Thread by @jeffgilchrist

COVID-19: Outbreak in a children's indoor sporting event

Peel Region public health released contact tracing information about a COVID-19 outbreak in a children's indoor sporting event ( peelregion.ca/health-profess… ). 🧵1/8

In Peel region there are over 207,000 children under age 12 who are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines which means this group has increased risk of acquiring and transmitting infection, especially in close contact settings such as indoor high-intensity sports. 2/8

At a children's sporting event there were two distinct COVID-19 exposures on different teams with players under the age of 12.  The teams did not play each other. 3/8

On Team A, 41% of the players tested positive for COVID-19 and on Team B it was 23% of players.  No cases from other teams exposed to Team A or Team B were identified. 4/8

There was only transmission from players to 2 household contacts, both contacts were under age 12 and unvaccinated. There was no transmission to fully vaccinated household members. 5/8

Investigation of the transmission chains leading to the outbreak identified links to social events including birthday parties. Most cases in these chains were unvaccinated but 3 cases were fully vaccinated people.  There was no further transmission from fully vaccinated cases.6/8

Peel recommends reducing the risk during sporting activities by having outdoor activities where possible, wearing masks, physical distancing especially in shared spaces such as change rooms, and getting vaccinated if eligible. 7/8

Note that vaccination *stopped* the chain of transmission.  Although 3 fully vaccinated people did end up becoming infected, they did not transmit the virus and infect anyone else, nor did any fully vaccinated household contacts become infected ( 

https://twitter.com/sailorrooscout/status/1442123331054964746?s=21

 ). 8/8