Health officials in one of the US states experiencing a massive outbreak of COVID-19 have identified what they're calling the 'Serious Seven' places you're most likely to catch it.
After recording just a few dozen cases a day on average for three months, Oklahoma is now reporting hundreds. The number of active cases was on the decline at the end of May, but since then has risen from 646 to more than 3000.
Through contact tracing, officials in Tulsa and Oklahoma City say they've figured out the biggest drivers of the state's outbreak - a group they're calling the 'Serious Seven'.
"With the uptick in positive COVID-19 cases, we've noticed a trend in where residents of Oklahoma County are contracting the virus," the OKC-County Health Department posted on Facebook.
"We're finding that many individuals attending these serious seven locations are often more exposed to COVID-19."
They are:
- weddings
- funerals
- faith-based activities
- bars
- gyms
- house gatherings
- other small events.
People aged 18-50 seem to be driving most of the "super-spreader" events, Patrick McGough of the OKC-County Health Department told local news station KOCO News 5.
"No one is trying to discourage these events," he said. "Use proper precautions as you participate. If you cannot remain six feet (1.8m) away from others, or you can't wear a mask, you should not participate."
The list of events won't surprise New Zealanders. Two of our known clusters of cases centred around weddings (Bluff and Wellington, another was at a bar (Matamata) and more were linked to private events and conferences.
While some churches here bristled at restrictions on attendance while New Zealand was at higher pandemic alert levels, others said they understood why.
"I felt a bit of a sting when I first heard it because I love hanging out with my people, I love our wider gatherings, I love our people spending time together," Hamilton-based Rev Francis Ritchie told Magic Talk in May.
"But when I think about it, I think my logic would go to saying 'yes it is fair'."
Experts in New Zealand on Friday called on the Government to bulk-buy masks for the entire population, saying it could prevent the need for another lockdown.
The US, already the hardest-hit country in the world, has experienced a growth in cases in recent weeks, after states lifted lockdowns and the debate over wearing masks turned political.
