The coronavirus is an insidious, efficient, silent and deadly spreader. This is a cautionary tale of two events.
A wedding was held in Millinocket in Maine, USA on August 7. The wedding reception hosted 65 guests, in violation of Maine’s 50-person cap for indoor events. In its defence, the venue’s management claimed they misinterpreted the state's rules on social distancing:
"We understood that there could be no more than 50 persons in our largest room. We did make an error in the interpretation of that rule. Our interpretation was that we could take a wedding party of more than 50 persons, and split them between two rooms as long as it didn't exceed our total capacity or a specific room's capacity."
Outbreaks linked to the wedding have erupted at a nursing home and a prison which are both more than 200km away from the venue.
Seventy-two people connected to the York County Jail have tested positive for the virus: 46 are inmates, 19 work at the jail and seven are household members of those jail employees.
Sixteen people at Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison have tested positive, including a wedding guest.
The outcome of the wedding so far is 147 COVID-19 cases, with three deaths.
In Malta, indoor venues can only host one patron for every 6m2 of floor space up to a maximum of 100 people. Patrons must be seated in groups of up to 10 people per table, with no standing events permitted. This makes such outbreaks in Malta unlikely if public health advice is heeded.
A bus ride was taken in January by a passenger who had recently dined with friends from Hubei in China. She was a 64-year-old woman who developed symptoms a day before the bus ride. No masks were worn and the bus had air conditioning that recirculated air and helped to distribute the virus throughout the vehicle.
Within days, 23 passengers on that bus also tested positive. Risk of infection was not related to seating distance from the seated virus carrier; even passengers in the very last row of the bus, seven rows behind the infected woman, became infected.
The only factor that appeared to have reduced the risk of infection was being seated next to a window that could be opened, or near the bus door.
The bus was taking passengers to Buddhist temple for a ceremony, which was followed by a brief lunch in a spacious room without air conditioning.
Another seven individuals who attended the ceremony were infected. Although they did not travel there by bus, they had been in close contact with the infected woman.
In Malta, all passengers boarding a bus must wear a mask at all times and bus capacities have been restricted to ensure social distancing.
Although official guidelines make no mention of air conditioning, public buses are not using their AC systems, relying on window ventilation instead. Again this makes a coronavirus outbreak from a bus unlikely - if public health warnings are heeded.
In the immortal words of Led Zeppelin, The Song Remains The Same: the coronavirus spreads easily – stay safe, keep your distances, wash your hands, use masks, meet outdoors, safely and avoid crowds.