It is true that the number of new COVID-19 cases has increased nearly sevenfold in the past month - from fewer than 12,000 per day in late June to nearly 80,000 in late July - but the number of deaths from the disease has not seen a correspondingly large spike. Meanwhile, the media seem intent on ignoring the fact that the “surge” of new COVID-19 cases they so breathlessly report hasn’t been accompanied by a significant rise in the death toll from the virus. Making the Provincetown “Bear Week” outbreak the basis of national policy is obviously foolish, but the White House press corps isn’t badgering Jen Psaki with questions about this bizarre situation.
It was really a week-long orgy of anonymous “intimacy” among thousands. Those Americans who get their news from ABC (or CBS, NBC, CNN, etc.) have no idea what a petri dish of behavior gave rise to this outbreak that inspired the CDC to change its guidance. It was a muggy, viral heaven in a classic post-plague burst of bacchanalia.” A big swathe of the crowd had also just come from a week of Pride partying in New York City and were likely not, shall we say, at their immunological best. It might have been designed for viral transmission.
One bar in particular - the home for a dance party with the inspired name of “Fag Bash” - resembles a kind of dank dungeon where sweat drips from the ceiling and mold reaches up the walls. A tiny town built for a few thousand residents has to absorb up to 40,000 in peak season. In Fourth of July week, the town was completely swamped this year, followed swiftly by Bear Week lines for the bars lasted for blocks the bars themselves were packed the weather was dreadful, forcing most of the crowd to pack tightly inside. “Is Provincetown our future? Count me skeptical. There was also a blunt appraisal of the outbreak from columnist Andrew Sullivan, a gay man who actually lives in Provincetown: In a Twitter thread, he complained that “everyone is missing the horny bear in the room,” and noted that 85 percent of the patients in the Provincetown outbreak were male. The guy who blew the whistle on this media malpractice was gay rights activist Peter Staley. Without knowing that it involved thousands of hard-partying gay men, the news consumer lacks the context to properly understand this incident of widespread “breakthrough infections” (i.e., cases in those already vaccinated). It is perhaps unfair to single out ABC News for its deception - lying by omission - about the circumstances that spawned this outbreak in Massachusetts, since nearly all the major media outlets followed the same dishonest narrative. So this “Cape Cod beach outbreak,” to use the euphemism of that ABC News headline, was atypical to say the least, and certainly a poor test case to justify inflicting renewed mask mandates on the entire nation. All residents are now being asked to take additional precautions to help identify COVID-19 infections, and to prevent additional spread.Provincetown is to gay men what Mecca is to Muslims, and the annual week-long gathering of thousands of “bears” ( “a term used by gay men to describe a husky, large man with a lot of body hair,” per Urban Dictionary) who pack into crowded bars immediately follows the Fourth of July holiday. The city’s residents, who have traveled to Provincetown since the first of the month, are now being urged to get tested, regardless of vaccination status or symptoms, self-isolate, and avoid groups or gatherings for at least five days and until residents have received a negative COVID-19 test. The Boston Public Health Commission also announced that it too would issue guidance for recent Provincetown visitors, after officials identified at least 35 positive COVID-19 cases tied to the Cape cluster among Boston residents.
Provincetown covid outbreak verification#
Local officials are also now "strongly advising" venues with high density, where social distancing is not achievable, to enforce vaccine verification prior to admittance. All unvaccinated individuals, including children under the age of 12, are required to wear masks both outdoors in crowded areas where social distancing cannot be achieved and in public indoor spaces.
In light of the outbreak, officials in Provincetown have issued a new mask advisory, in which masks are now advised indoors where social distancing cannot be achieved.
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