According to the Queen's Daily Eagle, another couple has now also tested positive.
Source: Complex
A New York resident has been hospitalized with COVID-19 after attending a Republican holiday party that went viral this month.
James Trent, chair of the affiliated Queens Village Republican Club, told the Queens Daily Eagle, he began experiencing flu-like symptoms just two days after attending the indoor, maskless Christmas party hosted by the Whitestone Republican Club. The event, which was held at Il Bacco restaurant in Queens, made headlines after a video of attendees forming a conga line began circulating on social media. Many slammed the GOP club for failing to adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols, such as social distancing and face coverings.
Trent told the Eagle he was surprised when he received a positive test result, as he was sure he "wasn't doing anything risky."
"I wasn’t on the conga line. I ate by myself," he explained from his room at the North Shore University Hospital. "I don’t know how I got this ... It was a wonderful time and a great party, but I’m not happy I got sick."
The Club issued a statement on their Facebook page that struck a defiant tone:
“Adults have the absolute right to make their own decisions, and clearly many chose to interact like normal humans and not paranoid zombies in hazmat suits,” said a statement on the club’s Facebook page on Dec. 22. “This is for some reason controversial to the people who believe it’s their job to tell us all what to do.”
https://www.facebook.com/WhitestoneRepublicans/posts/10158731660333948
the Whitestone Republican Club in NYC apparently held a Christmas party this year without a care in the world about COVID pic.twitter.com/mHzW86d9M7
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) December 21, 2020
