Person infected with coronavirus at journalism conference not part of MU group
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The journalism conference attendee who was positive for novel coronavirus in a preliminary test was not part of a group from the University of Missouri.
Investigative Reporters & Editors, an organization with offices at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, said in a statement Tuesday that a person who attended the NICAR20 conference last week in New Orleans was positive for COVID-19 on a preliminary test. The test has to be confirmed by the CDC.
Several IRE staff members also attended the conference. However, MU Chancellor Alexander Cartwright said in a statement emailed to students, faculty and staff that the person who tested positive for COVID-19 was not part of the MU group at the conference.
"As we learn this news, it’s important to note there are no cases of COVID-19 on the MU campus," Cartwright said in the statement. However, MU faculty and staff who went to the conference have been told to stay home, Cartwright said.
"At this time, none of those individuals are showing any symptoms of the virus," he said.
Officials believe the infected person, who traveled to the conference from within the United States, contracted the novel coronavirus either before, during or after the conference, IRE said in a news release.
The infected attendee has mild symptoms and is expected to recover fully, the organization said. The person is self-quarantining at home for 14 days.
IRE Executive Director Doug Haddix said four full-time staff members and a student employee based in Columbia went to the conference. All IRE staff -- those based in Columbia and elsewhere -- are being told to work from home and stay away from social gatherings for 14 days as a precaution, Haddix said.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that more than 1,000 people attended the conference at the Marriott Hotel on Canal Street.
More than 1,000 cases of the disease caused by novel coronavirus have been confirmed nationwide and more than 30 people have died.
