Dozens of party goers in New York have tested positive for coronavirus after attending what local officials are calling a Sweet 16 “super-spreader” bash.
According to NBC News , the event took place on September 25 at the Miller Place Inn on Long Island and saw over 81 people turn out to celebrate together in direct violation of emergency state health codes, with 37 of those individuals having since contracted COVID-19.
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Of those 37 who tested positive, 28 were students and nine were adults.
According to CNN , 270 people connected to the event are currently under quarantine.
“We’ve never seen a super-spread event like this before in Suffolk County,” the area’s county executive, Steve Bellone, tweeted this week. “People have to act responsibly so that we do not have another economic setback.”
During the celebration, none of the guests wore face masks or maintained a safe, social distance from each other.
New York has placed a 50-person limit on gatherings, which the guest list for this particular party certainly exceeded.
As a result, the venue, Miller Place Inn, has been temporarily closed and fined $12,000 — $10,000 by the state and $2,000 by the county.
Christopher Regina, manager of the Miller Place Inn, insists he didn’t realize the Sweet 16 party was breaking any laws.
“There was no clarification of the state guidelines,” he told NBC .
Per New York’s current safety measures , gatherings such as weddings, conferences and parties have been limited to 50 people, and restaurants have been given a 50% capacity cap.
On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo weighed in on the party and had some choice words for its organizers.
“They had a Sweet 16 party. How sweet. Yeah, it wasn’t that sweet,” Cuomo said, as per NBC. “Dozens of people from the Sweet 16 party got sick. It just shows you how one event can generate so many cases.”
“But,” he continued, “[Bellone] took enforcement action, so good for him.”
h/t: NBC News
