When you think of Maine, what comes to mind? I imagine forests, mountains, rocky coasts and cold winters. I think of Mainers as salt of the earth, mostly rural folks. The state only has 1.3 million inhabitants. That’s why it comes as a shock to learn that a Maine wedding is teaching us a lot about the spread of the coronavirus.
The Millinocket Maine Wedding:
Two weeks ago, we wrote about a wedding reception at the Big Moose Inn on August 7, 2020, in Millinocket, Maine. This is a small town. The estimated population is around 4,300 people. Chances are good that you never heard of Millinocket, Maine, until the consequences of this nuptial celebration made national news.
Before that fateful day, there were no recorded cases of COVID-19 in Millinocket. On August 7, family and friends attended a small rural church wedding. The minister, Reverend Todd Bell, flew his small plane from Sanford, Maine, to officiate at the Tri Town Baptist Church ceremony in East Millinocket, Maine. That was a distance of 233 miles. Then 65 people gathered at the Big Moose Inn to celebrate. It rapidly became a super-spreader event.
How a Maine Wedding Has Led to 7 Deaths:
Of the 65 people in attendance, 56 caught SARS-CoV-2. That’s an 86% infectivity rate. According to Maine health authorities, many of the people who attended the celebration did not wear masks or maintain physical distance from other guests.
The attendees went on to spread the infection far and wide. At last count, more than 175 people have come down with the virus and 7 have died.
One of the Maine wedding attendees works at the York county jail. That is more than 200 miles from Millinocket. At least 70 people, including inmates and corrections officers, came down with COVID-19.
The Nursing Home:
The Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center is in Madison, Maine. It is 100 miles from Millinocket.
According to the Bangor Daily News (Sept. 16, 2020):
“Beginning sometime in mid-August, COVID-19 began circulating through Maplecrest after an employee caught the disease from a parent, who had in turn caught it from another child who attended an Aug. 7 wedding in the Millinocket region, according to state health officials.”
As of this writing, 15 workers at the nursing home and 24 residents came down with COVID-19. Six of the Maplecrest residents subsequently died. None of these people attended the wedding.
The seventh person to die was an elderly woman who lived in East Millinocket. She did not attend the wedding either. She did, however, interact with someone who had been at the Maine wedding.
The Church:
Remember Reverend Todd Bell? He was the officiant at the wedding. He flew his plane 233 miles from Madison, Maine, to Millinocket. At last count, 10 members of his congregation at the Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford, Maine, have tested positive for COVID-19. The church has issued a statement saying that some of its members attended the Millinocket, Maine wedding reception.
What Lessons Can We Learn from the Maine Wedding?
First, Maine is a rural state with a small population. At last count, there have been a total of 4,941 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Maine and 138 deaths. That compares to 16,336 cases and 2,144 deaths in another rural state, North Dakota. The population of North Dakota (761,723) is substantially less than the 1.3 million people in Maine.
By the way, this leads us to our second lesson: COVID-19 is not just an urban disease. Deaths from SARS-CoV-2 have been on the rise in North Dakota (and South Dakota) for several weeks. Over the last 14 days, cases are up 23% and deaths are up over 90%.
By comparison, cases in Maine are up 16% over the last two weeks and deaths are up 300%. That is likely due to the Millinocket, Maine wedding.
New York City had a total of 243,314 cases and 23,762 deaths. Over the last two weeks, however, cases were down 1% and deaths were down 31%. To be specific, there were 253 cases and 4 deaths on September 16 in NYC. In South Dakota, on the other hand, there were 297 cases on September 16 and 8 deaths. The population of South Dakota is 903,027. The population of New York City is over 8 million.
If there is one take home message from the Maine wedding, it is that the coronavirus causing COVID-19 is very easy to catch and transmit. If you would like to learn more about how this virus spreads, please tune in to our public radio show this Saturday morning at 7:00 am. You will learn some very practical tips on how to avoid catching COVID-19 from two of the world’s leading experts on aerosol viral transmission and proper ventilation. You can catch the live audio streaming signal by tuning in to any one of several NPR stations. They include:
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