Assessing the Association Between Social Gatherings and COVID-19 Risk Using Birthdays.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Many policies designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 address formal gatherings, such as workplaces and dining locations. Informal social gatherings are a potentially important mode of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but studying their role in transmission is challenged by data and methodological limitations; birthdays offer an opportunity to empirically quantify the potential role of small social gatherings in COVID-19 spread.

Objective

To assess the association between social gatherings and SARS-CoV-2 transmission by studying whether COVID-19 rates increase after birthdays in a household.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional study used nationwide data from January 1 to November 8, 2020, from 2.9 million US households with private insurance to c

SUBMITTER: Whaley CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8218234 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature