Data: The COVID Tracking Project; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios
Many of America's COVID-19 spikes came on the heels of holidays, when friends and families gathered to celebrate. Could Super Bowl LV lead to another spike?
Celebrations: Thousands of fans celebrated throughout the night in the streets of Tampa, many of them without masks.
Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images
Rewind: The 49ers' loss to the Chiefs in last year's Super Bowl may have prevented the spread of the virus, per WSJ (subscription).
Celebrations would have been held if they'd won, and COVID-19 was already spreading in the Bay Area at the time. It didn't reach Kansas City until March.