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(CNN) -
Peter McGinn was beginning to feel drained.
It was his last day in New York.
It had been four exciting days, meeting for the first time in person with the friends he had made online during the pandemic.
They explored the busy streets of New York together and watched anime exhibits at the Anime NYC convention.
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"During the time I was there, I was walking everywhere in New York City. Personally, I thought I was exhausted from walking a lot, sleeping little and eating quite poorly," McGinn said.
"I thought all of that was getting to me."
McGinn didn't think twice about his fatigue until he returned home to Minnesota on November 22.
Later that day, she received a text message from a group of people she had spent time with in New York.
They sent a text message to the group saying they had covid-19.
McGinn took a quick home test the next day and tested positive.
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"He had very mild symptoms."
McGinn said.
"If it weren't for someone in my group alerting me that I had tested positive, I honestly would have thought I had a cold."
McGinn's covid-19 diagnosis was confirmed with a PCR test and laboratory results revealed that he was infected with the recently identified variant of the omicron coronavirus.
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Now he wants to be a "resource" for the public and public health, and stresses that if he had not been fully vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine and had a Moderna booster shot, he could have had a disease. More serious.
People in costume attend Anime NYC at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York on November 20, 2021.
"The main reason I wanted to speak up and be a resource was because of the unknown of the new variant," McGinn said.
"I've been working with the Minnesota Department of Health in terms of tracing the contacts I was with in New York City."
Among the 30 people McGinn said he was in New York with, 15 in total, counting, tested positive for COVID-19, and all of them had mild symptoms, except for one who, according to McGinn, "had a bad day. "but it did not require hospitalization.
Only one person other than McGinn has been confirmed to be infected with the omicron variant, but McGinn said that when he spoke to health officials they told him that it is highly likely that everyone who tested positive was infected with the variant.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have so far contacted more than 35,000 people who attended a recent anime convention in New York.
The agency is encouraging these anime enthusiasts to get tested for COVID-19.
The CDC has joined investigations into the possible spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus at the Anime NYC 2021 convention held last month, helping to trace contacts among the tens of thousands of convention attendees, the director of the convention said. CDC Dr. Rochelle Walensky during a virtual briefing at the White House on Tuesday.
The convention took place at the Javits Center from November 18-22.
These contact tracing efforts, possibly the largest in the country involving the omicron variant, could provide clues as to how easily and quickly this variant can spread.
"Of the 53,000 people who attended the conference, more than 35,000 have been contacted to encourage all attendees to get tested," Walensky said.
"The data from this investigation will likely provide some of the first clues in this country about the transmissibility of the variant."
The Minnesota Department of Health announced last week that it had identified the country's second case of covid-19 caused by the omicron variant in a resident who recently traveled to New York and attended the Anime NYC 2021 convention from November 19-21. .
The first case from the United States, also announced last week, was identified in California and health officials hope to find more cases of the variant as genetic sequencing continues across the country.
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"Recently, the CDC is assisting the Minnesota and New York Departments of Health with research among attendees at a recent New York Anime convention and have now reached out to all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington City and others. 27 countries with residents who attended to inform them of this ongoing investigation, "Walensky said Tuesday.
Last week, following the identification of the omicron variant in the Minnesota man who traveled to New York City and attended the anime convention, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio encouraged attendees to get tested for covid -19 ASAP.
"We must assume that there is a community spread of the variant in our city," de Blasio said in a statement at the time.
He added that the convention required the use of masks and vaccination.
McGinn said he felt safe at the conference and that about 99.9% of the people he saw were wearing masks, but added that the convention only required that people have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The convention website states: "You can attend immediately after your first dose."
McGinn, who said he would be attending the convention again, said next time he hopes the event will require attendees to be fully vaccinated, which means they must wait two weeks after having completed two doses of the covid vaccines. 19 from Pfizer or Moderna or a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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Organizers of the Anime NYC convention wrote in a statement last week that they are "actively working with officials from the New York City Department of Health."
Organizers noted that all convention attendees should receive emails or phone calls from their local health departments or the New York City Testing and Tracking Corps, which conducts testing and contact tracing, with more information.
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