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7 Senior Citizens Died of COVID-19 After Nursing Home Staffers Attended Wedding

Health officials are trying to determine if the deaths are directly linked to staff members attending a 300-person wedding.

Seven seniors living at nursing homes in Washington state died after nursing home staff attended a massive wedding last month. All seven were at high-risk and died from coronavirus-related complications. The Grant County Health Department is trying to determine if the deaths are directly linked to staff members attending the wedding in nearby Ritzville in November that had over 300 guests.

The state health department had asked the guests to quarantine until Nov. 21 and get tested. The Daily Beast and others previously reported at least 40 guests from the wedding tested positive for coronavirus. Weddings in Washington state were limited to 30 people per the governor’s order. The health department couldn’t say whether the staff who attended the wedding had direct contact with the deceased, since the nursing homes hadn’t released that information. “Your choice to gather with those outside your household could lead to additional cases of COVID-19 and even death. Please protect those you love, by staying home,” the health department wrote in a statement.