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Coronavirus in the USA: Maine wedding linked to 7 deaths

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As officials continue to push for preventative measures such as wearing masks and social distancing practices to reduce infection rates, they are also warning loudly about large gatherings.

The Maine CDC reported that the wedding, held August 7 in Millinocket, had about 65 guests, violating the state’s 50-person indoor event limit.

The event related to outbreaks that occurred in a nursing home and prison located more than 100 miles from the wedding venue, and among people who had only secondary or tertiary contact with the attendee.

According to Dr. Nirav D. Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Nirav D. Shah, residents of the Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center accounted for 39 wedding-related cases and six of the seven deaths.

“The virus encourages gatherings,” Shah added. “He doesn’t differentiate between happy events like a wedding or sad goodbyes like a funeral.”

Despite such dire warnings, about 1,500 people walked down to the New Jersey waterfront home featured on MTV’s Jersey Shore Monday night, leading to eight arrests, according to Seaside Heights police.

Seaside Heights Police Detective Steve Corman said the event was hosted by a YouTube group of pranksters, and officials say they are now concerned about how they will track possible infections among more than 1,000 people.

Universities are trying to stay ahead of outbreaks

Outbreaks occur in colleges and universities, confusing administrators working to contain the spread.

Colleges and universities in all 50 states have reported more than 50,000 cases of coronavirus.

Citing a significant increase in student cases, the University of Colorado-Boulder is moving into a 14-day quarantine period for students living in the city, according to its website.

The University of Arizona is following a similar tactic, urging students to stay put until the end of the month after a large number of positive cases. The university reported 261 positive cases on Monday. according to the school’s coronavirus dashboard.

Two students were expelled and three suspended from classes at the University of Missouri for violating rules requiring students with a positive isolation test and adherence to social distancing.

“These students deliberately put others at risk, and this is never acceptable. We will not allow the actions of some people to deny personal learning opportunities, over which more than 8,000 faculty and staff have worked so hard to achieve more than 30,000 MU students. “ the university said in a statement Tuesday.

Coronavirus could be in the US back in December

Although outbreaks associated with the coronavirus were not widely reported until spring, the virus could have spread in the United States as early as December, about a month earlier than the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention thought, according to researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.

A study published last Thursday in the Journal of Internet Medical Research found a statistically significant increase in clinic and hospital visits by patients who reported respiratory illness as early as the week of December 22.

The first known case of Covid-19 in the U.S. was a Washington DC patient who visited Wuhan, China, according to the CDC. The case was reported in January.

But the number of patients admitted to the emergency department for respiratory complaints, as well as the number of people admitted to hospital with acute respiratory failure between December 2019 and February 2020, are up over the past five years. Dr. Joanne Elmore told CNN that while cases may have been caused by the flu, the numbers are noteworthy.

Dr Claudia Hoyen, an infectious disease specialist at the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center who was not involved in the study, said she believed Covid-19 may have been in the US much earlier than anticipated.

But Christian Andersen, professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research, disagreed.

“From the genetic data of SARS-CoV-2, we know that the pandemic began in late November / early December in China, so there is absolutely no way for the virus to spread widely in December 2019. From the same genetic data, we know that widespread transmission didn’t start in the United States until (roughly) February 2020, “Andersen said in an email.

“The newspaper is picking up false signals and the likelihood of hospitalization is associated with the flu or other respiratory diseases,” Andersen wrote.

It’s still a long way back to normal

Some officials are gearing up for the coronavirus-induced lifestyle to continue for a while.

Boston will allow restaurants to continue to use private outdoor and public streets and sidewalks to serve customers until December 1, Mayor Marty Walsh said Tuesday. The practice was supposed to last until October 31.

“We’re trying to help our restaurants continue to use open space for as long as possible,” Walsh said.

And while researchers are rushing to prepare a vaccine in the new year, Dr. Sumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organization in Geneva, said on Tuesday that the world may not be able to start thinking about a return to “pre-Covid.” “Life until 2022.

Swaminathan, speaking to reporters during a virtual meeting hosted by the United Nations Foundation, said 60% to 70% of the world’s population must be immune before there is a drastic reduction in transmission of the virus.

“We’re looking at 2022 at least before enough people get the vaccine to build up immunity,” Swaminathan said. “So, over time, we have to maintain the same measures that are being taken now, with physical distancing, camouflage and respiratory hygiene.”

CNN’s Anna Sturla, Maggie Fox, Elizabeth Hartfield, Jennifer Feldman, Jacqueline Howard, Nakia McNabb, and Gisela Crespo contributed to this report.

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