On Friday, as the Daytona Bike Week 2020 was in full swing, reports came out saying that a biker arriving from New York had tested positive for the COVID-19. The news cast shadow over the fate of remaining days of the event.
Late on Friday, the Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry said the biker in question had never arrived at the biking event. Still, Volusia County had 5 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 20 more people in quarantine, presumed to have been infected.
As such, he issued a 7-day emergency declaration, pulling city-issued permits for outdoor events, canceling a few events, and urging people to avoid gatherings larger than 100 people and to practice social distancing. Bike Week was not among the canceled events, but permits for the outside tents and bars were revoked.
“By taking away that permit, it discourages that kind of congregation,” Henry explained. “This is an extraordinary time. This is probably the most pronounced way to make that statement.”
Despite the Mayor’s recommendation for social distancing, bikers in attendance chose to still go out and have their fun. The Daytona Beach News-Journal says that business was as usual on Saturday, while ClickOnOrlando was at the scene with footage confirming it.
Harley-Davidson was the official bike of the event, so all the official and affiliate HD shops remained open and all the shows (including a stunt show to benefit the veterans) still went ahead as scheduled. Their tents were gone by Saturday, when the emergency order went into effect, though.
Also gone was every other white tent. That meant that all the outdoor shops selling merchandise, food and beverages, and assorted bike stuff, were shut down, and everyone was forced in closed rooms: shops, barber shops, bars and restaurants.
Bikers interviewed by ClickOnOrlando (see the second video at the bottom of the page) said they weren’t scared by the new coronavirus or willing to “stop having fun” because authorities told them so. “Nobody can ever tell you what tomorrow is going to bring or next week is going to bring. Just take it day by day and do what you want to do,” one explained.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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