Quote:
Originally Posted by tyecopeland
I hate that the article I saw reads as if the fact that there were 55 people there instead of the 50 limit was the problem.
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Just in general, it seems to me that messaging has been one of the critical misses throughout this whole ordeal. There's no way of avoiding ambiguity in a situation like this as our knowledge grows and, in some cases, shifts over time. And I even understand the logic behind the "let each state figure it out for themselves" approach. But the problem is that it's resulted in a landscape where there isn't a universally agreed upon "authority" to tell us the current thinking on best practice, so every message gets muddled and distorted.
So yes, the case you're talking about is a problem. There's nothing magical about 50 vs 55, and an article that suggested that as the problem is off. The story should be something like:
- Capacity limits aren't going to completely eliminate the chance of viral spread, but they help to reduce damage in a scenario of a super spreader event (which this was).
- Masks aren't going to completely eliminate the chance of viral spread, but they help to reduce the chances and reduce the severity of infection.
- Physical distancing isn't going to completely eliminate the chance of spiral spread, but it helps to reduce the chances and reduce the severity of infection.
- Outdoor events don't completely eliminate the chances of spread, but they reduce it significantly.
All taken together, there's a good chance that having the wedding outside, with distancing between groups, with masks required, and a cap on attendees (though again 55 vs. 50 is negligible) would have reduced the spread significantly.
Regardless, my bigger point is just that 7 people died as a direct result of the wedding, and none of them were people who actually attended the event. That's why "if you're afraid, don't go" doesn't work. It's not the healthy people who go that are at risk, it's the unhealthy people who the attendees end up interacting with that bear the brunt of it.