Washington, United States
The authorities of the US state of Washington alerted this Wednesday to some alleged “COVID-19 parties“in which attendees seek contract the virus intentionally to become immune.
“Meet in groups in the middle of this pandemic It can be incredibly dangerous and puts people at increased risk of hospitalization and even death, “said John Wiesman, the state’s secretary of health.
“It is still unknown whether people recovering from the COVID-19 they are immune in the long run, “he added.” There is still a lot we don’t know about this virusincluding any long-term health problems the infection may leave behind. “
Wiesman’s comments came after county officials in Walla Walla420 km southeast of Seattle will report that some of the nearly 100 cases in the region appear to have been infected in these parties, whose objective is to reunite people with the virus with others who are not infected and who want to catch it to get sick at once.
“This type of unnecessary behavior can create an avoidable increase in cases and further slow down our state’s ability to gradually reopen,” Wiesman said.
As of Wednesday, 94 cases of coronavirus in county Walla Walla with a death.
“We do not know when it is being carried out, we found out afterwards that we had cases,” Meghan DeBolt, director of Health for that county, told a local newspaper. “We asked about the contacts and 25 people told us’ we were in a COVID party‘”.
He called such behavior irresponsible and urged residents to follow appropriate physical and social distancing measures to prevent transmission.
“We need to use common sense and be smart as we go through this pandemic,” he said in a statement. “The COVID-19 parties they are not part of the solution. “
So far, only one such meeting has been reported in the United States, in March in Kentucky, that left an infected person.
The United States is the country most affected by the pandemic with more than 1.2 million cases and 73,095 deaths.
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