The Skagit County choir COVID-19 outbreak – have we got it wrong?. (January 2023)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- The Skagit County choir COVID-19 outbreak – have we got it wrong?. (January 2023)
- Main Title:
- The Skagit County choir COVID-19 outbreak – have we got it wrong?
- Authors:
- Axon, C.J.
Dingwall, R.
Evans, S.
Cassell, J.A. - Abstract:
- Abstract: Objectives: Over time, papers or reports may come to be taken for granted as evidence for some phenomenon. Researchers cite them without critically re-examining findings in the light of subsequent work. This can give rise to misleading or erroneous results and conclusions. We explore whether this has occurred in the widely reported outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 at a rehearsal of the Skagit Valley Chorale in March 2020, where it was assumed, and subsequently asserted uncritically, that the outbreak was due to a single infected person. Study design: Review of original report and subsequent modelling and interpretations. Methods: We reviewed and analysed original outbreak data in relation to published data on incubation period, subsequent modelling drawing on the data, and interpretations of transmission characteristics of this incident. Results: We show it is vanishingly unlikely that this was a single point source outbreak as has been widely claimed and on which modelling has been based. Conclusion: An unexamined assumption has led to erroneous policy conclusions about the risks of singing, and indoor spaces more generally, and the benefits of increased levels of ventilation. Although never publicly identified, one individual bears the moral burden of knowing what health outcomes have been attributed to their actions. We call for these claims to be re-examined and for greater ethical responsibility in the assumption of a point source in outbreak investigations.
- Is Part Of:
- Public health. Volume 214(2023)
- Journal:
- Public health
- Issue:
- Volume 214(2023)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 214, Issue 2023 (2023)
- Year:
- 2023
- Volume:
- 214
- Issue:
- 2023
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2023-0214-2023-0000
- Page Start:
- 85
- Page End:
- 90
- Publication Date:
- 2023-01
- Subjects:
- Epidemiology -- Outbreaks -- Medical sociology -- Infectious disease -- Singing -- Ventilation -- COVID-19 -- Non-pharmaceutical interventions -- Mathematical modelling -- Risk
Public health -- Periodicals
Public health -- Periodicals
Electronic journals
362.1 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00333506 ↗
http://intl.elsevierhealth.com/journals/pubh/ ↗
http://www.clinicalkey.com/dura/browse/journalIssue/00333506 ↗
http://www.clinicalkey.com.au/dura/browse/journalIssue/00333506 ↗
http://www.elsevier.com/journals ↗
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/public-health ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1016/j.puhe.2022.11.007 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0033-3506
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 6963.850000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 25636.xml