Choir practice turns fatal. Airborne coronavirus strongly suspected
With the coronavirus quickly spreading in Washington state in early March, leaders of the Skagit Valley Chorale debated whether to go ahead with weekly rehearsal.But Skagit County hadn't reported any cases, schools and businesses remained open, and prohibitions on large gatherings had yet to be announced.
"That's all we can think of right now," said Polly Dubbel, a county communicable disease and environmental health manager. Story continuesThe World Health Organization has downplayed the possibility of transmission in aerosols, stressing that the virus is spread through much larger"respiratory droplets," which are emitted when an infected person coughs or sneezes and quickly fall to a surface.
With three-quarters of the choir members testing positive for the virus or showing symptoms of infection, the outbreak would be considered a"super-spreading event," he said. The festival would soon be canceled, but nothing had been announced yet and the choir was continuing to prepare. Cushioned metal chairs extended in six rows of 20, with about a foot between chairs and one aisle down the center. There were twice as many seats as people.
Burdick woke up the next day, March 14, with a fever. As his temperature rose to 103, he began hearing from other choir singers. Their clinic sent out their samples for coronavirus tests, which would come back four days later showing they both had COVID-19.Working from the choir's membership roster, a dozen health officers scrambled for three days to contain the outbreak. They called every member, determining who had attended the rehearsal.
On March 18, Burdick received a message from Nancy"Nicki" Hamilton, an 83-year-old soprano, known for her political activism and tales of international travel. She was worried about a fellow member. The Burdicks had been heartened to hear that another woman in the hospital — an alto in her 80s — seemed to be getting better.
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