Coronavirus: Rubber Hits the Road at CPAC?

Maybe I'm missing something here, and if so I certainly hope someone enlightens me, but it seems to me that we're about to find out just how serious the Coronavirus really is in real people in real time.

According to CNN --

The American Conservative Union announced on Saturday that one of the attendees at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, has tested positive for coronavirus.

"The exposure occurred previous to the conference. A New Jersey hospital tested the person, and CDC confirmed the positive result," the ACU said in a statement. "The individual is under the care of medical professionals in the state of New Jersey, and has been quarantined."

So this person had already been infected when attending CPAC, and would have been contagious at that point, exposing virtually everyone there to the Coronavirus.

From The Economic Policy Journal --

CPAC was held the last week of February... [snip]...The conference ran for 4 days... [snip]... The number of attendees at CPAC was roughly 20,000.

So roughly 20,000 people were exposed to the Coronavirus from at least one person over those four days. The conference ended Monday, March 2nd. We are eight days out, with an average 10 day incubation period. Since Coronavirus wasn't really on anyone's radar yet, we can safely assume little to no extra precautions were taken by most attendees -- i.e., face masks, hand sanitizers. The next week to 10 days will tell us much about the Coronavirus, as we see the contagion rate, the complication rate, the death rate, etc., among these attendees.

At least one person isn't worried -- the CPAC chairman.

Schlapp added that he was unconcerned about getting sick, saying he "felt healthy as a horse," but is speaking with his doctor, and the chairman said he doesn't foresee any more cases coming out of the conference.

That is a rather odd comment to make... whatever would make him think that??? But no one seems to be panicking over this, or even concerned... well beyond wondering (hoping?) that Trump catches it. Why???

Time will tell, but it seems to me that these 20,000 attendees exposed to the Coronavirus will make a very good sample group for intense study and ultimate understanding of the disease. And their fate will tell us much about the fate of the rest of us. Will we see these attendees hospitalized and dropping like flies? Or will we see a transmission/complication/death rate similar to a common cold? Or something else?

Maybe I'm missing something... or presuming too much... and if so, someone please correct me. But for now, my eye's on them.

Hope I'm wrong, but based upon what we've been reading and experiencing, it spreads very quickly in crowded areas. And there are no windows at the event.

Furious CPAC attendees demand answers from organizers about coronavirus exposure

Attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference are calling out organizers for keeping them in the dark about the health risks they’re facing after potentially being exposed to the coronavirus during this year’s event.

In interviews with Politico, some CPAC attendees say that there has been a two-tiered response to informing people about exposure to the virus: One for high-profile lawmakers such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and another for everyone else.

Source

It should be noted that Trump was in attendance at CPAC. By all accounts he didn't have contact with this person but that doesn't necessarily rule out him being exposed.

originally posted by: musicismagic
Hope I'm wrong, but based upon what we've been reading and experiencing...

You may not be wrong so much as misinformed. We've been told so many things that not only contradict themselves, but things that no one can know... at least not yet.

It spreads very quickly in crowded areas. And there are no windows at the event.

If that's true -- and at this point I have no reason to think it's not true -- then there should already be plenty of attendees feeling sick. For cases with severe complications, I've read that the average number of days between onset of symptoms and hospitalization is 5 to 7. So we should start seeing increased hospitalizations within the week... if it's going to happen.

a reply to: DancedWithWolves

Oh noes... that's not good. I would be furious as well. I would expect there to be a master list of some kind with the contact info of attendees. The Pubs are going to want that for fundraising efforts! So it should not have been difficult to send a generic email to everyone.

I wonder when this person was actually diagnosed...

originally posted by: Xcalibur254
It should be noted that Trump was in attendance at CPAC. By all accounts he didn't have contact with this person but that doesn't necessarily rule out him being exposed.

If it's as contagious as some are saying, then we should be expecting Trump and every other attendee to come down with Coronavirus. Maybe a couple outliers will escape its clutches -- germophobes who took precautions or folks with natural immunities. But for the most part, it was a Coronavirus germfest.

At the same time there were Mardi Gras celebrations everywhere. What are the odds that no one there had Corona.

Except the one nursing home, it’s always one person has it, not half of a school

originally posted by: SocratesJohnson
At the same time there were Mardi Gras celebrations everywhere. What are the odds that no one there had Corona.

Good point. No one celebrating Mardi Gras was thinking about Coronavirus! (Even if they'd heard of it... which it's quite possible they hadn't yet).

It might not be as easy to track all Mardi Gras partyers, but we would definitely be seeing multiple Coronavirus cases by now I would think. In fact, we might expect a higher contagion rate at a Mardi Gras gathering than CPAC. Mardi Gras attendees aren't known for keeping hands to themselves, eh?

From what I've seen in the blogosphere, most of the attendees are taking it fairly well. At least one says they almost always get sick at CPAC because there's almost always something circulating and with everyone coming in during the late winter ... no one is exactly at their healthiest.

Anyhow, they're self-quarantined which, for a blogger, looks a lot like normal life.

originally posted by: ketsuko
At least one says they almost always get sick at CPAC because there's almost always something circulating and with everyone coming in during the late winter ... no one is exactly at their healthiest.

I had been thinking that as well. It's called the cold and flu season for a reason. There were plenty of bugs to go around!

Anyhow, they're self-quarantined which, for a blogger, looks a lot like normal life.

LOL! But good point.

a reply to: Boadicea
Am I reading this correctly?
The person knew they were positive for the virus, and attended ANYWAY!?!?!!?

Something weird going on??????

a reply to: ketsuko

I feel so called out right now.

Ok, not a blogger, but still.

a reply to: 0zzymand0s

Eh, doing the part-time work, housewife, mom thing so, yeah ...

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: Boadicea
Am I reading this correctly?
The person knew they were positive for the virus, and attended ANYWAY!?!?!!?

That seems to be suggested... I don't know though. It may just be (the usual) sloppy reporting. I tried to track it down, but I couldn't find a diagnosis date in any of the reports I read. The timing is worrying though. We're not talking about a big window here. Just four days between the last day of the conference and the announcement.

Something weird going on??????

Definitely something weird. Especially combined with the chairman so sure no one else would be infected... WTH?

a reply to: Boadicea

Do you have some links for your OP?

Wasn't the left joking not too long ago (and by joking, i mean they are likely dead serious) about the idea of sending in sick coronavirus patients into MAGA/Trump events to try to sicken a great amount of people at once.... I hope this didnt happen... even though i wouldnt be surprised one bit if they tried to purposely sicken a large group of trump supporters at once...

a reply to: Liquesence

Well shame on me!!! Of course:

CPAC attendee tested positive for coronavirus

Understanding How Nutty the Wuhan Coronavirus Panic Is

Thanks for the prompt!

originally posted by: jhn7537
Wasn't the left joking not too long ago (and by joking, i mean they are likely dead serious) about the idea of sending in sick coronavirus patients into MAGA/Trump events to try to sicken a great amount of people at once....

Yup. I recall such a thing being said though I can't find anything about it now.

I find it hard to believe that we're both mis-remembering...

originally posted by: Boadicea

originally posted by: jhn7537
Wasn't the left joking not too long ago (and by joking, i mean they are likely dead serious) about the idea of sending in sick coronavirus patients into MAGA/Trump events to try to sicken a great amount of people at once....

Yup. I recall such a thing being said though I can't find anything about it now.

I find it hard to believe that we're both mis-remembering...

I know the city council member from Denver shared a comment on twitter about infecting trump supporters, but there were certainly many others stating similar things, making veiled threats towards 63 million + people..