Through contract tracing, the CDC said this week that they were able to track a cluster of COVID-19 cases to two events in Chicago.
A total of 16 cases, which have resulted in three fatalities, can be traced to a person who attended a birthday party and a funeral, the CDC said.
According to the CDC, a person who traveled out of state shared a takeout meal, eaten from common serving dishes, with two family members at their home the night before the funeral. At the meal, which lasted approximately three hours, and the funeral, which lasted about two hours and involved a shared “potluck-style” meal, the original patient also reported embracing family members of the decedent.
Five days later, the original patient attended a birthday party while feeling mildly symptomatic. Seven party attendees subsequently developed COVID-19 3–7 days after the event.
Following the events, two people who cared for a person who attended the birthday party came down with the illness. Later on, a family member of one of the caregivers then developed COVID-19 symptoms.
Three people who attended the birthday party who tested positive but were asymptomaticattended church services six days after the party. A church attendee, who reportedly sat near the three people and also passed the collection plate, tested positive for the virus.
“Despite intensive epidemiologic investigation, not every confirmed or probable case related to this cluster might have been detected,” the CDC said.” Persons who did not display symptoms were not evaluated for COVID-19, which, given increasing evidence of substantial asymptomatic infection, means the size of this cluster might be underestimated.”
Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @jjboggs or on Facebook .
