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87 coronavirus cases now linked to indoor wedding reception in Maine

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An indoor wedding and reception in Maine earlier this month has now been linked to at least 87 coronavirus cases. The Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) said the wedding has led to COVID-19 outbreaks at both a jail and a nursing home. 

Dr. Nirav Shah, the director of the Maine CDC, said during a news conference Thursday that 59 of the 87 confirmed positive cases — about 85% — experienced symptoms of coronavirus. Thirty of the cases are primary, meaning people who attended the wedding, 35 are secondary, or people who had close contact with attendees and 22 are tertiary, people who had close contact with a secondary case. 

The wedding is also responsible for one death last week from the virus. 

The August 7 wedding and reception at Big Moose Inn in Millinocket has been connected to a virus outbreak at the York County Jail in Alfred. Shah said that a staff member at the jail attended the wedding, leading to 18 total positive cases — 7 inmates, 9 jail staff and 2 other York County government employees who work in the same building.

Shah said the jail was fully cleaned between Wednesday and Thursday of this week. 

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The wedding also led to an outbreak at the Maplecrest Rehabilitation Center in Madison, where nine people have now tested positive, including five residents and four staff members. An attendee of the wedding infected their parent, who then infected another one of their children, who works at the center and infected eight other people — all in the span of three weeks. 

According to CBS affiliate WGME, the Big Moose Inn failed to take proper safety precautions. 

Sixty-five people attended the wedding, exceeding the state's 50-person gathering limit. The state Health Inspection Program received complaints that guests were not wearing masks during the crowded event, where tables were not spaced 6 feet apart. 

However, Maine CDC reported that guests had their temperatures taken and out-of-state visitors provided negative COVID-19 tests ahead of the event. 

The inn failed to collect proper contact tracing information from attendees, WGME reports. State officials said they suspended the inn's license earlier this week after it failed to address problems and update safety precautions. 

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