Masks, Assigned Seats, Lots Of Testing: RNC COVID-19 Protocols

CHARLOTTE, NC — A scaled-down Republican National Convention kicked off Friday in uptown Charlotte, marking the largest sanctioned event in the state since the pandemic began. The event, which is expected to draw 336 delegates, will run through Monday, when President Donald Trump will be formally renominated in a livestream event at the Charlotte Convention Center.

What takes place up until that point, however, won't look much like the traditional political parties held in the past. The RNC's decision to press forward with the limited in-person event stands in contrast to the Democratic National Convention's decision to conduct all of its business remotely. It means delegates swap days in a crowded arena for a laundry lists of regulations that include masks, boxed lunches, assigned seats and numerous rounds of testing for the COVID-19 virus.

“Our top priority continues to be the safety and health of all attendees, participating vendors, staff and the Charlotte community,” Max Everett, vice president and CIO of the 2020 RNC, said in a statement.

SEE ALSO: RNC Set To Begin In Uptown Charlotte: What You Need To Know

Even in its smaller format, the RNC meeting event is a big deal for the state and Charlotte metro area, which has been under restrictions for months amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"We are hosting the largest sanctioned event in Charlotte, and in North Carolina, since the onset of the pandemic, with about 350-400 attendees," Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said Friday.

A robust list of regulations for attendees was developed, accepted and approved by Mecklenburg County health officials, RNC officials, North Carolina State Health Director Elizabeth Cuervo Tilson and Gov. Roy Cooper's office.

"No gathering is risk-free, but we have multiple layers of risk reduction that will bring the risk level into hopefully into an acceptable level," Harris said.

According to Harris, the RNC health protocols for delegates, vendors and staff while in Charlotte include:

• A requirement that all attendees, vendors and staff wear masks while in indoor public spaces and outdoors when distancing cannot be maintained.
• All attendees have been tested seven days before the event and, if they tested positive, will not be attending. Attendees were also asked to observe enhanced social distancing for 14 days prior to travel to Mecklenburg County.
• All attendees will be retested for the COVID-19 virus upon arrival in Charlotte. A negative test result is required from the retest to be allowed in venues. If they test positive, they will be isolated "for the appropriate amount of time" in Mecklenburg County, Harris said.
• Charlotte community members and vendors expected to be in contact with attendees have also been tested for the COVID-19 virus. "To date, none of them have tested positive," Harris said.
• Daily symptom and temperature checks are required for anyone entering any of the venues. This rule includes all staff, vendors, hotel workers and attendees. Anyone failing those checks will not be allowed admittance.
• Anyone who is attending and exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms while in Charlotte will be isolated pending results of testing.
• In the event an attendee is in contact with someone who tests positive for the COVID-19 virus, they will be ordered by the county health director to quarantine in Mecklenburg County for 14 days.
• In the event an attendee tests positive, contact tracing will begin immediately.
• No seated food or beverage will be allowed. All food will be boxed or plated, and served directly to those in the convention venues.
• The number of people allowed in venues at one time will be limited.
• Attendees allowed into venues will be required to sit in assigned seats.
• No social gatherings will be allowed on-site that exceed the existing executive order limiting indoor gatherings to 10 individuals, and outdoor gatherings to 25.
• The RNC will follow up with attendees five, 14 and 21 days after the event concludes. Any positive cases will be relayed to Mecklenburg County health officials in order to facilitate contact tracing.
• Attendees and staff will have contacts monitored passively by technology used by the RNC in order to facilitate contact tracing should it become necessary.

Mecklenburg County health officials will also compile an "after action" report detailing health data from the event, such as any positive COVID-19 cases reported, Harris said.

"The only events and meetings that are approved to occur are the ones necessary to conduct the business to nominate a candidate," Harris said.

Whether Trump will physically be in Charlotte to accept the party's nomination has yet to be confirmed. Much of the more traditional convention program of speeches are expected to take place in Washington, D.C. As of Tuesday, Trump was planning to make his acceptance speech remotely from the South Lawn at the White House, USA Today reported.

SEE ALSO:

• 2020 RNC In Charlotte: How To Watch Trump's Renomination
• Aerial Radiation Measurements Planned For Charlotte Ahead Of RNC
• RNC Set To Begin In Uptown Charlotte: What You Need To Know