# Nearly 50 people contracted coronavirus after fellowship event at a small church in Maine



## Robert59 (Oct 22, 2020)

Three people have been hospitalized with Covid-19 and 46 others have contracted the coronavirus after a fellowship event at a church in a small town in Maine, according to the state's top health official.

A total of 49 cases have been linked to an outbreak at the Brooks Pentecostal Church in Waldo County, the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah said at a news conference Thursday.


https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/22/us/maine-church-covid-19-outbreak/index.html


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## Kaila (Oct 22, 2020)

Those numbers will continue to rise, and it's a remote rural location, very tiny town, without any previous cases.


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## CarolfromTX (Oct 22, 2020)

Just how, exactly, does the national media get hold of stories like this? I mean, it's local, very local, and yet it makes its way to the national media. lIs it true?  Is it made up? How would we know? Awfully convenient, if you ask me. Who's going to fact check? But it does fit the current taalking point of the surge in cases, so... must be true.


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## Kaila (Oct 22, 2020)

This particular situation is extremely well documented.


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## Don M. (Oct 22, 2020)

Churches and bars would seem, to me, to be among the riskiest places a person can go to during this pandemic.


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## win231 (Oct 22, 2020)

CarolfromTX said:


> Just how, exactly, does the national media get hold of stories like this? I mean, it's local, very local, and yet it makes its way to the national media. lIs it true?  Is it made up? How would we know? Awfully convenient, if you ask me. Who's going to fact check? But it does fit the current taalking point of the surge in cases, so... must be true.


Very few will fact check (if it's at all possible.)  Amazing how many people find it easier to be programmed robots, even when things don't add up.
And, no.....I'm not saying the virus does not exist.


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## Sunny (Oct 22, 2020)

I wonder if any of them were wearing masks?  It would be very useful to know that.


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## Geezerette (Oct 22, 2020)

Carol, city, county and state health departments track these things based on number of  positive tests and hospitalizations. Physicians are required to report certain contagious diseases to those health depts. This type of reporting has gone on for many, many years with new diseases added as they become a problem.  Contact tracing with contagious diseases has always gone on to some degree but is being increased due to the potential for fatalities and lasting physical impairment  from Covid.  Reliable state and local News media follow all of these potential sources.


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## win231 (Oct 22, 2020)

Geezerette said:


> Carol, city, county and state health departments track these things based on number of  positive tests and hospitalizations. Physicians are required to report certain contagious diseases to those health depts. This type of reporting has gone on for many, many years with new diseases added as they become a problem.  Reliable state and local News media follow all of the potential sources.


However, every positive test is counted as a "Case."  And it's not a case if someone is not sick.
And every death where someone tests positive is counted as a Covid-19 death regardless of what the person died of.


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## Sunny (Oct 23, 2020)

> And every death where someone tests positive is counted as a Covid-19 death regardless of what the person died of.



Really, Win?  Can you give us your source for that statement?  It sounds very dubious.


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## Aneeda72 (Oct 23, 2020)

Sunny said:


> Really, Win?  Can you give us your source for that statement?  It sounds very dubious.


They were talking about this, I think, on CNN.  I think it fell under the 100,000 extra deaths this year    that shouldn’t have happened-like extra suicides etc.


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## needshave (Oct 23, 2020)

Sunny said:


> I wonder if any of them were wearing masks?  It would be very useful to know that.



A friend sent me this cartoon, It many ways it is indicative of at least some of our problems.


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## win231 (Oct 23, 2020)

Aneeda72 said:


> They were talking about this, I think, on CNN.  I think it fell under the 100,000 extra deaths this year    that shouldn’t have happened-like extra suicides etc.


Well.....who knows?  Maybe the suicides were also caused by Covid-19.  People worried about catching it, so.........


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## MFP (Oct 23, 2020)

Don M. said:


> Churches and bars would seem, to me, to be among the riskiest places a person can go to during this pandemic.


