"Host has Joined"

I attempted to join a previously scheduled meeting where notice was posted the meeting was canceled.

After entering the meeting number and passcode the following statement appeared on the screen:

"Host has joined. We've let them know you're here"

I waited about 30 minutes and was not accepted to the meeting.

I interpret this to mean there was a meeting in progress, or at least the host had opened the meeting for participants.

Is that true?  Or is the "Host has joined" statement a boiler plate response and nobody is really on the other end?