‘Safe as possible’ swingers convention led to dozens of COVID-19 cases, organizer says

Dozens of people who attended an annual swingers convention in New Orleans in November tested positive for COVID-19 days after the event was complete, the organizer said.

But Bob Hannaford, organizer of Naughty N’awlins, said many precautions were taken for the event, which was much smaller than previous years.

In a blog post on Naughty-Events.com, Hannaford detailed the thought process behind holding the event in the midst of a COVID-19 spike throughout the country and how they attempted to make it a safe gathering.

Naughty N’awlins is dubbed as a gathering for “open-minded couples who embrace their sexuality,” according to its Facebook page. This year’s convention was initially rescheduled for August and was pushed to November because of a Covid spike.

“As November neared, the numbers in New Orleans kept trending down, way down,” Hannaford wrote. “By mid-October, New Orleans was one of the safest big cities in the US. The restrictions got lighter and lighter, more restaurants and bars reopened.”

People with underlying health issues were encouraged not to come and more than half of the attendees had coronavirus antibodies, the blog post states.

Each attendee received a “Being Naughty in a Covid World” guide with the event’s guidelines. Safety protocols included mask wearing at the hotel and while riding elevators, temperature checks at check-in, hand sanitation stations and occupancy limits during events.

Other staples of the event, including a traditional parade down Bourbon Street, were canceled, according to NOLA.com.

Attendees were encouraged to get tested before they arrived and those who received a negative test would receive a light blue wristband. Diaries were also issued so everyone could keep track of who they came into contact with, Hannaford said.

Organizers also said consent “is even more important than ever.”

“Today, it’s more than even touching someone, people are more sensitive than ever about personal space,” a post reads. “We urge you to be aware and be considerate.”

Hannaford wrote organizers “were going to do everything we could to make our event as safe as possible.”

But Susan Hassig, an associate professor of epidemiology at Tulane University, told NOLA.com she was not on board with the plan to hold the gathering.

“That’s really quite mind-boggling,” she said. “Clearly no public health epidemiologist was involved in the design of this activity.”

After the four-day event began Nov. 10, organizers said it was “wonderful to see everyone masking up, being responsible (and) following the guidelines and protocols.”

On Friday of the gathering, Louisiana reported its most single-day cases COVID-19 gathering since August, NOLA.com reported.

The event was attended by 2,000 people in 2019, but only 300 people this year, Hannaford said. The positive tests began to appear the first day after the event was complete.

There were 41 positive tests, but Hannaford fears there were even more.

“There could also be people that are positive, but without symptoms, so they never got tested,” he said. “We immediately reached out to everyone and urged them to get tested, whether they had symptoms or not.”

Hannaford said most people who tested positive said they were diligent the first two days, but became more lax as the weekend progressed.

Of the 41 positive cases, most were asymptomatic or mild, according to Hannaford. But two people, including one who was hospitalized, “had a tougher time and they were suffering,” the organizer said.

“I wouldn’t do it again if I knew then, what I know now,”Hannaford said. “It weighs on me and it will continue to weigh on me until everyone is 100% better.”