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Orange County Health Department: Household Clusters of Cases, Not Superspreader Events Responsible for Coronavirus Surge

Photo: Tyler Nix
Photo: Tyler Nix

A surge in coronavirus cases in the area has not been linked to any specific outbreaks.

County Epidemiology Program Manager Alvina Chu says most new coronavirus cases are driven by clusters of cases in households. 

“But I have often seen multiple household members almost guaranteed after a good course of a few days or a few incubation periods the whole entire family generally gets it unless you can do the good isolation and quarantine as is recommended.”

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Chu says she’s seen these same patterns in neighborhoods, where families might get together for a small gathering, and then cases get passed between households.

“But you can see clusters within households where it’s small children, and then parents and then grandparents and then next door neighbors. And then from contact tracing you can identify that the families got together over the weekend to celebrate whatever small gathering.”

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Chu says she recommends anyone who is sick or who is waiting on a COVID-19 test result stay home this holiday season to avoid spreading the virus.

The county added 522 new cases on Thursday alone, for a total of 53,384 residents who have gotten sick since the start of the pandemic.
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Danielle Prieur covers education in Central Florida.