- A karaoke party in Florida is being called a superspreader event as it resulted in 50 new coronavirus cases and two deaths.
- The party took place in late August and reports indicate that most people in attendance were not wearing masks or adhering to social distancing guidelines.
- The CDC has said that wearing masks, absent a vaccine, is the best way to prevent the coronavirus from spreading.
For reasons that seem to defy explanation, some people still can’t seem to appreciate the fact that the U.S. is still in the midst of a pandemic. The coronavirus death toll just recently passed the 200,000 threshold and there still exists large groups of people who refuse to take the coronavirus seriously and, in turn, are shockingly lax when it comes to following coronavirus safety guidelines such as mask-wearing, social distancing, and avoiding large gatherings.
When people underestimate the severity of the coronavirus, the end result can sometimes be tragic. To this point, health officials have traced back a recent coronavirus outbreak to a karaoke night at a club in Palm Coast, Florida located in Flagler County. According to Flagler Live, the party is being categorized as a superspreader event as it resulted in 50 infections, multiple hospitalizations, one patient who is currently in hospice, and two deaths. What’s more, the two individuals who died weren’t even at the party itself.
The party in question occurred on August 28 and, according to statements from the Flagler County Health Department, it doesn’t seem like any coronavirus safety rules were being followed. People at the party weren’t wearing masks nor were they social distancing. Additionally, there’s no indication that measures were taken to sanitize the microphone after each karaoke singer.
“This is actually a pretty dramatic event, it’s almost publishable,” Dr. Stephen Bickel of the Flagler and Volusia Health Department said. “It’s really a tragedy. It’s certainly profound ignorance of the risk. The public may not be aware of what a risk this is. I thought they did, but maybe not. I know that churches are not having singing in their services because of this kind of stuff. I don’t know if people realize it, but karaoke is as bad or worse, because they do it for a long period of time, you’re in a closed space.”
The two individuals who died were 69 and 74 years old, respectively. This shouldn’t come as a surprise given that the virus tends to impact older individuals much more gravely than younger folks. Still, given how readily the virus can spread, its imperative that people adhere to coronavirus safety guidelines regardless of their age.
The social club where the karaoke event was held was previously singled out for holding other large events. A week before the karaoke party, Flagler Live notes that the club held a fundraiser that saw 200 people packed into a room with barely anyone wearing masks.
The club has temporarily closed down but is planning to open back up on September 28.
