N.Y. Man Hospitalized With COVID-19 After Attending GOP Club's 'Covid Conga Line' Party

Josephine Harvey
·Reporter, HuffPost
Updated ·3 min read

A New York man has been hospitalized with COVID-19 after attending an indoor holiday party hosted by a local Republican club that made headlines earlier in December, the Queens Daily Eagle reported Wednesday.

James Trent, chair of an affiliate club, reportedly began experiencing symptoms of infection two days after attending the Dec. 9 event. He is recovering at the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset on Long Island, and said he would be discharged Thursday morning.

Trent expressed surprise he caught the virus after the bash because he “wasn’t doing anything risky,” he told the Eagle.

“I wasn’t on the conga line. I ate by myself,” he said. “I don’t know how I got this.”

In a viral video from the Whitestone Republican Club’s party, more than a dozen people were seen dancing a conga line without masks or social distancing. Both the club and the owner of the venue, an Italian restaurant called Il Bacco, insisted they followed COVID-19 guidelines that were in place at the time.

Trent is chairman of the Queens Village Republican Club. He could not be reached by HuffPost for comment.

Asked if he regretted attending the party, Trent told the Eagle that it was a “wonderful time and a great party, but I’m not happy I got sick.”

Another couple that went to the party has also tested positive, according to the Eagle.

In response to a request for comment, the Whitestone Republican Club directed HuffPost to a Dec. 31 Facebook post in which they defended their right to “personal liberties” and praised President Donald Trump for the rollout of vaccines.

The club said it was aware of only one COVID-19 infection among the party’s attendees, and wished Trent a speedy recovery.

The event was held five days before New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) shuttered indoor dining amid an explosion in COVID-19 cases in the state and nationwide. New York has had a mask mandate in place for public settings since April.

A City Hall official said last week that the party would result in “significant fines” and that “we’re looking at both the group that held the event and the establishment that hosted it.”

Cuomo also addressed the video, saying the “covid conga line” was “not smart.”

Under fire, the club posted statements on Facebook last week denying wrongdoing and accusing the media and Cuomo of overreacting.

“We are not the mask police, nor are we the social distancing police,” the statement said. “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.”

This story has been updated to reflect the Whitestone Republican Club’s Dec. 31 Facebook post.

Related...

New York Republican Club Faces Backlash For 'Covid Conga Line' At Restaurant

Second Case Of New COVID-19 Variant Suspected In Colorado

Elderly Florida Residents Camp Out Overnight In Line For COVID-19 Vaccine

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.