The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City is where the convention will be held.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that they had identified a second case of the omicron coronaviruses variant in a Minnesota man. The man had not traveled internationally but had recently returned to Minnesota from a convention in New York City attended by 53,000 people.
The case suggests that the variant has been circulating undetected in the US for a long time.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health and the CDC, the man is a resident of the state and traveled to New York City to attend the convention. The man had been shot. He sought COVID-19 testing on November 24 after developing mild symptoms. He has recovered from his illness.
It's concerning that the resident attended the large convention, which may have been ideal for the spread of the disease. The convention struggled with crowding and 53,000 fans attended the event, according to a report by the president.
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"everything was packed much more than in the past," Tatara reported. Why? We underestimated how many fans would show up at the convention center.
Face coverings and vaccinations were required for the convention. The organizers only required attendees to have one dose and told them they could attend immediately after their first dose. One dose alone does not provide strong protection against the delta variant because each vaccine dose takes from several days to over a week to spur protective immune responses.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said in a statement that the news was not a surprise. The virus moves quickly throughout the world and is highly infectious. Minnesotans know what to do to keep themselves and their friends safe, which is to get the vaccine, get tested, wear a mask indoors, and get a booster. We can help keep Minnesotans safe.
In a statement on Thursday, the CDC director said that the agency has been preparing for this variant. We have been working closely with the Minnesota Department of Health and will continue to do so as we learn more. Over the past nine months, the agency has expanded its capacity for genomic sequencing.
