Biogen Boston conference lead to hundreds of thousands of early coronavirus cases, study finds

The conference resulted in 333,000 coronavirus cases

A Biogen conference in Boston may have been ground zero for hundreds of thousands of coronaviurs cases.  

Researchers believe the conference is one of the earliest Covid-19 outbreaks in the city.  

The conference was held at the end of February at a hotel, and eventually led to 333,000 cases, according to research published in the academic journal Science.  

Scientists researching the outbreak and its subsequent spread linked the Boston event to tens of thousands of infections in Florida.  

The Boston Globe reported that the conference was attended by just 175 people, and by the end of the outbreak more than 100 had tested positive with the coronavirus. 

The study estimates that the Biogen conference is responsible for approximately 1.6 per cent of all coronavirus cases in the US since it began.  

Not all mass indoor gatherings go on to become massive, nation-wide spreading events, however.  

The report also looked at a cases from a nursing home in Wilmington, Massachusetts, where a facility-wide outbreak of the coronavirus was detected after a chance screening.  

The virus infected 82 of the 97 residents and 36 staff members. Two dozen residents died within two weeks of receiving the tests, but the outbreak stayed largely within the nursing facility.  

The researchers determined that both events were dangerous, in the case of the nursing home because the residents were in high-risk age groups, and in the case of the conference because the individuals were likely to travel and spread the virus.  

“The implications may be greater, when measured as a cost to society, for super-spreading events that involve younger, healthier and more mobile populations because of the increased risk of subsequent transmission,” the study said.