Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

October 30, 2020

Unravelling the Modes of Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during a Nursing Home Outbreak: Looking beyond the Church Super-Spread Event

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  • A March 2020 outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in a nursing home in the Netherlands following a church service in the nursing home chapel revealed a complex chain of transmission involving the church service, regional circulation of the virus before the outbreak, and several introductions of the virus into the nursing home by visitors. The investigation indicated that the church service itself may have played a smaller role as a source of the outbreak than initially believed and that transmission pattern was consistent with widespread regional circulation of the virus in the weeks before the outbreak. After the service, 77% of attendees developed symptoms, and 14 were positive for SARS-CoV-2, including 11 nursing home residents and 3 non-residents. In the following five weeks, 21% of residents and 5% of healthcare workers tested positive, and 34% of the infected residents died. Whole genome sequencing of samples from residents and health care workers indicated that seven resident church attendees were infected with distinct viruses, four of which belonged to two larger clusters in the nursing home.

Voeten et al. (Oct 29, 2020). Unravelling the Modes of Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during a Nursing Home Outbreak: Looking beyond the Church Super-Spread Event. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1664