A CNN reporter interviewing a nurse at the Democratic National Convention last week made a blanket statement that Americans would put COVID-19 behind them.

“Four years ago, this would have been a superspreader event,” she said in the live interview, waving her arm to indicate the thousands of people crowded into the United Center.

But just days after the four-day event in Chicago, dozens of people posted photos on social media of positive COVID-19 tests in their homes.

For the vast majority of vaccinated people, official figures say, contracting COVID-19 is more like a bad cold than a life-threatening disease that has killed more than a million people in the United States.

The virus is no longer a public health crisis and annual vaccinations are expected to keep infections – and more importantly, hospitalizations and deaths – under control.

But even as a new COVID-19 vaccine rolls out, the DNC, which drew tens of thousands of people to the city, is a reminder that the virus is still highly contagious and poses a real risk of infection for people in large crowds.

How many people have contracted COVID-19 since the congress?

“Too many. I can’t even put a number on it,” said Ronnie Reese, communications director for Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Reese said he ended the week with a croaky voice after a grueling, hectic schedule with long days during Congress. He said he had no symptoms and had not tested positive for the virus.

Anthony Driver Jr., executive director of the Illinois State Council of the Service Employees International Union, said he knows of at least 14 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 since attending the convention.

Officially, there are no numbers and there won’t be. Many people diagnose themselves with tests at home. Since the incubation period of the virus is up to two weeks, many people from other cities may be feeling symptoms right now.

City and state health officials are focusing primarily on deaths and hospitalizations, which have dropped dramatically since the peak of the pandemic. While there has been some increase in hospitalizations in recent weeks, the numbers are still very low, health officials say.

For many people who were vaccinated last fall, it is now time for the new vaccine. And it is important that they get it because the virus has actually mutated into a new, effective form.

“The virus continues to change and learn to adapt,” said Erin Newcomer, a genomic epidemiologist at Rush University System for Health. “It could be a relatively more contagious variant than the one we had last fall.”

The current virus can spread quickly because the latest version of the COVID vaccine was not designed to protect against the mutated form.

“Like much of the country, we have seen an increase in COVID hospitalizations over the past few weeks and they now account for just over 2% of (hospital) admissions,” said Michael Claffey, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Public Health. “We have not seen an increase in respiratory illnesses associated with the DNC.”

He added that the overall respiratory virus burden in the state is at a “minimal level.”

“While it is not surprising that some people tested positive for COVID-19 during the week at an event of this magnitude, there is no evidence to date that an outbreak has occurred,” the Chicago Health Department said in a statement.

A program launched during the pandemic to analyze wastewater to predict future outbreaks is not only investigating COVID-19 infections, but also keeping an eye on other viruses and bacteria that may be of concern to health authorities.

“Serious illness is clearly more of a concern today than the total number of infections,” says Rachel Poretsky, a scientist at the University of Illinois Chicago who conducts wastewater analyses.

Convention organizers have not been informed of any reports or concerns about COVID-19 cases, said Christy George, executive director of the DNC host committee.

Contributors: Tina Sfondeles, Violet Miller