An outbreak stemming from a church is having a ripple effect in and around the Waldo County area.
49 cases have been linked to a fellowship gathering that took place at the Brooks Pentecostal Church in Brooks from October 2nd to October 4th.
Three of those people are hospitalized.
Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah says those affected range in age from 2 to 80 years old.
Health officials expect the number of cases associated with the outbreak to grow and for the outbreak to impact other counties in the state.
Approximately 100 to 150 attended the fellowship event, including people from Charleston Church, Quaker Hill Church, and the Faith Bible College in Charleston.
Masks were available, but not “routinely used” during the fellowship event, according to Maine’s CDC.
The church had also been holding services indoors, with anywhere from 70 to 100 people. All church services have now been temporarily suspended, as per recommendations from the Maine CDC.
Lighthouse Christian Academy, the school affiliated with the church that is located on the same property, has also been affected. Seven students there have tested positive.
An employee at Bayview Manor in Searsport who was linked to the gathering has tested positive. The facility is undergoing testing.
Three other schools across two school districts have reported cases as a result of the outbreak. Those are Ames Elementary in Searsmont, Captain Albert Stevens School in Belfast, and Mt. View in Thorndike.
Those schools have reported individual cases that health officials believe are linked to the larger outbreak. There does not appear to be transmission of coronavirus within those schools.
A probable case at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast later tested negative for COVID-19, after it was initially believed that case was linked to the church as well.
Maine’s CDC says it’s working with Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport, and Seaport Community Health Center in Belfast to offer COVID-19 testing to those who might have been exposed.
