Children’s birthdays may have fueled COVID-19 spread, study claims
Fox News
Before the national vaccine rollout, health officials spent months urging Americans to limit social gatherings and keep celebrations to within members of their household.
The researchers also separated children’s birthdays and adult birthdays into two different categories. Overall, data from over 6.5 million individuals from 2.9 million households were analyzed. The researchers found that a presence of a birthday within a household was associated with greater rates of COVID-19 diagnosis, with the risk highest in counties with a high prevalence of the disease. "The estimated increase in COVID-19 infections in households with birthdays was larger in magnitude in households that had a recent child’s (vs adult’s) birthday, suggesting an increased likelihood of gathering around children's birthdays, a large number of participants, relaxed masking and social distancing behavior, or a combination of these," the researchers wrote. "Households may also be more likely to have a social gathering for a child’s birthday than for an adult’s birthday."More Related News