Provincetown isn’t a place known for social distancing.
People flock there from all over the country and the world to be a part of a summer-long party. It’s one of the premiere LGBTQ tourist destinations in the United States, and it swells with music, parades, sweaty clubs, packed restaurants, and a central thoroughfare that can get so clogged with pedestrians, cyclists, and runners that it’s difficult to stay six inches apart from others, let alone six feet.
That perfect holiday atmosphere, set along the pristine beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore, has helped the town of 3,000 pull in more than $200 million in tourism revenue annually. But what makes Provincetown so successful is also what makes it vulnerable to the coronavirus. That threat holds a special danger because the average age of residents is close to 60 and many are immuno-compromised.