MT VERNON, Wash. – CDC researchers are calling a Mount Vernon choir gathering in March a “superspreader event” after a large number of attendees became sick with COVID-19.
Shortly after the Skagit County Chorale practice March 10th, 53 members reported illness, 32 of which were laboratory confirmed cases of COVID.
The CDC notes several opportunities to spread the disease during the choir’s practices, but says singing itself may have contributed.
People can emit more aerosol while singing and some “superemitters” release more particles into the air than others meaning they may contribute to these so-called “superspreading events.”
Researchers believe singing in close proximity for a long period of time may be why so many people got sick.
Two choir members with multiple underlying health conditions died.