The US will top over 7,000,000 cases some time tomorrow.
We have 4.2% of the world's population, and 22.4% of the world's COVID-19 cases.
- New Cases: 42,533
- New Deaths: 657
‘We’re Not Scared’: Tens of Thousands of Motorcyclists Pack Lake of the Ozarks for Bike Rally
Motorcycle enthusiasts have descended on Lake of the Ozarks for the annual Bikefest, potentially turning the Missouri tourist destination into a COVID-19 hotspot
Along the Bagnell Dam Strip in the heart of the Lake of the Ozarks, thousands of motorcycles are tightly parked in the middle of a two-lane highway.
Tourists from across the country have been cutting loose along the historic stretch, known as the “main party hub” of the Missouri resort area, for months—but over the last three days, the highway lined with bars, hotels, and concert venues has been home to one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the Midwest: Lake of the Ozarks’ Bikefest.
Tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts have flooded the area for the annual rally, which started Wednesday, participating in five days of rides, fairs, music concerts, and coordinated stops at local bars and restaurants.
In one video from Thursday night, hundreds of patrons—most maskless—could be seen crowding into the strip’s bars and restaurants, clearly flouting federal social distancing recommendations. And Bikefest is not the only gathering at the lake this weekend. Hundreds are expected to show their support for President Trump at a boat parade taking place across the 92-mile-long lake.
“There are thousands of bikes here. A lot of people here—this weekend there will be even more people,” Dan Ousley, a 51-year-old local who has participated in Bikefest for years, told The Daily Beast. “It’s great to see. Honestly, I think that the COVID-19 thing is a little overblown, to be honest. We made national news for having large crowds, but we just want to live our life.”
Ousley, who is hosting a 15-mile “Bikefest-Trump parade” ride on Saturday that is expected to attract a couple hundred participants, admitted that local residents are “not real big on masks here,” because they don’t want to “infringe on anyone’s rights.”
“Around here, if people don’t want to go out and want to stay home, that’s totally fine. We’re all about freedom here,” he said. “We did the whole stay-at-home order thing and enough’s enough. People have to live and feed their families and life goes on.”
Health experts, however, are concerned that Bikefest, which was attended by 125,000 bikers last year, and the Trump boat parade will lead to a surge in the already fast-growing number of COVID-19 cases in Missouri, a state that even the White House has deemed in danger.
“For mass gatherings like this bike rally, it is very unlikely people are going to social distance. People are going to congregate from all over the country, and it will likely spur a chain of transmissions that has impacts in various different states,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who specializes in infectious diseases, told The Daily Beast. “It will be a major task for public health officials because it is very difficult to track this mobile population.”
The rally comes just weeks after the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, a 10-day event that attracted nearly a half-million visitors. The August gathering has since been deemed a coronavirus “super-spreader” event that infected hundreds and killed at least one biker.
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Since the state lifted its coronavirus restrictions in June, Missouri has seen COVID-19 cases climb. According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, 1,780 residents have died from the coronavirus and 110,129 more have been infected.
Now among the top 10 states for cases per capita, Missouri is currently battling a daily positive COVID-19 test rate of about 11 percent and an average of 1,000 new cases each day. The state, which does not have a mask mandate and has left all public health decisions up to local officials, has also seen record daily hospitalizations over the last week, according to data from the Missouri Hospital Association.
“As the number of COVID-19 cases in our community continues to climb, we again face a stark truth: This pandemic is not just happening somewhere else—it’s happening here,” CEO Dane Henry of Lake Regional Health System wrote in a July letter.
“Although many are wary of the national coverage and political debate about COVID-19, the fact is there are things you can and should do to protect yourself, your family, and others. Here’s why—we are now seeing widespread COVID-19 cases in each of the counties Lake Regional serves, as well as a recent uptick in the number of patients hospitalized with, and dying from, this illness.”
The rising number of cases has also put Missouri on the White House’s radar, according to a September report by the administration’s Coronavirus Task Force. The task force recommended that bars and some dining establishments be restricted in counties marked as “yellow” or “red” zones,” where there are higher rates of transmission.
The White House also recommended a mask mandate for Missouri—which Gov. Mike Parson publicly rejected.
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