I worked as a cashier at one of the two Walmarts in Rapid City, SD last year, from summer to this January, between programming jobs. just before that (March—April sometime), my mom got covid, was incredibly sick for about ten days, and I took care of her during that time (while not wearing a mask except during an urgent care visit). South Dakota has never had a mask mandate. Walmart has a mask mandate for employees, but at least here in SD, they don't enforce it for customers. Rapid City is close to both Sturgis and Mt. Rushmore, and as such is a major tourism hub in the summer, especially during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
despite "poor mask-wearing form" (frequently worked with the mask being below my nose, so I could breathe while working), the predicted-to-be-apocalyptic nature of just how devastating the 2020 Sturgis Rally was supposed to be, the supposedly mass-fatality-inducing lack of state mask mandate, the supposedly significant outbreak caused by President Trump giving a speech at Mt. Rushmore on July 4th (with people traveling from all around the country to come see it), and me having literally taken care of a woman with covid for ten days while she had it... I have somehow avoided catching covid. I usually get sick all the time. I was the first case of H1N1 in the state a decade ago when I was (once again) working as a cashier at Walmart (& went to work with insufficient sleep due to preparing a D&D campaign for my friends the night before).
obviously anecdotes aren't evidence but I gotta say, I spent a year waiting for the supposed covidpocalypse to ravage South Dakota, especially the tourist-friendly Black Hills... and nothing significant happened, at all. many people have been sick and of course a few people have died, provably as a result of the 'vid... but overall, somehow, the pandemic has never significantly reared its head here, seemingly against all odds, given the rhetoric about the supposed importance of (now plural) mask-wearing, and my state's refusal to comply with official federal government recommendations
EDIT: should also mention that, for what it's worth, I did one PCR test for covid after visiting my mom, who had a very paranoid out-of-state friend over, and then a couple days later I caught a common cold. despite my insistence that this was a cold-ass cold and definitely not the 'vid, the friend demanded I get tested, as I was working in a "high-risk" "essential personnel" job (Walmart cashier), before she (friend) would commit to returning home as scheduled, as opposed to self-quarantining for two weeks. the test came back negative. the cold was gone in 72 hours.
despite "poor mask-wearing form" (frequently worked with the mask being below my nose, so I could breathe while working), the predicted-to-be-apocalyptic nature of just how devastating the 2020 Sturgis Rally was supposed to be, the supposedly mass-fatality-inducing lack of state mask mandate, the supposedly significant outbreak caused by President Trump giving a speech at Mt. Rushmore on July 4th (with people traveling from all around the country to come see it), and me having literally taken care of a woman with covid for ten days while she had it... I have somehow avoided catching covid. I usually get sick all the time. I was the first case of H1N1 in the state a decade ago when I was (once again) working as a cashier at Walmart (& went to work with insufficient sleep due to preparing a D&D campaign for my friends the night before).
obviously anecdotes aren't evidence but I gotta say, I spent a year waiting for the supposed covidpocalypse to ravage South Dakota, especially the tourist-friendly Black Hills... and nothing significant happened, at all. many people have been sick and of course a few people have died, provably as a result of the 'vid... but overall, somehow, the pandemic has never significantly reared its head here, seemingly against all odds, given the rhetoric about the supposed importance of (now plural) mask-wearing, and my state's refusal to comply with official federal government recommendations
EDIT: should also mention that, for what it's worth, I did one PCR test for covid after visiting my mom, who had a very paranoid out-of-state friend over, and then a couple days later I caught a common cold. despite my insistence that this was a cold-ass cold and definitely not the 'vid, the friend demanded I get tested, as I was working in a "high-risk" "essential personnel" job (Walmart cashier), before she (friend) would commit to returning home as scheduled, as opposed to self-quarantining for two weeks. the test came back negative. the cold was gone in 72 hours.