Saline House Party Leads To 43 New Coronavirus Cases: Officials

SALINE, MI — More than 40 cases of the coronavirus have been tied back to a large house party that Washtenaw County Health Department officials said took place in the Saline area on July 2. Officials said the county has seen a recent surge in new cases, the majority of which are people between 15 and 25 years old.

The county said it has identified 43 cases and 66 exposed close contacts, not including family members in the immediate households of cases, tied to the Saline house party alone. A close contact is anyone who had face-to-face contact with an identified case for 15 minutes or more.

“This is a very clear example of how quickly this virus spreads and how many people can be impacted in a very short amount of time” Jimena Loveluck, the Washtenaw County health officer, said. “We cannot hope to accomplish our goal of containing COVID-19 and preventing additional cases, hospitalizations and deaths without full community support and cooperation.

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“We need people of all ages, including young people, to take COVID-19 seriously and follow public health guidelines and instructions. That means avoiding large gatherings without physical distancing or face coverings. It also means cooperating with the Health Department to complete case investigation and contact tracing."

County health officials said they are working to reach every person identified as a close contact directly to provide guidance and monitor for illness.

“None of us wants to be the reason someone in our community or county becomes seriously ill or dies,” Saline Mayor Brian Marl said. “We have the opportunity to work together and with our local health department to contain this as quickly as possible. We know what we need to do, and we can certainly do it.”

The county said its health department investigation is ongoing. To date, the initial party and subsequent activities have led to exposures among people at retail stores, restaurants, businesses, canoe liveries, clubs, camps, athletic teams and a retirement community, the county said.

There are also at least several exposures in other counties and out of state because individuals traveled while infectious, according to health officials. These exposures include at least two in northern Michigan, one out-of-state exposure and one neighboring county exposure, the county said.