Covid 19 coronavirus: 'Naughty in N'awlins' swingers event in US officially a Covid-19 superspreader

The swingers convention went ahead despite a Covid-19 surge in the state. Photo / Instagram

Straight out of the "how did you not see this coming?" files, a swingers convention in New Orleans in mid-November has now reached superspreader status, with dozens testing positive for coronavirus after attending.

So far 41 out of 250 people who attended "Naughty in N'awlins" have returned a positive Covid-19 test and officials have now categorised it as a "superspreader event".

The convention went ahead a couple of weeks ago despite the state of Louisiana experiencing a surge of Covid cases at the time.

Bob Hannaford, one of the event organisers, said one of the attendees who tested positive is in a serious condition in hospital.

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"If I could go back in time, I would not produce this event again," Hannaford wrote in a blog post.

"I wouldn't do it again if I knew then what I know now. It weighs on me and it will continue to weigh on me until everyone is 100 per cent better," he added.

Hannaford said the event organisers enforced social distancing guidelines and kept diaries for contact tracing purposes.

Despite this, dozens of attendees went on to contract the virus.

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The event organiser believes this outcome was due to complacency towards the end of the multi-day convention.

"When we contacted the people that were positive, we asked them several questions to find more potential positive cases and try to find out where the biggest risks took place," he said.

"In almost every case, they admitted to us that they were super diligent on the first two days [Wednesday and Thursday] and then they relaxed a little on Friday and then they said 'F**k it, it's our last day' and many admitted that their lax effort on that final day is probably why they ended up positive," he added.

City protocols dictate "no dancing" so organisers did not install a dance floor, Hannaford said.

"But you see, I saw Footloose, so I knew that you couldn't really outlaw dancing," he added.

"But seriously, there never was a packed dancefloor like most of our events.

"People bounced and moved by their tables, and even though people were more spread out, I saw a lot more eye contact and positive acknowledgment of short flirts and teases."