PIKE COUNTY, Mo. — It was elbow-to-elbow at the Pike County Fair this weekend.
Videos online show hundreds of people packed in close for a country concert closing night of the 2020 Pike County Fair.
In the crowd, a few people appear to be wearing masks, but most are not. And in a pandemic, those are the right conditions for the virus to spread.
"It's a very tough virus, right, this is going to find ways to continue to spread. And the best way for this to spread is when lots of people get together in close proximity for a long time unmasked,” Dr. Steven Lawrence, an infectious disease expert with Washington University, said. “That's like fuel for spreading the fire of coronavirus"
Dr. Lawrence said outdoor concerts are definitely better than if the same event were held indoors, but it's still not enough with people this close for a long amount of time.
Fair organizers expected record crowds after other places called off similar gatherings.
“Oh yeah, Illinois was big at the fair and looking in the parking lot,” said photographer Loren Niemeyer “There was a lot of Illinois license plates. There was a few vendors, from Illinois too.”
Loren Niemeyer said she goes to the fair every year, but documented the 2020 event as a photographer. She said the week started slow — with the rain — but picked up for the weekend. She said the Friday and Saturday night events were full, with people next to one another.
“That was a pretty good crowd, Friday night was crazy good,” she said. “So that's the biggest I've seen for a while.”
But she said the videos only show one side of the multi-day event.
“You know, we had handwashing stations if you wanted to wash your hands. There was sanitizer everywhere,” she said. “There were signs, you know, please remain social distanced. And I think all the precautions were there.”
And as these videos circulate online, Dr. Lawrence said this event is certainly not unique. He said they're seeing the same thing across the country.
“You know, we've been through a whole lot and six months of everybody's very feeling cooped up and it's hard to you know, try to survive with this coronavirus but we can do it safely,” Dr. Lawrence said. “It just does take some sacrifices.”
So the best practices still include wearing a mask, washing your hands, and standing apart.
