[ad_1]
National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases; Samantha Lee / Insider
- A wedding in Maine, USA, became a landmark case for “super spreader” events, and researchers are still studying it.
- The event caused 177 cases of Covid-19 and seven deaths.
- In a new report, US CDC officials said it has emerged that guests ignored requests and signs telling them to wear masks and socially distance themselves.
- After five of the wedding attendees tested positive for Covid-19, the cases spread hundreds of miles to a correctional facility and long-term care facility.
- Visit the Business Insider SA home page for more stories.
After a months-long investigation into an American wedding event turned super-spreader, the state’s Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that the single event resulted in 177 cases of Covid-19.
According to a report released today by the CDC, the August 7 wedding reception at Big Moose Inn in rural Maine included five people who tested positive for Covid-19, the infection that causes the coronavirus.
After launching an investigation into these five cases, CDC officials found 30 more Covid-19 infections directly related to the wedding, plus 27 in the vicinity.
After the event, officials continued to find cases related to the wedding and recorded a total of 177 cases, seven deaths and three other hospitalizations. The cases spread to a prison 200 miles from the wedding site and a long-term care facility 100 miles away.
Officials also learned that signs posted at Big Moose Inn during the event instructed guests to wear masks, but “guests did not follow this requirement or stay within six feet, and staff members did not comply with these measures, “says the CDC report. Staff members wore masks.
An August 7 wedding in Maine, USA, turned into a wide-spread event that led to 177 COVID-19 infections.
Before the wedding-related outbreak, offices and assisted living facilities were the only places known to have caused outbreaks in Maine, Maine CDC spokesman Robert Long told CBS.
Weddings have become hotbeds for the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.
Other US states have also experienced coronavirus outbreaks as a result of weddings.
In July, a San Francisco couple and eight of their wedding guests tested positive for Covid-19 after a city official closed their secret 100-person event at the Saints Peter & Paul Church.
“This is the perfect example of why public health officials have been trying to convince people of the problems of gathering in crowds,” John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley told the San Francisco Chronicle about the incident. .
That same month, the WHO warned that singing, speaking or shouting in enclosed spaces such as restaurants, bars, places of worship and wedding venues could spread Covid-19.
Previously, research suggested that coronavirus particles from an infected person immediately fall to the ground when released, making it unlikely they will infect another person six feet or more away.
But researchers now believe that the virus could spread differently indoors, regardless of how softly or loudly a person speaks. If you are indoors, an infected person could release tiny aerosols or particles that float through the air. These aerosol particles get trapped inside due to poor ventilation and are more likely to come into contact with another person than a drop that falls to the ground.
“In these outbreaks, aerosol transmission cannot be ruled out, particularly in these indoor settings where there are many people and poorly ventilated spaces where infected people spend long periods of time with other people,” the WHO wrote.
Weddings fit that bill, and weddings in New York, Pennsylvania and Kansas have also been linked to local coronavirus outbreaks.
Houston-based wedding planner Sarah Bett told the New York Times that it is nearly impossible to get all guests to comply with coronavirus safety protocols, especially when different venues have different rules.
“Some places make the bride wear masks, while others say those who walk down the aisle are exempt,” he told the Times. “It’s a bit illegal down here.
[ad_2]