I don't know. I would think places like the grocery stores would see more traffic.


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## win231 (Oct 23, 2020)

Sunny said:


> Really, Win?  Can you give us your source for that statement?  It sounds very dubious.


Of course, as with any source, you can say these are "not credible" because they go against what you want to believe:
https://fee.org/articles/physicians...st-covid-19-on-death-certificates-here-s-why/

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/04/07/covid19-death-certificate-change-stirs-controversy


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## win231 (Oct 24, 2020)

MFP said:


> I don't know. I would think places like the grocery stores would see more traffic.


Covid-19 is a "Blame" disease.  If someone likes a certain gathering, it didn't "Spread the virus."
If someone doesn't like people who drink & go to bars or parties, it's a "Super Spreader."
And, if all else fails, blame it on "Those reckless young people who don't care about anyone."
Sitting in a restaurant eating spreads the virus.
Sitting outside in a restaurant eating doesn't, even with a party of 10 people, inches apart.
Large groups of people sitting next to each other in the stands at a baseball or football game doesn't spread the virus - the virus understands sports fans.  
Baseball fans packed in cars & vans in the parking lot watching the game on big-screen TV's & wandering around the parking lot, cheering their teams won't spread the virus because the virus knows that fans paid a lot of money to watch the game.  
Grocery stores don't spread the virus because the virus knows people need food, so it won't infect them because it's a _considerate _virus.


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## Aneeda72 (Oct 24, 2020)

win231 said:


> Well.....who knows?  Maybe the suicides were also caused by Covid-19.  People worried about catching it, so.........


I actually think it was more like they got it, could not deal with it, and opted out.  Not really funny @win231, IMO.


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## StarSong (Oct 24, 2020)

@win231, the virus is like a pair of dice; neither cares what you deserve, like or think you're entitled to.  Sevens, snake eyes and elevens show up or they don't.  They have no conscience.   

Disciplined people keep their rent money in their pockets.  Likewise, people who want to feel fairly certain they won't catch the virus follow well-publicized guidelines for wearing masks and socially distancing. 

Gambling is legal as are many virus-risky behaviors. Doesn't make participating in either type of activity a wise decision. Both may come with deep regrets for how they eventually affect themselves and their families.

Just as I feel limited sympathy for those who gamble away their paychecks, I have limited sympathy for those who flout the recommendations that have been in place for many months and get sick.

My deeper sympathies go out to the family members who depend on those paychecks and those who rely on their family members to not engage in virus-risky behavior.


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## Aneeda72 (Oct 24, 2020)

win231 said:


> Covid-19 is a "Blame" disease.  If someone likes a certain gathering, it didn't "Spread the virus."
> If someone doesn't like people who drink & go to bars or parties, it's a "Super Spreader."
> And, if all else fails, blame it on "Those reckless young people who don't care about anyone."
> Sitting in a restaurant eating spreads the virus.
> ...


Things keep changing as we learn more about how the virus works, it’s true.  I am just so sad about the deaths and the continuing deaths and the worries about my children, my family.  The familiar mother’s prayer comes to mind several times a day.  “Take me Lord, take me” and leave my family alone.

I suppose it’s why we were taught to pray on our knees.  Begging for a favor.  “Take me Lord, take me.”


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## ClassicRockr (Oct 24, 2020)

My SIL (wife's sister) isn't allowed to see her two grandsons due to the virus situation. Their parents won't let her. The one grandson does have some type of mental health problem, that he does take medications for. Wife's sister is sort of upset that her daughter won't let her come and see the two grandsons, but I can totally understand why.


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## win231 (Oct 24, 2020)

ClassicRockr said:


> My SIL (wife's sister) isn't allowed to see her two grandsons due to the virus situation. Their parents won't let her. The one grandson does have some type of mental health problem, that he does take medications for. Wife's sister is sort of upset that her daughter won't let her come and see the two grandsons, but I can totally understand why.


