LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Four people have now tested positive for the novel coronavirus after attending a February conference at Louisville’s Omni hotel.
On Wednesday, Episcopal churches in Beverly Hills, Calif., and New York City announced that their rectors had confirmed cases of the COVID-19 respiratory illness.
The Rev. Roy Cole of the Church of the Epiphany in New York had "recent direct contact with someone who is also confirmed as having a case of the virus," his church said in a message to parishioners. Cole attended the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes meeting in Louisville Feb. 19-22, according to the consortium.
All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, Calif., said rector Janet Broderick “took ill shortly after returning” from the conference.
Alluding to Broderick, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said one person with the virus “traveled to a religious conference in another state (and) was a close contact of a person at the conference who has tested positive.”
Broderick and Cole join two other attendees, from Washington, D.C., and Tarrant County, Texas, who have contracted the coronavirus.
An Omni spokeswoman said Thursday there was no new information from hotel officials.
Joe Swimmer, the Episcopal consortium’s executive director, said in an online post Wednesday that the consortium was in contact with D.C. health authorities and the “Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness. These health agencies continue to work together on tracing travel and movement.”
Swimmer and Omni general manager Scott Stuckey both said Wednesday that health officials gave guidance that “Simply being at the conference with someone not showing symptoms is not a risk factor.”
Stuckey said the Omni notified the Louisville health department.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said at a press conference Thursday afternoon that the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness has been in touch with health agencies in the cities where the infected people live.
He said that investigation is meant "to understand any nature of the spread that's relevant to us."
"We are working with multiple health departments across the country to obtain the necessary information to make an educated conclusion about the concerns that are being raised," said Dr. Sarah Moyer, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness.
"We are concerned about the potential link between the cases and the possibility that exposure happened at the conference," she said. "But we want to make sure we have the most accurate information to guide our recommendation."
Moyer said "all the indications" show that the conference attendees who were later diagnosed with COVID-19 were not infectious while in Louisville.
She said that belief is based on an average incubation period of five days.
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.
It’s unclear when Broderick, who is the sister of actor Matthew Broderick, began feeling sick or showing symptoms.
Another conference attendee, Rev. Dr. Robert Pace of Tarrant County, Texas, 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, and confirmed to have the illness on Tuesday.
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.
Timothy Cole and Roy Cole, the New York City rector, are not related.
Reach reporter Marcus Green at 502-585-0825, mgreen@wdrb.com, on Twitter or on Facebook. Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
