Study: Irbid wedding resulted in a deadly COVID-19 outbreak

Jordan

Published: 2020-05-23 17:31

Last Updated: 2024-05-14 08:40


Study: Irbid wedding resulted in a deadly COVID-19 outbreak
Study: Irbid wedding resulted in a deadly COVID-19 outbreak

A recent study published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the Irbid wedding resulted in the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

The study showed that the wedding led to 85 people being infected with COVID-19, resulting in one death.

According to researchers at Jordan University of Science and Technology, the wedding ceremony and party were held indoors on March 13.

Around 360 people attended the event, according to the researchers. Around that time, Jordan only had one confirmed case of COVID-19.

The study conducted tests on samples from 350 possible cases within four weeks of exposure at the wedding, including people who were at the wedding and people who had close contacts with attendees.

Here's what the study found:

  • At least 85 people with a history of exposure related to the wedding tested positive for COVID-19, the study found. Researchers believe the first documented patient in the outbreak was the father of the bride, who traveled to Jordan from Spain, where community spread was already taking place at the time.
  • Of those who tested positive, 76 attended the wedding and nine were close contacts of confirmed cases from the event. All positive cases were admitted to the hospital for monitoring.
  • Nearly half of the 76 patients who tested positive and attended the wedding were asymptomatic at the time of diagnoses. Four of the 9 cases that tested positive but did not attend the wedding were symptomatic, with symptoms starting between 9 and 19 days after the wedding.
  • Only two patients had serious or critical conditions, including an 80-year-old woman with breast cancer who developed pneumonia and respiratory failure, dying two weeks after being admitted to the hospital for monitoring.
  • One woman gave birth to a healthy baby on the second day of being admitted to the hospital for monitoring.

Cases in the outbreak may have been undercounted because possible asymptomatic patients had either shed the virus or have not yet started when tested, researchers said.

Researchers added that their findings show one infected person "can transmit the disease to 2-3 other susceptible persons."