Editor's Note: The above video aired Monday, August 24.
Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah said Tuesday there are now 60 positive COVID-19 cases among people associated with a wedding and wedding reception in Millinocket on August 7.
Maine CDC has now linked that outbreak to two others - one at the Maplecrest Rehabilitation Center in Madison and the other at the York County Sheriff's Office and York County Jail.
According to Dr. Shah, of the 60 cases associated with the August 7 wedding at the Tri-Town Baptist Church and subsequent reception at the Big Moose Inn:
- 22 are primary cases, meaning they're among people who attended the wedding or the reception.
- 14 are secondary, meaning they're among close contacts of people who attended the wedding or the reception.
- 24 are tertiary, meaning they're among close contacts of people who are secondary contacts.
When talking about the outbreak in Madison, Dr. Shah said a guest who attended the wedding infected their parent. The parent then had contact with one of their other children, who works at Maplecrest. The person who works at Maplecrest then infected five people at the facility - four residents and one staff member.
Dr. Shah said all of this unfolded in a span of about two and a half weeks.
"That's just an example of how quickly this virus can spread. From a wedding to a guest to a parent to another child to a nursing home," Dr. Shah said.
There are currently six total cases at Maplecrest - four among residents and two among staff.
Dr. Shah also said a staff member of the York County Jail attended the wedding and reception in Millinocket. According to Dr. Shah, that staff member was one of the first confirmed cases at the jail.
There are now a total of 18 cases associated with the York County Sheriff's Office and York County Jail.
Seven of these cases are among inmates at the jail, nine are among staff members at the jail, and two are among staff members who work closely with York County government in the same complex.
"These recent examples are restaurant-quality pieces of information that demonstrate how aggressive and how opportunistic this virus is. And how quickly it can move from one community to another, even if those communities are miles apart separated by multiple counties in between," Dr. Shah said. "What we've learned about COVID-19 is it can be the uninvited guest at every single wedding, party, or event in Maine. The virus is where we are and then it comes home with us."
Of the positive COVID-19 cases associated with the wedding reception in Millinocket, one has died, Millinocket Regional Hospital announced Friday.
The hospital previously reported they had one person associated with the outbreak admitted to the hospital.
"We are sorry to share that this patient passed away early this afternoon," Millinocket Regional Hospital CEO Robert Peterson wrote in an update Friday. "Our thoughts and sympathies are with her family as they cope with this difficult loss."
The Millinocket outbreak was announced by Maine CDC on Monday, August 17.
Shah reported Thursday that Maine CDC issued an imminent health hazard citation to the Big Moose Inn. The citation notes that the inn exceeded the indoor gathering limit of 50 individuals when it hosted the wedding reception.