Two months ago, a choir Coronavirus outbreak happened in a valley of the state of Washington, United States. Choir practice was held in a church. Unknowingly, one of their singers happens to have undiagnosed Coronavirus. After a few days, 52 out of the 61 singers on the choir were diagnosed with the disease. Meanwhile, two others died due to the virus.
Recently, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) released a report explaining how this happened.
'Super-Emitter' COVID-19 patient infects 52 people through singing
Though it has been months since the incident happened, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) released a study involving what happened.
COVID-19 patients that are called 'super-emitters' are people that spread the virus through speaking, singing, or any verbal method. The choir practice was only held for 2.5 hours, but the impact of the disease went so big that almost all people at large got infected,
"The act of singing, itself, might have contributed to the transmission through the emission of aerosols, which is affected by the loudness of vocalization," study authors from Skagit County Public Health said in the CDC report. "Certain persons, known as super emitters, who release more aerosol particles during speech than do their peers, might have contributed to this and previously reported COVID-19 super spreading events."
It also showed how social distancing and proper wearing of face masks contribute to preventing the spread of the virus.
"This underscores the importance of physical distancing, including maintaining at least 6 feet between persons, avoiding group gatherings and crowded places, and wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain during this pandemic," added on the study.
