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17 COVID Cases Linked to 2021 Country Jam Colorado Festival

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Thirteen festival-goers as well as four staff members have officially been diagnosed with COVID-19 after they attended the Country Jam music festival in Mack, Colorado last month. Medical experts believe the area was a hotspot for the virus prior to the festival and worried that the three-day event could have accelerated the coronavirus spread. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment stated that there are now 50 active outbreaks identified and that the Country Jam outbreak was the second-largest. Country Jam Colorado, which takes place at Jam Ranch outside Mack, was originally canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic and recently announced this April that the festival would be back on Jun 24-26, 2021.

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Mesa County stated that they have more Delta variant cases in any County located in Colorado. The Center for Disease Control and state epidemiologists were on site prior to the festival beginning to investigate the cause. Colorado has one of the highest proportions of the Delta variant, according to Medical experts.

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"Westworld," an independent newspaper in Denver, reported that over 42% of vaccine-eligible adults have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine. Grand Junction "Daily Sentinel" reported a crowd of up to 24,000 each night during Country Jam, where country music headliners included Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, Toby Keith, Travis Denning, Tanya Tucker, and Ashley McBryde.

Health officials have yet to release the number of cases that were positive or the number of hospitalizations in total. At the fest, there were signs asking people to wear a mask, but it wasn't required if you had the vaccine. There was also a mobile vaccine clinic that according to the "Denver Post" was empty when they visited.

Prior to the 3-day country music festival, several health officials considered canceling the event, but reportedly thought it was too late. A social media announcement reassuring that the event would indeed happen led to a sale of 23,000 tickets. The Country Jam Colorado was formerly owned by Townsquare Media, but apparently, the festival organizers have yet to comment on the situation.

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