Despite the social distancing guidelines of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which say that people in large gatherings should wear face masks and try to stay at least six feet away, there are hundreds of Folding black plastic seats tied together with plastic ties at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Amphitheater, where President Trump is expected to attend, speak and see a fireworks show tonight.
“Folding chairs at an event like this must be linked by code, according to a public safety official involved in the event, “a public safety official tells CNN.” In an emergency, such as a fire or storm event or anything else that would cause people to move quickly, the flanges would ensure that the chairs do not tip over easily or fly onto exit roads, moving an entire row of chairs, in one or two place. Also, zipped chairs cannot be used as a weapon. “
Most of the on-site attendees who have arrived so far have not been wearing facials.
There are also tiered seats on-site, which means that many spectators at the event won’t have to sit in seats that are linked together.
Some background: The 7,500 tickets for the event are lower than the typical visitor flow during the high summer season. On normal days, 28,000 to 32,000 visitors come to Mount Rushmore over a 10-hour period. Amid the pandemic, the park never closed, but visits were reduced to about 20,000 people, said Maureen McGee-Ballinger, head of interpretation and education at Mount Rushmore.
South Dakota coronavirus cases currently remain stable, according to Johns Hopkins University data, with 6,893 confirmed cases and 97 deaths as of Thursday, but how many attendees will travel from other states remains to be seen. Thirty-six states are experiencing an increase in new cases.
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