There are now 87 Covid-19 cases associated with an outbreak from an Aug. 7 wedding in Millinocket, Maine, Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the state's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, announced Thursday.
The outbreak has since spread to the Maplecrest Rehabilitation Center and York County jail, Shah said.
Of the 87 cases, 30 are primary cases, meaning those individuals directly attended the wedding and reception, Shah said. That’s almost half of the approximately 65 guests who attended the event.
There are 35 secondary cases, or people who are close contacts of the primary cases, and 22 tertiary cases, or those who are close contacts of the secondary cases, he continued.
At the Maplecrest Rehabilitation Center in Madison, Shah reported nine cases, five of whom are residents and four are staff.
Meanwhile, at the York County jail in Alfred, Shah said a total of 18 individuals have tested positive — nine staff members, two “other staff” in the building, and seven inmates.
Exponential growth: Shah said the situation is concerning because of how many people were affected from that initial setting.
“It suggests that there was already transmission happening in Penobscot County by the attendees, and when they came together it was sort of like a powder keg that was giving off sparks and generated a higher than expected number of cases,” Shah said. “There are some positive signs on the horizon, but when you start with such a high number of cases there is the potential for exponential growth, which is of principal concern right now.”