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September 18, 2020 With seven deaths and at least 177 infected people, a wedding in the small US state of Maine may have turned into a "super-spreader" event of COVID-19.
The news agency France Presse reports today.
65 people attended the wedding, infringing among other things the official limit for events which is a maximum of 50 people.
It was held on August 7th.
First there was the ceremony at a Baptist church, then the reception at the "Big Moose Inn" in the quaint little town of Millinocket.
Immediately after the wedding, 24 people tested positive for the coronavirus test and this triggered an investigation.
Yesterday the director of the Center for Disease Control of Maine drew the new toll: at least 177 people infected and seven people died.
Of the latter, "none were physically present at the wedding", the official said.
In contact tracing, Millinocket's marriage went a long way.
Eighty cases were found in a prison 370 km from the wedding venue: one of the prison guards had attended the wedding.
Another 39 cases and six of the seven deaths were recorded in a retirement home 160 km from Millinocket.