May 3, 2023 – More than 30 individuals who attended a conference organized by the CDC’s “disease detectives” likely became infected with COVID-19 on the event last week, the agency said.
The CDC hosted the four-day conference, which began on April 24, at a Crowne Plaza hotel just outside Atlanta, the house of CDC headquarters. Admission to the conference was free and open to the general public. The CDC billed it as a showcase for “recent groundbreaking research and innovative analysis conducted by EIS officials – better known as the CDC’s disease detectives.”
“CDC is working with the Georgia Department of Public Health to conduct a rapid epidemiologic assessment of confirmed COVID-19 cases that appear to be linked to the 2023 EIS conference to determine transmission patterns,” said CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund. The Washington Post.
About 2,000 people took part, “who were probably fully vaccinated,” the post reported, and thus far there are 35 confirmed COVID cases. It was the primary time in 4 years that the annual conference was held in person.
“At large gatherings, especially indoors, such as at a conference, there is a potential for spread of COVID-19, even during times of low community spread,” Nordlund said. The hill.
Last week, the CDC reported 1,946 COVID cases within the state of Georgia, although the post found that many cases from individuals who test themselves at home are never reported. CDC data shows there have been 88,330 COVID-19 cases nationwide last week.
“Unfortunately, this is the new normal,” said infectious disease expert Jay Varma, MD of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, who post“While the widespread transmission of COVID-19 at CDC's premier public health conference is concerning, it is probably the clearest example yet” of the worldwide situation.