One person has died as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak that began at a wedding in Maine on August 7.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said 32 positive cases of coronavirus were linked to the wedding ceremony held at a church in East Millinocket and the reception that followed at the Big Moose Inn in Millinocket.
One of those testing positive, an adult female patient at Millinocket Regional Hospital, died on Friday.
“We are sorry to hear that this patient died this afternoon,” Robert Peterson, the hospital’s chief executive, said in a statement Friday. “Our thoughts and sympathies are with her family as they face this difficult loss.”
About 65 guests attended the August 7 wedding at Tri Town Baptist Church in East Millinocket and the reception at the Big Moose Inn in Millinocket, officials said.
Maine CDC officials said they provided a serious health hazard situation to the Big Moose Inn for overruning the state’s inner city limits of 50 people when it came to the wedding. (Maine currently limits indoor meetings to 50 people, and outdoor meetings are limited to 100, with no more than five people per 1,000 square feet.)
The median age of confirmed positive cases linked to the wedding is 42 years old; those who have tested positive so far ranging in age from 4 to 78 years old, Maine CDC officials said.
As of Friday, Millinocket Regional Hospital had tested 366 people for COVID-19; test results were received at 263 and the remaining 103 tests were pending, hospital officials said.
“All positive patients were contacted immediately, given care instructions and further instructed to quarantine,” Peterson said in the statement. “The CDC has begun a contact search on all positive patients to determine the full extent of the outbreak. Because COVID-positive individuals are still being identified in the community and the numbers continue to increase, the hospital has expanded its no-visit policy and limited its services only until August 30th. “
Emily Sweeney can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney.
