The number 300,000 almost jumps out of the recent Associated Press story on the results of a study on the role a two-day biotech conference in Boston played in the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s the potential number of cases that can be traced from 29 states and overseas to that meeting last February of Biogen managers, according to the study published by the journal Science.
It’s both shocking and sad, but also something we can still learn from, with the pandemic again raging and the holidays upon us.
None of those Biogen managers can be blamed for the early spread of the virus from that meeting. But that’s not the case for those going out of their way to ignore state restrictions and urgings on holiday gatherings.
We all know better now. State officials urged residents to limit Thanksgiving gatherings to those they live with. Expect similar pleas for Christmas and New Year’s, as we await widespread availability of vaccines.
Learn from history or risk repeating it. When it comes to this coronavirus, the choice should be obvious.