Clusters of COVID-19 associated with Purim celebration in the Jewish community in Marseille, France, March 2020

Abstract

We investigated possible COVID-19 epidemic clusters and their common sources of exposure that led to a sudden increase in the incidence of COVID-19 in the Jewish community of Marseille between March 15 and March 20, 2020. Methods: All data were generated as part of routine work at Marseille university hospitals. Biological diagnoses were made by RT-PCR testing. A telephone survey of families in which a laboratory confirmed case was diagnosed, was conducted to determine possible exposure events. Results: As of March 30, 2020, 63 patients were linked to 6 epidemic clusters. The clusters were linked to religious and social activities: a ski trip, organized meals for the Purim Jewish celebration in community and family settings on March 10, a religious service and a charity gala. Notably, 40% of the patients were infected by index patients during the presymptomatic period, which was 2.5 days before symptom onset. When considering household members, all 12 patients who tested negative and who did not develop any relevant clinical symptoms compatible with COVID-19 were 1-16 years of age. The clinical attack rate (symptoms compatible with COVID-19 and biologically confirmed by PCR) in adults was 85% compared to 26% in children. Conclusions: Family and community gatherings for the Purim celebration probably accelerated the spread of COVID-19 in the Marseille Jewish community, leading to multiple epidemic clusters. This investigation of family clusters suggested that all close contacts of patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were not infected were children.

COVID-19 and Recreational Skiing: Results of a Rapid Systematic Review and Possible Preventive Measures

“…The remaining two articles were preprints [ 32 , 33 ]. Among the included studies, those that demonstrated a potential role of ski areas in the spread of COVID-19 (n = 7), referred only to the first epidemic wave (February–March 2020) [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. The majority of collected evidence was based on reports from Western Europe, with only one preprint by McLaughlin et al [ 33 ] addressing the pandemic in North America.…”

“…For instance, an index case in France, Contamines-Monjioie, initiated clusters in Spain (Mallorca) and the United Kingdom (London) [ 30 ], whereas another index case in Austria (Ischgl) was linked to clusters in Germany, Norway, Denmark and Iceland [ 29 ]. In another study, where the index case was located in the French Alps, infection spread to Marseille [ 27 ]. However, only in some of these cases it was possible to document a transmission route.…”

“…However, only in some of these cases it was possible to document a transmission route. Notably, the circumstances of disease transmission were not dissimilar from those of other skiing-unrelated contexts, such as having been a guest in the same chalet [ 27 , 30 ], refuge/bar [ 30 , 31 ], or having participated in banquets [ 27 ] where the index case was present (asymptomatic or undiagnosed). In one study, the index case became symptomatic the same day of arrival and contagion had taken place earlier, when the case had attended workshops and meetings previous to traveling to the ski area [ 31 ].…”

Safety and Reverence: How Roman Catholic Liturgy Can Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In-person public gathering is one of the most essential components of worship in all Christian denominations as well as in most non-Christian religions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, research has shown that mass religious events linked to worship and holidays played an important role in the initial spread of the SARS-CoV-2 infection (Aherfi et al, 2020;James et al, 2020;Pung et al, 2020;Vermeer & Kregting, 2020;Yezli & Khan, 2020). Certain faith-based communities resisted the efforts of the state agencies to limit religious gatherings (Hill et al, 2020).…”

The Grand Magal of Touba was spared by the COVID-19 pandemic

“…There is now published evidence of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) at relatively small gatherings of people, including weddings (Yusef et al, 2020), religious meetings (Gerbaud et al, 2020;Aherfi et al, 2020;Che Mat et al, 2020]), and festivals (Brandl et al, 2020;Cuschieri et al, 2020) (Table 1). The Grand Magal took place on October 6, 2020, in Touba, Senegal.…”