Only “certain public settings” forced ETHDenver attendees to wear masks, according to the conference, which did not impose a vaccine mandate or social separation.
Many guests at the ETHDenver developer conference, who reported symptoms and positive test results after the event, appear to have been afflicted by the transmissibility of the Omicron strain of COVID-19.
Following the conclusion of the ETHDenver conference on February 11–20, many delegates claimed to have tested positive for the virus on social media.
According to a local news station, the event drew over 12,000 people from 100 nations, resulting in several diseases among both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.
Attendees and employees were forced to “perform a quick [antigen] test, on-site, prior to picking up their badge,” according to ETHDenver’s COVID standards, and were asked not to visit any of the event’s in-person locations if they were experiencing symptoms.
The conference, on the other hand, did not impose a vaccine requirement, just asked participants to wear masks in “certain public settings,” and did not discuss social distance.
Despite these precautions, numerous attendees shared photographs of positive COVID-19 testing or other signs of illness.
ETHDenver attendees queued outside in the cold for testing, and images from the event appear to show that persons wearing masks were in the minority.
A three-day skiing retreat at a ski resort in Breckenridge is also being held as part of the event.
“None of this comes as a surprise,” said Andrew Chow, a Time staff writer who tested positive for COVID-19 after leaving the crypto conference.
“Thousands of individuals from all over the world descended on a few indoor areas […] and continued to shout loudly in each other’s faces for hours.”
Mask-wearers were few and far between, and there was no social isolation.”
According to data provided by the New York Times, many states have abandoned mask restrictions in recent weeks as the number of daily COVID cases declined from more than 1 million in January to a seven-day average of around 80,000 at the time of publication.
As of Feb. 23, the number of cases in Denver County appeared to be following the national pattern, with a weekly average of 177.
Chow added:
“Attendees joked that ETHDenver 2020 had been one of COVID-19’s initial superspreader events. The 2022 edition was a reminder that the pandemic is still fully in swing, no matter how much people want to put it behind them.”
In “areas of substantial or high community transmission,” the CDC advises both vaccinated and uninfected people to wear a mask.
It also recommends that “everyone ages five and older” get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Despite the fact that immunizations have been widely available to most Americans for for than a year, other large crypto gatherings have had similar outcomes.
After many guests tested positive for COVID-19 upon returning home, some media sites dubbed the Bitcoin 2021 event in Miami a “super spreader event” — around 12,000 people attended the Florida conference.
