143 coronavirus cases, one death, jail outbreak now linked to Maine wedding

The number of cases related to an August indoor wedding in Maine has increased to 143, officials said Wednesday.

Officials have connected the Aug. 7 wedding in Millinocket, Maine, to a confirmed 143 cases, one death and outbreaks in the York County Jail and the Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center, Seacoastonline.com reported. 

COVID-19 began spreading to the jails after an employee of a corrections facility attended the wedding and tested positive for the virus, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Nirav Shah said.

Now, 46 inmates, 19 corrections officers, one support staffer and two workers in the government building have tested positive, bringing the total number of cases in the jail to 68, York County Sheriff William L. King Jr. said, according to the news source.

The Maine CDC announced 17 different cases among people who live with one or more jail workers.

Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison, Maine, has documented 13 cases, with seven residents and six staff infected, Maine CDC spokesperson Robert Long said Wednesday, according to Seacostonline.com.

Investigators are trying to determine if any other outbreaks trace back to the wedding. 

The wedding at Millinocket’s Big Moose Inn Cabins and Campground hosted about 65 people indoors, despite Gov. Janet Mills’s (D) 50-person indoor limit due to the coronavirus. Officials are looking into if the business violated state health guidelines by hosting the wedding. 

Officials have been tracking cases associated with the wedding throughout August, at first identifying 24 cases by mid-August. By Aug. 29, 123 cases had been confirmed to be linked.

Authorities reported that one woman who did not go to the wedding died last month after getting the virus from an attendee. 

Laurie Cormier, the owner of Big Moose Inn, released a statement last week saying the staff’s “hearts go out to the family, those affected by the virus who were at the wedding, and those who have been impacted since then,” according to WAGM.

In total, the state has confirmed 4,145 cases and 133 deaths.