Herd Immunity

[timelets]

The Dakotas, no Sweden, are conducting the great natural experiment in COVID:

“Those who don’t want to wear a mask shouldn’t be shamed into wearing one,” wrote South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, in an opinion piece published in the Rapid City Journal last week. Hospital visits and caring for symptomatic people are times when masks are appropriate, she wrote.

Maggie Seidel, a senior adviser to Ms. Noem, said in an interview that the governor has no opinion on whether people should wear masks while in close proximity to others in public locations.
...

South Dakota’s positivity rate, as reported by Johns Hopkins University, is 46%. That is roughly double the 20% and 24% rate that Texas and Arizona, respectively, saw over the summer, prompting their Republican governors to close businesses such as bars while Texas also began requiring masks. It is on par with the positivity rate New York recorded in April, when testing was much more limited.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-is-worse-in-the-dakotas-now-than-it-was-in-the-springs-hot-spots-11604136600

The herd is being infected with the virus. The experiment will show whether they will get the immunity part too.