3 coronavirus cases linked to Louisville Omni conference

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Three people who attended an Episcopal conference at Louisville's downtown Omni hotel last month contracted the novel coronavirus or tested presumptively positive for it, according to event organizers.

The Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes confirmed Wednesday that two additional attendees are believed to have the COVID-19 illness, in addition to a case confirmed over the weekend in a Washington, D.C. rector.

The newest patients are receiving care, the consortium's executive director Joe Swimmer said in a statement. He said D.C. and Louisville health officials "continue to work together on tracing travel and movement."

One of the additional cases involves a Texas man who had been at the conference, the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth said in a statement Wednesday. It's not known where the third patient lives.

The diocese said the Rev. Dr. Robert Pace, who had been in Louisville in February, has the first presumptive positive case of the virus in Tarrant County, Texas.

Pace attended the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP) conference at the Omni from Feb.19-22, the Texas diocese said.

Rev. Timothy Cole, the rector of Christ Church Georgetown in Washington, D.C., also has a verified case of the respiratory virus. He was at the Louisville conference, Episcopal church officials have confirmed.

The Episcopal consortium provided a statement from D.C. Health on Monday claiming that people who attended the conference weren't at risk of being exposed to the coronavirus.

"Based on our investigation, they were asymptomatic, meaning they were not experiencing symptoms like fever or cough, while they were at the conference," the statement said. "Therefore, there is no identified risk of exposure to CEEP conference attendees as a result of contact with this case."

Swimmer said Wednesday that guidance hasn't changed.

Omni Louisville has notified health officials here, general manager Scott Stuckey said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

"We remain in contact with the leadership of the CEEP conference to monitor any further impact on conference attendees and coronavirus," he said.

He also repeated the consortium's claim that "[s]imply being at the conference with someone not showing symptoms is not a risk factor."

Stuckey has not responded to a question asking how that can be the case, given that multiple infections are linked to the conference.

Pace, the Texas rector, does not know Cole or recall interacting with him at the Louisville conference, according to the Fort Worth diocese.

Public health officials are still learning how the virus spreads, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it believes symptoms can appear two to 14 days after being exposed. That window is based on the incubation period of the MERS illness.

The CDC also believes people are the most contagious when they are the sickest, although it acknowledges some spreading may be possible before the onset of symptoms.

However, "this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads," according to the CDC.

Pace went to his doctor on February 27 when he started feeling sick, according to the Texas diocese. That was five days after the Louisville conference ended.

He was tested for the coronavirus on Monday, March 9, a day after Cole's letter to his D.C. parishioners.