Single party in Princeton linked to most of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Mercer County region

A private party at a home in Princeton has been linked to most of the confirmed coronavirus cases in the greater Mercer County region. The party, in turn, has been linked to a conference in Boston that some are referring to as a “superspreading” event.

The Princeton party was held Feb. 29, just two days after the Biogen leadership conference at the Marriott Long Wharf hotel in Boston that was attended by about 175 employees from Biogen locations around the United States and the world. A spokesman for Biogen told the Boston Globe that guests at the conference included people from Italy, a country where the virus had spread, but not people who had been to China, where it originated in 2019.

According to the Boston Globe, Biogen officials reached out to public health authorities in Massachusetts on March 3 to report a cluster of about 50 conference attendees with flu-like symptoms, but officials were told that the cases did not satisfy federal requirements for testing. Several of the Biogen executives from the Long Wharf conference also attended a health care event hosted by Cowen and Co. March 2-4 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. Some attendees of that conference later tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Boston Globe.

More than 70 of the attendees of the Biogen conference contracted the coronavirus. That doesn’t include the dozens of people in other locations across the United States and in other parts of the world who are linked in some way to attendees of the Biogen conference, including cases in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana, and Norway, and suspected cases in Germany, Austria, and Argentina.

Two people who attended the Biogen conference came down to Princeton for a private party, then went back to New England, where they later tested positive for COVID-19.

The news in New Jersey on March 9 that dozens of Biogen conference attendees had tested positive led to questions from several area residents who had been at the conference or knew someone who had been. The following day, March 10, local officials announced that they had been made aware of the potential exposure to party attendees the night before, and that party attendees were being identified and interviewed. Attendees were tested for the coronavirus if they had certain symptoms. All were asked to self-isolate as a precaution. The attendees included including two Princeton University staff members. In response, university officials attempted to track down all of their close contacts at the school and asked them to self-isolate as well, as a precautionary measure.

Originally it was thought that about 30 people had attended the Feb. 29 party in Princeton. It was later determined that 47 people were there. Fourteen of the attendees were Princeton residents, and nine residents had symptoms. Only seven residents were tested for the coronavirus. Second-degree contacts of the attendees in Princeton were not asked initially to self-isolate by local health officials. That advice changed on Friday.

No information has been provided about what the nature of the party was, but it appears to have been attended by people who work in biopharma, biomedical sciences and related fields, as well as their guests.

A day after the announcement about the potential exposure to party attendees, three of the party attendees from Pennsylvania tested positive for the coronavirus. It took labs in New Jersey a few more days than Pennsylvania labs to return test results.

On March 14, officials in South Brunswick received confirmation that two residents there who worked at the party both tested positive. One is a high school student.

Four Princeton residents tested positive for the coronavirus March 13-15. One is a Princeton University staff member, and the three others are a father, mother, and daughter who were at the party. It is unclear whether they were party attendees or hosts.

Two more Princeton University staff members also tested positive this past weekend. One of the two staffers attended the party. The other works in an office in a department where one of the two staff members attended the party. A woman and her husband, a police dispatcher who works in Trenton, also tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Trentonian. The woman had contact with one of the staffers in Princeton who tested positive. Lawrence officials confirmed two cases there this weekend but did not confirm whether the two are the couple. Officials did confirm that the two Lawrence cases were associated with the party.

Three members of the same family in Montgomery also tested positive for the coronavirus this past weekend, including a lower middle school student. Officials there have confirmed that the cases were associated with the party. It is unclear whether the residents attended the party or had contact with someone who attended the party.

At least a dozen people who attended the party have tested positive for the coronavirus. It is unclear how many others from the party or second-degree contacts have contracted the virus, given that the state currently has strict testing guidelines because of a shortage of tests. Until early this week, only healthcare workers, those who have been hospitalized with complications related to the coronavirus, and those who attended cluster events and had certain symptoms were being tested. The state is expected to open a testing center in Holmdel by the end of the week. A drive-thru testing site has also been opened in Ewing. Patients need approval from their doctors to be tested.

It is also unclear how many confirmed cases there are from the party, because the attendees were from several municipalities and other states. Local health officials referred reporters to the state for that information and said they are only tracking local cases. State officials referred reporters back to local health officials.

Two more Mercer County residents tested positive in the last few days, one in Trenton and one in Pennington, according to the Trentonian. It is unclear whether these two residents have a connection to the Feb. 29 party. The total number of confirmed cases in Mercer County was 9 as of 8 a.m. on March 18. An official in Trenton told a reporter that St. Francis Medical Center received a positive test result for a Princeton resident on Tuesday, but it turns out that the person has a Princeton mailing address but lives in a different municipality. Local officials did not respond when asked which municipality the person lives in.

We may never know how many people from the Princeton party contract the coronavirus or are confirmed cases, as health officials work to keep up with new cases. But some health officials point out that has become a moot point now.

“Statewide, we are nearing the end of being able to trace cases to a specific source,” one health officer in the region told Planet Princeton. “Community spread, that is, cases not able to be linked to a specific source, was first documented in New Jersey less than a week ago, Community spread is what is triggering all the closures that have come so swiftly.”

The health officer told Planet Princeton that everyone in the state should be taking precautions because of community spread.

“Everyone in New Jersey has to start practicing social distancing now,” the health officer said. “Stay home, and only go out for essentials or for work. Stay 6 feet away from other people at all times. Talk to and encourage your friends by phone. Ride a bike, jog, walk your dog, but don’t congregate.   We all have our role to play in helping our community get through this, and strong action now is how we save lives.”