3 coronavirus deaths linked to Maine indoor wedding reception, officials confirm

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FILE - Dr. Nirav D. Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during a press conference about COVID-19 at Maine Emergency Management Agency in Augusta. (Staff photo by Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

MILLINOCKET, Maine - The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed three deaths and 147 positive coronavirus cases linked to an indoor wedding wedding reception that occurred on Aug. 7, at the Big Moose Inn in Millinocket, which violated attendance limits.

The Aug. 7 wedding reception, which involved approximately 110 people, exceeded the 80-person seating limit on the business' license.

On Aug. 21, Millinocket Regional Hospital said one female inpatient admission linked to the event had died adding that due to the outbreak adding that it would extend its no visitation policy and limit services to essential medical care through Aug. 30.

Health officials had suspended the inn’s license on Aug. 26, after it was cited and a follow-up visit noted further violations of public health guidelines, according to WMTW TV-8.

The TV outlet said the license suspension revealed face masks were not being worn, social distancing was not maintained and the tables in the certain areas were not 6 feet apart.

Despite their license being revoked, The Maine Department of Health and Human Services reinstated the business license of the Inn on Aug. 28, according to local reports.

Laurie Cormier, owner of the Big Moose Inn said despite state health mandates to limit guest capacity to 80 people, they allowed the total number of attendees to be split between separate rooms.

"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," Cormier said.

She added that the hotel provides signage to ensure guest know that face masks are required at all times and that the business has increased sanitizing and safety measures before the event took place.

"The wedding attendees were all screened prior to entering, which helped to give us assurance that there were no symptoms being shown from anyone at the Big Moose Inn over the course of that weekend," she added.

She confirmed that two employees tested postiive for the virus following the wedding while 23 employees tested negative amd five staff members self-quarantined.

Robert Long, spokesman for Maine’s CDC, told FOX News last week that 32 initial infections appeared to be primary cases, or people who physically attended the wedding. Meanwhile, 33 were secondary cases and 20 were tertiary cases (people who had close contact with attendees or secondary cases, respectively).

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In a streamed press briefing on Aug. 25, Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, described the outbreak as a “series of concentric rings ... all emanating from this one Aug. 7 event.”

One of those rings is an outbreak at the Maplecrest Rehabilitation & Living Center in Madison, Maine, he said.

Shah said the coronavirus outbreak reached the nursing home because a wedding guest infected their parent, and the parent infected another one of their children who works at the nursing home.

Within two-and-a-half weeks, four residents and another staff member were infected, Shah said.

Aside from the nursing home, the wedding virus outbreak also managed to spread to a county jail located about 230 miles away.

“This morning our disease detectives identified a connection between the wedding/reception in Millinocket and the York County Jail complex,” Shah said during the streamed press briefing on Aug. 25.

Shah explained that a staff member at the jail attended the wedding, and was also "among the very first confirmed cases at the jail."

Shah added that the outbreaks are prime examples that "demonstrate how aggressive and how opportunistic this virus is.”

Read the full statement from Laurie Cormier, owner of the Big Moose in, here:

The Big Moose Inn is aware that an outbreak of COVID-19 has been traced back to a wedding in the Katahdin Region in early August. Among the wedding-related events that weekend was a post-wedding dinner at our facility.Our hearts go out to the family, those affected by the virus who were at the wedding, and those who have been impacted since then. There is no doubt that this virus is dangerous with wide-ranging impacts. We too are deeply saddened and frustrated by the many devastating impacts of COVID-19. This is a challenging time for all of us.We have not spoken out about this out of respect for the wedding party and family, and to let the state investigation take place. But with so many questions and assumptions being put forth, we felt that we needed to respond.The Big Moose Inn did receive a citation from the State for some infractions. It is important to note that because Big Moose Inn has separate rooms for dining as well as outdoor seating, the facility’s approved capacity during this time is 80 persons. 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. The State - perhaps, rightfully so - assumes that individuals from a larger group would ignore the room restrictions, and take the opportunity to co-mingle. Our interpretation of the rule put the Big Moose Inn in violation of the gathering of people over the maximum number allowed by Maine DECD guidelines. The staff at Big Moose Inn has worked hard to follow all of the rules to the best of our understanding since we opened for the season on May 22. We have signage to let visitors know that masks are required; staff wears masks at all times when we are open to the public or in proximity to other staff; we have increased sanitizing and safety measures before, during, and after diners and guests visit our establishment; we have added space for increased physical distancing; and we take the temperature of guests at events prior to entering the building. The wedding attendees were all screened prior to entering, which helped to give us assurance that there were no symptoms being shown from anyone at the Big Moose Inn over the course of that weekend. Once we were made aware of the outbreak, the CDC took the lead on contacting anyone who might have been at risk of coming in contact with anyone at the wedding, the reception, or any other potential events the wedding party participated in that weekend. The Big Moose Inn has had all of our staff members tested or self-quarantining. None of the servers working that evening have tested positive. Our employees have received 23 negative tests, two tests are still outstanding, and five self-quarantined. We have, however, had two employees test positive since the post-wedding dinner. Internal contact tracing suspects the employees picked it up from an outside source. Those who tested positive have completed their quarantine. While the Maine CDC managed the notification of anyone who might have come in contact that weekend, we have also been informing guests prior to arrival about the recent outbreak and will continue to do so between now and the end of the season. We are further enhancing our sanitization measures. We have gotten clarity on the rules from the Maine CDC regarding group capacity and our venue capacity, and we have been fully cooperative with the CDC’s field epidemiologist, CDC officials, and state and local officials. Earlier this week we were informed that our license was being temporarily suspended because a state inspection found continued violation of restrictions in our dining area. The dining area was closed to customers at the time of the inspection. At that point, it had not been open for a couple of weeks. We quickly corrected the violations as though we were open, and our license was reinstated earlier today.The Big Moose Inn is a family-owned business. We have taken the pandemic seriously, followed the rules as we have understood them, and gone above and beyond those rules to try and keep our guests, staff, and community safe. While we cannot be sure the virus was fully spread at our facility, we know that there are things that we can be doing better. We have given the Maine CDC our word, and we are giving our community and guests that same word that we will do - and are doing - better. We are updating our protocols as advised by the Maine CDC and will continue to keep our staff, community, and guests’ health and safety as our top priority.

— Big Moose Inn owner Laurie Cormier

FOX News contributed to this story. This story was reported from Los Angeles.

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