosting trivia games and playing music with his brother at various venues.
“Everything that he did, he went into it full-blown, no holds barred,” Hursell said. “No matter what he was doing, he went all the way in.”
“I asked him multiple times, ‘When do you sleep?’ “
Contracting COVID-19
In late September, as Hursell recalls, they were all at Pour Judgment. While the employees at the time were mandated to wear masks under Gov. Tate Reeves’ executive orders, bar patrons were not. The governor’s mask mandate, which has since expired, did not apply to people eating or drinking.
Bars were limited to 75% capacity, although public health experts widely recommend that people avoid social gatherings indoors without masks.
Bobby was sitting with friends at one table and Hursell and his girlfriend were at the next table.
“I think it was just that one group that got him (Bobby) sick,” Ly said. “He was sitting pretty close. He was at their table chitchatting for hours.”
Bobby later told Hursell that members of the group had tested positive for COVID-19 after they visited Pour Judgment.
Hursell and Bobby got sick the same day, Oct. 3. Their symptoms were similar — cough, fever and sore throat — but Bobby’s were much worse, Hursell said. They closed up the store, called customers and told them they would be back after a two-week quarantine.
Brandon and his girlfriend, both 28 years old, said they tested positive for COVID-19, but Bobby resisted getting tested.
“He was very stubborn and wouldn’t go to the hospital,” Hursell said. “He said, ‘I’m not going to the doctor because they’ll tell me something I already know.”
Benefit for death expenses planned
The last time Hursell called Bobby, on Oct. 9, Bobby didn’t answer. He texted instead, saying his throat was too sore to talk.
Hursell has since recovered. His girlfriend has lingering symptoms, including chest pain and “brain fog,” a known problem even in mild COVID-19 cases. She said the sense of taste and smell she lost is beginning to come back.
Bobby’s brother last saw him the morning of Oct. 14. Both were sick and in bed. Bobby still had a fever, but thought he was getting better, his brother told the Long Beach Police Department after finding Bobby’s body the next morning.
His brother wound up in the hospital, according to posts from him and his sister on Facebook.
“We are not sure when he will be released,” his sister wrote Thursday on the Pour Judgment Facebook page. “It could be a few days or another week. He is planning an epic release of Bobby’s ashes, befitting his short life. I thank you all for the friendship you gave my brother, you were all his family.”
Pour Judgment held a benefit Wednesday night for Bobby and will have another on Wednesday, Sept. 28, to cover the costs of cremation. Music starts at 9 p.m. Chandeleur Island Brewing donates kegs of Freemason for the benefit, with all sales going to the benefit fund, along with Pour Judgments profits. A donation bucket is also out for anyone who wants to stop by the bar at 100 Jeff Davis Ave.
Ly said both he and his two bartenders tested negative for COVID-19 after Bobby got sick and he has heard of no other customers failing ill.
Pour Judgment wrote on Facebook after the fundraiser: “Bobby would be crying right now knowing how many people are here to celebrate his life and to help his family.”
When to get tested, seek medical help
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends COVID-19 testing for anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 or has been in contact with someone who tested positive.
People can recover at home from COVID-19, but they should consult a medical professional if symptoms become severe and, according to the CDC, seek emergency medical attention for any of the following reasons:
▪ Trouble breathing
▪ Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
▪ New confusion
▪ Inability to wake or stay awake
▪ Bluish lips or face
The symptoms listed do not cover all reasons a person should seek medical attention.
People who think COVID-19 is no different from the flu should think again.
The CDC says:
“There are some key differences between flu and COVID-19. COVID-19 seems to spread more easily than flu and causes more serious illnesses in some people. It can also take longer before people show symptoms and people can be contagious for longer.
“Another important difference is there is a vaccine to protect against flu. There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 5:50 AM.
