S.F. host for huge fall health gathering

The American Public Health Association said Friday it would hold its annual meeting in San Francisco from Oct. 24 to 28, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The event, which usually draws more than 12,500 people, is the largest annual gathering of public health professionals. It is one of the only major gatherings scheduled in the city since the coronavirus erupted.

The group said it is “fully committed” to holding the event, along with a virtual option for attendees.

“We remain hopeful the COVID19 curve will have flattened by this summer to the point where people begin to feel comfortable traveling and meeting again. With so many of our members on the front lines of this pandemic, we know they will have important stories to tell and valuable information to share,” Anna Keller, the association’s director of convention services, said in a statement.

The group will follow health guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and state and local health authorities.

“Like everybody else, we’re being cautious,” Georges Benjamin, executive director of the group, said in an interview. “We’re not going to do anything that’s not safe, because we are the Public Health Association.”

The conference could switch to online only, but if there is adequate testing and contact tracing by October, the group plans to hold the event, Benjamin said. It’s more important than ever that public health officials come together, he said.

“The need to share this science with the field, and the learnings, in my view will save lives,”

“Like everybody else, we’re being cautious.”

Georges Benjamin, executive director, American Public Health Association

Benjamin said.

The meeting is one of 11 fall events booked at Moscone Center, said Joe D’Alessandro, CEO of San Francisco Travel, the city’s tourism bureau.

The sprawling convention center has been transformed by the pandemic. Its hallways and meeting rooms, once filled with business and tech conference attendees, are now occupied by the city’s Department of Emergency Management and a shelter for up to 200 homeless people.

The shift is a stunning change at a convention center that the city spent $551 million to expand and renovate and had seen recordhigh tourism in recent years.

The American Public Health Association is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has more than 25,000 members. It was founded in 1872. Benjamin said the group held its annual meeting during the 1918 Spanish flu.

The event’s exhibition portion is 64% sold out, and meeting registration opens July 1.