Part 11/16:
A key source of transmission identified was social and cultural events, especially during the Chinese New Year period. Large family gatherings, where extended relatives shared meals and socialized, created fertile ground for transmission.
Investigations revealed that a couple who contracted the virus from Wuhan attended a Chinese New Year gathering with family members—including a couple who had visited the same church on the same day as imported cases. Although these contacts appeared uninfected at the time of the investigation, subsequent serology confirmed they had been infected previously, possibly during the gathering.
This event underscored how cultural practices—like mass family celebrations—could inadvertently serve as super-spreader events, complicating containment efforts.