High COVID-19 Attack Rate Among Attendees at Events at a Church — Arkansas, March 2020

Details

• Personal Author:
  James, Allison ; Eagle, Lesli ; Phillips, Cassandra ; Hedges, D. Stephen ; Bodenhamer, Cathie ; Brown, Robin ; Wheeler, J. Gary ; Kirking, Hannah
• Corporate Authors:
  Arkansas. Department of Health. ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)Epidemic Intelligence Service, ; CDC COVID-19 Response Team
• Description:
  What is already known about this topic? Large gatherings pose a risk for SARS-CoV-2 Transmission. ; What is added by this report? Among 92 attendees at a rural Arkansas church during March 6–11, 35 (38%) developed laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, and three persons died. Highest attack rates were in persons aged 19–64 years (59%) and ≥65 years (50%). An additional 26 cases linked to the church occurred in the community, including one death. ; What are the implications for public health practice? Faith-based organizations should work with local health officials to determine how to implement the U.S. Government guidelines for modifying activities during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent Transmission of the Virus to their members and their communities. ; On March 16, 2020, the day that national social distancing guidelines were released (1), the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) was notified of two cases of coronaVirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from a rural county of approximately 25,000 persons; these cases were the first identified in this county. The two cases occurred in a husband and wife; the husband is the pastor at a local church (church A). The couple (the index cases) attended church-related events during March 6–8, and developed nonspecific respiratory symptoms and fever on March 10 (wife) and 11 (husband). Before his symptoms had developed, the husband attended a Bible study group on March 11. Including the index cases, 35 confirmed COVID-19 cases occurred among 92 (38%) persons who attended events held at church A during March 6–11; three patients died. The age-specific attack rates among persons aged ≤18 years, 19–64 years, and ≥65 years were 6.3%, 59.4%, and 50.0%, respectively. During contact tracing, at least 26 additional persons with confirmed COVID-19 cases were identified among community members who reported contact with church A attendees and likely were infected by them; one of the additional persons was hospitalized and subsequently died. This outbreak highlights the potential for widespread Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the Virus that causes COVID-19, both at group gatherings during church events and within the broader community. These findings underscore the opportunity for faith-based organizations to prevent COVID-19 by following local authorities’ guidance and the U.S. Government’s Guidelines: Opening Up America Again (2) regarding modification of activities to prevent Virus Transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic. ; Suggested citation for this article: Suggested citation for this article: James A, Eagle L, Phillips C, et al. High COVID-19 Attack Rate Among Attendees at Events at a Church — Arkansas, March 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 19 May 2020. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6920e2 ; mm6920e2-H.pdf
• Subjects:
  • Community-Acquired Infections
  • CoronaVirus Infections
  • Pandemics
  • COVID-19
• Source:
  MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2020; v. 69 Early Release
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arkansas
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  69
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/88102/cdc_88102_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 225.11 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ce179c42ce8036d2af0f62399d9ebfaa2e47deaf5d333d988ae17a8deae7a28dee9837988aca294b061060c25f814c4e1f4c21f1b94a538ed8c0bcf64b681b03