COVID-19 Outbreak: At Least 4 Sickened At Santa Cruz Co. Concert

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Concertgoers, performers and Felton Music Hall staff tested positive for the coronavirus following a July 18 event at the venue.

Nearly 300 attended the indoor performance, according to the county. Four COVID-19 cases linked to the event were confirmed as of noon Tuesday and that number is expected to rise.

Grateful Shred, a Grateful Dead cover band from Los Angeles, announced Sunday that fans and nearly all of the band and crew tested positive after a string of California shows from July 15 to 18. The band played at Felton's outdoor Roaring Camp Railroads venue on July 17 and Felton Music Hall on July 18.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel first reported the story.

Grateful Shred implied that at least some of those affected had been vaccinated. A band representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking more information.

"If you were at any of these events, please get a test, and if you're feeling sick, stay home. ... If possible, please vax up and be sure to wear a mask whenever you are inside or close to others," the band said.

Felton Music Hall encouraged vaccination and urged concertgoers to schedule a test for the coronavirus after at least two guests and one employee tested positive, the venue said Monday in a statement.

Felton Music Hall will require all guests and staff to wear masks indoors going forward and will remain closed until Aug. 5, after exposed staff have received two consecutive tests with negative results, said owner Thomas Cussins. Patrons are asked to check their temperature before heading out.

Cussins, who bought the venue in 2019, said his team was excited to welcome back live music events after being shut down from March 2020 to mid-June. He said he's devastated to see COVID-19 cases linked to an event.

"It's so disappointing to me that vaccination has become a political issue," he said. "We have such a diverse group of people and ideas in Felton and in the Santa Cruz Mountains ... We fully intend to follow any guidelines passed down."

Felton Music Hall received its first email from a sick patron Saturday — the same day Grateful Shred reached out to share performers were awaiting test results, Cussins said. Staff then notified all ticketholders for the event via email.

On Sunday the venue received confirmation of positive test results from the band and learned another patron had tested positive.

Felton Music Hall will still host events at the outdoor Roaring Camp venue this weekend, where patrons will be spaced six feet apart in pods, Cussins said. He said he is confident that the outdoor shows can be safely executed and has hosted 21 similar events with no COVID-19 cases.

"Without the community's health ... we don't exist without that," he said.

Cussins invited anyone with concerns to reach out with questions or comments.

"We didn't stay shut down for as long as we did to ... not be serious about it."

Jason Hoppin, county spokesperson, said the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency is investigating the matter.

Breakthrough cases — or COVID-19 cases among people who have been fully vaccinated — "are to be expected even with the extraordinarily high efficacy of the mRNA vaccines," he said in an email. "However, they are rare and usually include very mild symptoms if there are any symptoms at all, and they keep people out of the hospital and out of the morgue."

All four COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Santa Cruz County were not vaccinated, he said.

The outbreak comes as the highly transmissible delta variant spreads throughout California and the nation. The increased transmissibility of the variant would not be a concern if everyone were vaccinated, Hoppin said.

"Instead, we are seeing this become a pandemic of the unvaccinated," he said.

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