Washington county warns of at least 17 positive tests after 300-person wedding

A county in Washington is advising attendees of a large wedding to get tested for COVID-19 after at least 17 people in attendance tested positive. 

More than 300 people attended a wedding held at a private location near Ritzville on Nov. 7, the Grant County Health District (GCHD) said on Tuesday. Under current coronavirus restrictions, wedding ceremonies in Washington state are limited to 30 people. 

GCHD said there have been 17 new cases associated with the event to date, with more being added daily. Attendees who were diagnosed with the virus have also been linked to two subsequent outbreaks. 

“We are very thankful to those attendees who have gone in for testing and are staying home,” GCHD Administrator Theresa Adkinson said in a statement. “This helps protect their friends, coworkers, and communities from this illness.”  

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has unveiled new coronavirus restrictions that went into effect Monday at 11:59 p.m., the most extreme action Inslee has taken since issuing a stay-at-home order in March. 

Under the new measures, parties are limited to no more than five people and gatherings inside a single household are prohibited unless attendees test negative and quarantine for one week. 

Washington broke its record for the most cases reported in a day on Thursday, when it reported 3,300 new cases. So far, the state has seen 131,532 cumulative cases and 2,548 deaths. 

Outbreaks in multiple states have been linked to weddings, including in Maine, when an indoor wedding held on Aug. 7 was linked to 176 confirmed cases and at least seven deaths.