CHICAGO (CBS) — Attendees of the Democratic National Convention had hoped for Beyoncé on the final night of the event a week ago, but after that disappointment, some were in for another one as they left the United Center in Chicago.
There is a lot of commotion on social media, because many participants tested positive for COVID-19 upon returning home.
Doctors say positive test results are likely to be the new norm at major events like the Democratic National Convention. The only way to prevent this is to take precautions or get vaccinated.
This convention was the first in eight years that Democrats had come together for such an event. The 2020 convention was held virtually, specifically because of COVID-19, at the height of the pandemic and before a vaccine had been approved.
But even in 2024, many attendees left with COVID.
“Anyone who has been on social media this week has seen a lot of posts from people who have brought home a souvenir from the DNC and are posting their positive COVID test,” said Dr. Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Journalists, officials, delegates and attendees all shared their positive COVID test results on social media. Wallace said this was no surprise.
“What we’ve learned about COVID over the last four years is that it likes to spread in crowded indoor spaces, and that’s what it was,” Wallace said, “and there were a lot of people shouting, being excited, sharing space and not really taking a lot of precautions.”
In the run-up to the DNC, COVID was already on the rise this summer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a state map on August 16 showing infections were increasing or likely increasing in 27 states, including Illinois.
“And you have people from all these states congregating in Chicago, where we also fall into that high category,” Wallace said. “So we have people bringing the virus, we have the virus here, and now we have people going home.”
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine to combat the latest variants now that so many people have been infected.
“Anyone here who has not had a vaccination since mid-June, or who has been infected since then, should certainly get another dose of this new vaccine,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota.
The Chicago Department of Public Health has not yet released data from the week of the convention. Pre-convention data shows a consistent ebb and flow of positive COVID test results, and what appears to be more people getting tested.