I also understand the fear.  I have four friends in their 80's that I visit every weekend.  Around February when this whole thing started, I told them I'd completely understand if they prefer that I stay away.  They insisted that they're not afraid.  We haven't missed any visits.  I'd say after 10 months, with no one sick, we're OK.


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## Sunny (Oct 24, 2020)

win231 said:


> Covid-19 is a "Blame" disease.  If someone likes a certain gathering, it didn't "Spread the virus."
> If someone doesn't like people who drink & go to bars or parties, it's a "Super Spreader."
> And, if all else fails, blame it on "Those reckless young people who don't care about anyone."
> Sitting in a restaurant eating spreads the virus.
> ...



Win, if you wrote the above as satire, it's pretty funny.  Good indictment of those who (mainly for political reasons) still refuse to accept the reality of this killer disease.

But when it comes down to it, there is nothing funny about this disease, or what it has done to the world. Maybe it's time to stop trying for "humor", and start responding like a serious adult.


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## Sunny (Oct 24, 2020)

Win, you quoted an article by a group called FEE, which I had never heard of before. It stands for Foundation for Economic Education.

I googled it, and learned that they are a right-wing think tank, allied with the Koch Brothers, who are in favor of low taxes and against the findings of science on climate change.  Strictly pro-business. Yet, strangely, they are in favor of legalizing marijuana.

Based on their anti-science bias, their pronouncements about hospitals, funding, etc. are not surprising, and as I said, pretty dubious.

Here's another analysis of the way Covid-19 deaths are reported. It sounds a lot more complicated than the nickel-and-dime greediness you are describing.

https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/death-certificate-data-covid-19-as-the-underlying-cause-of-death/


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## AnnieA (Oct 24, 2020)

Total derail, but following up on the Koch brothers in @Sunny 's post above.  I hate kingmakers/manipulators even more than I hate politicians.  I wish the likes of the Koches and George Soros would just evaporate and we'd never remember they were here.   If the money behind the scenes dried up, more honorable people would go into politics.


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## AnnieA (Oct 24, 2020)

Back on track.  Places of worship all over the world have been proved to be high risk for passing along the infection from the beginning.  You'd think people would learn and it wouldn't still be happening.


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## Sunny (Oct 24, 2020)

I'm surprised any of them are still having in-person religious services. Why not just move to Zoom?


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## win231 (Oct 24, 2020)

Sunny said:


> Win, if you wrote the above as satire, it's pretty funny.  Good indictment of those who (mainly for political reasons) still refuse to accept the reality of this killer disease.
> 
> But when it comes down to it, there is nothing funny about this disease, or what it has done to the world. Maybe it's time to stop trying for "humor", and start responding like a serious adult.


Maryland is part of the U.S.  The U.S. is a free country, which means you are free to not laugh at anything you don't find funny - just as others are free to laugh at what they do find funny.


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## Butterfly (Oct 25, 2020)

MFP said:


> I don't know. I would think places like the grocery stores would see more traffic.



Most of us are doing the order online pickup curbside thing so as to avoid actually going in the store,


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## asp3 (Oct 25, 2020)

CarolfromTX said:


> Just how, exactly, does the national media get hold of stories like this? I mean, it's local, very local, and yet it makes its way to the national media. lIs it true?  Is it made up? How would we know? Awfully convenient, if you ask me. Who's going to fact check? But it does fit the current taalking point of the surge in cases, so... must be true.



The NY Times reports on cases by county and I assume that other news outlets have access to the same data they are reporting.  This is only conjecture, but I'm willing to bet that national news outlets look for big increases in cases by county.  It's likely that the county the church is in had an increase large enough for someone at CNN or one of the other news outlets to take a look into the increase to find out what happened.  It probably only takes a dozen or so phone calls to get to the right people who have at least some idea of what happened.  Once they have that they would probably do a check to verify the sources of the information and if it checks out they put out the story.

I just don't know if CNN was the original source of the information or if some other news organization put it out and CNN just picked it up and put out a story of their own.


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