One county in Washington state, USA, has discovered a new source of infection recently called "the Covid-19 groups". These are groups organized for people to gather with a pathogen carrier in order to knowingly infect the new corona virus (SARS-CoV-2). These people hope to have the virus in order to be immune to the disease in the future, according to the New York Times (NYT).

Meghan Debolt, director of the Walla Walla County public health agency, said Friday that investigators have discovered two Covid-19 groups in her area of management. Two people who attended the aforementioned groups - with about 20 members - became infected. According to NYT , this discovery has left local officials "completely astonished."

“We want to reopen the community. But if the community doesn’t follow the full social gap as instructed and they even deliberately get infected with the corona virus, this will make us farther than the day of reopening, ”said Debolt.

According to NYT , the prospect of people deliberately infected with Covid-19 to create immunity has made health professionals concerned because the US has a "history" of how many people choose to actively be infected. US health officials have worked hard to prevent "chickenpox groups" organized by some parents so their unvaccinated children can gain immunity to the dangerous disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have stated that they "strongly oppose the organization and participation in these activities". In the context of some people expressing their willingness to contract the virus, two Covid-19 groups in Washington were considered the first two activities of this type to be confirmed to exist by US public health officials.

US health authorities are working hard to control the Covid-19 pandemic, which has so far killed more than 72,000 and caused 1.2 million.

Debolt said that two Covid-19 cases in Walla Walla were all young and did not need medical attention. They informed health officials that they could recover quickly, however, they did not think about spreading it to other vulnerable people in their family or friends.

"They feel very bad now knowing they put their loved ones at risk," said Debolt.