An investigation of the COVID-19 cluster in restaurants, Mueang District, Chaiyaphum Province, January, 2022

Abstract

On January 14th, 2022, the investigating team of the Office of Disease Prevention and Control 9, Nakhon Ratchasima, received a report from the Chaiyaphum Provincial Public Health Office confirming an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as clusters. The outbreak occurred in restaurants located on Nanthanakhon Road, Chaiyaphum Province. A total of 19 people were diagnosed and confirmed as cases, with ongoing spread. Consequently, the team conducted an investigation of the outbreak between January 17th and January 20th, 2022, with the objectives of confirming the outbreak and finding appropriate solutions to control the disease's spread. The study employed a descriptive epidemiological approach, collecting data during the COVID-19 outbreak investigation among restaurant employees and customers who received services from the restaurants between December 25th, 2021, and January 8th, 2022. In total, thirty-one confirmed cases were investigated, and an assessment of the restaurant environments was conducted. The results showed that 24 confirmed cases were in circle 1, with a female-to-male ratio of 1:1.7 and an average age of 23.5 years. Most of the cases were customers who had used the restaurants' services (50%), did not have underlying diseases (95.8%), experienced symptoms (79.2%), and were vaccinated (91.7%). Additionally, the Omicron strain was identified in random samples. Risk behaviors that likely contributed to the outbreak included close contact between employees and customers who had symptoms such as coughing and sneezing, not using middle spoon when eating, sharing the same glass of drink, and changing seats multiple times during the same night. These risk factors appeared to increase the likelihood of infection. Therefore, during the relaxation of measures, it is crucial to enforce strict protocols to address risky behaviors that could affect the outbreak of respiratory diseases. This approach may help reduce the severity of the disease, especially in vulnerable groups susceptible to infection and less likely to protect themselves effectively.