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Guests Subpoenaed After Lockdown-Breaking New York House Party Spawns Virus Cluster

The suspected guests refused to talk to disease investigators to help them figure out who was exposed.

Eight people who are believed to have attended a New York house party that spawned a small coronavirus cluster have been subpoenaed to force them to speak to disease investigators. According to The New York Times, the party took place in Rockland County on June 17 and was attended by as many as 100 people—despite a state order which limited gatherings to 10 people. The host and eight guests tested positive for COVID-19 after the bash, so investigators were tasked with learning who else might have been exposed. But the suspected guests refused to talk, forcing the county to take subpoena action. “My staff has been told that a person does not wish to, or have to, speak to my disease investigators,” Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, the county health commissioner, said. “They hang up. They deny being at the party even though we have their names from another party attendee.” Those who don’t comply with the subpoenas will face fines of $2,000 a day, according to the Times.