Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Career Epidemiology Field Officer Program, Division of State and Local Readiness, Center for Preparedness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2023 May-Jun;138(3):416-421. doi: 10.1177/00333549231152198. Epub 2023 Feb 3.
Group singing and playing of wind instruments increase COVID-19 transmission risk. After a pause during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square organization (hereinafter, Choir) resumed musical events in September 2021 with prevention protocols, including required vaccination and pre-event rapid antigen testing. We investigated potential SARS-CoV-2 transmission at Choir events during September 21-November 7, 2021. We interviewed COVID-19-positive members (hereinafter, case-members) and identified members exposed when a case-member attended a Choir event during his or her infectious period. We compared whole genome sequencing results to assess the genetic relatedness of available SARS-CoV-2 specimens obtained from case-members. We identified 30 case-members through pre-event testing (n = 10), self-reported positive test results (n = 18), and a review of Utah's disease surveillance system (n = 2). All 30 case-members reported symptoms; 21 (70%) were women and 23 (77%) received a positive test result by nucleic acid amplification test. No hospitalizations or deaths were reported. We identified 176 test-eligible exposed members from 14 instances of case-members attending events during their infectious periods. All were tested at least once 2 to 14 days after exposure: 74 (42%) by rapid antigen test only (all negative) and 102 (58%) by nucleic acid amplification test (4 positive, 97 negative, and 1 equivocal). Among viral sequences available from 15 case-members, the smallest single-nucleotide polymorphism distance between 2 sequences was 2, and the next-smallest distance was 10. The lack of disease detected in most exposed members suggests that minimal, if any, transmission occurred at Choir events. When community COVID-19 incidence is high, prevention protocols might help limit SARS-CoV-2 transmission during group musical activities.
群体唱歌和吹奏乐器会增加 COVID-19 的传播风险。在 COVID-19 大流行初期暂停之后，圣殿广场合唱团（以下简称合唱团）于 2021 年 9 月恢复了音乐活动，并采取了预防措施，包括要求接种疫苗和活动前进行快速抗原检测。我们调查了 2021 年 9 月 21 日至 11 月 7 日期间合唱团活动中潜在的 SARS-CoV-2 传播情况。我们采访了 COVID-19 阳性成员（以下简称病例成员），并确定了当病例成员在其感染期参加合唱团活动时暴露的成员。我们比较了全基因组测序结果，以评估从病例成员获得的可用 SARS-CoV-2 样本的遗传相关性。通过活动前检测（n = 10）、自我报告的阳性检测结果（n = 18）和对犹他州疾病监测系统的审查（n = 2），我们共发现了 30 名病例成员。所有 30 名病例成员均有症状报告；21 名（70%）为女性，23 名（77%）的核酸扩增检测结果为阳性。无住院或死亡报告。我们从 14 名病例成员在感染期参加活动的事件中确定了 176 名符合检测条件的暴露成员。所有成员在暴露后 2 至 14 天内至少接受了一次检测：74 名（42%）仅接受快速抗原检测（均为阴性），102 名（58%）接受核酸扩增检测（4 名阳性，97 名阴性，1 名可疑）。在 15 名病例成员中可用的病毒序列中，2 个序列之间的最小单核苷酸多态性距离为 2，下一个最小距离为 10。大多数暴露成员中未检测到疾病表明，在合唱团活动中几乎没有发生传播。当社区 COVID-19 发病率较高时，预防措施可能有助于限制群体音乐活动中的 SARS-CoV-2 传播。
