Maine wedding 'superspreader' event is now linked to seven deaths. None of those people attended.

[SunSeeker]

Only about 65 close family members and friends were on the guest list for a bride and groom’s rustic wedding celebration in a small Maine town in early August.

But the nuptials began an outbreak now traced to more than 175 reported novel coronavirus infections and also to the deaths of seven people, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

The cluster of coronavirus infections that originated from the Big Moose Inn outside Millinocket on Aug. 7 continues to grow in Maine, state health officials said, after guests flouted social distancing and mask guidelines. Now people who have no association with the party have died, including six residents of the Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison, Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah said in a news briefing Tuesday.

The Millinocket wedding is not the only rule-defying celebration linked to a growing number of cases, as contact tracers and public health officials across the country continue to track down infections that stem from summer “superspreader” gatherings, including a motorcycle rally in South Dakota and a choir practice in Washington.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/15/maine-wedding-covid/

[LisaM]

1. To be fair, the people at the choir practice

weren't breaking the rules. Very little information had been given to the public and they were trying to observe the protocols they were aware of. They had no idea that the very act of singing would increase their risk (we know now that the information was out there and being wickedly hoarded by Trump).

I do think it was bad judgement on their part, but I don't think they should be lumped in with later groups who knew a lot more about how it spreads.

[SunSeeker]

2. The information about singing was out there since at least 2019

Likewise, Morawska and coworkers reported that counting aloud for 10?seconds followed by 10?seconds of breathing, repeated over two minutes, releases half as many particles as 30?seconds of continual coughing, which in turn releases half as many particles as saying “aah” for 30?seconds. They also reported that more particles are released when speech is voiced, which involves vocal folds vibration, rather than whispered, which does not.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213256289

A choir was also the first superspreader event for South Korea early in the pandemic.

Choirs have been known to be superspreaders in the US for months. Indeed Washington state itself had a well publicized choir outbreak back in March. https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/us-choir-outbreak-called-superspreader-event-in-report That choir had to have known the risks.

[LisaM]

3. To be clear, I don't think they should have gathered

But they were spaced out and wiping things down. (It was covered on the local news here). They also were unaware of how many cases were in Washington state. I am not saying they were right, but the people in Maine months later knew a lot more about this particular virus. I just don't think it's a one size fits all set of circumstances.