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Some Say Bitcoin Miami Event Was A Covid Super-Spreader

Some Say Bitcoin Miami Event Was A Covid Super-Spreader

Miami

Some Say Bitcoin Miami Event Was A Covid Super-Spreader Photo: Unsplash

At least 12,000 people converged on Miami for a Bitcoin event that appeared to be mostly mask-free and without vaccine requirements. Some are now claiming the event was a covid-19 super-spreader.

The Bitcoin 2021 conference, which took place on June 4 and June 5 at Mana Wynwood convention center, attracted bigwigs from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to Miami’s mayor, Francis Suarez. Several attendees have tweeted that they tested positive for coronavirus after attending the Miami gathering.

“Everyone I hung out with in Miami got covid,” tweeted an employee at the crypto website Block.

“Looks like I’m joining the BTC covid list,” another tweeted.

“I literally just assumed everyone was vaccinated,” one attendee told Page Six. “If you are smart enough to make the money to afford a $1,500 ticket, and pay the super-high hotel price, you should be able to figure out how to get vaxxed.”

Florida has been flagrantly relaxed in enforcing coronavirus guidelines. The state lifted all mandates in May.

“My office has been made aware of a number of unconfirmed tweets about people contracting covid-19 during last weekend’s Bitcoin 2021 Conference. Based on public data from hospitals and other watchdogs, we have no reason to believe the conference was a ‘Super Spreader,’” Miami’s Republican Mayor Suarez told Page Six. 

“At this point, with the information we know, this characterization of the event is not only unfair but also irresponsible,” Suarez added. “Miami played host to over 50,000 people throughout the weekend while the conference sold 12,000 tickets. Here in the city of Miami, we take the adherence to CDC and Florida DOH guidelines very seriously as our community navigates the current stage of the pandemic. We’re in constant communication with the health authorities and will continue monitoring this situation and we hope everyone who visited Miami is healthy and doing fine.”

Representatives for Bitcoin Magazine, which organized the event, told Vice “Vaccines have been freely available for months in the US, to the extent that anyone who wanted to be vaccinated could do so by the time of the event. Because the vaccine is effective, the U.S. has been able to begin to open back up with live sports, concerts, and events.”

Some are wondering if attendees who contracted the virus did so at the conference or at outside activities.

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“It seems most people who went to the conference itself were fine. People who went to the clubs, not so much,” one person told CoinDesk. “Seems to be also people infecting coworkers rather than attendees affecting each other.”

Most respondents to CoinDesk’s inquiries into the covid-19 Bitcoin 2021 cases said that they had gone to Miami fully vaccinated.