Over 100 COVID-19 Cases Across US Linked To Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

More than 100 confirmed COVID-19 cases across eight states in the US have been linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally held in South Dakota earlier in August. The 10-day event, which was held from August 7-16, 2020, was attended by hundreds of thousands of people, and many of the attendees did not wear masks and violated social distancing orders. According to South Dakota Department of Transportation, a total of over 4,60,000 vehicles arrived at this year's rally, down just 8 per cent from the roughly 5,00,000 vehicles at last year's rally.

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Many of the attendees at Sturgis did not wear masks or follow social distancing orders

Latest reports indicate that at least 103 new coronavirus cases are connected to this year's edition of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Host state South Dakota has reported 27 cases linked to the rally. While 25 were attendees, the other two were employees or volunteers at the event. Other states included North Dakota with 17 cases, Nebraska and Wyoming each with 7 cases, Montana with 5 linked cases, Wisconsin with 2 and Washington with 1, according to reports.

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Officials say the true impact of COVID-19 infections due to the Sturgis Rally can never be ascertained

Despite the health crisis across the US brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of bikers began arriving in Sturgis on August 7, ignoring warnings about the risk of mass gatherings. During the first weekend of the rally, thousands of attendees gathered in a massive crowd during a performance by Smash Mouth, a rock band. Before the beginning of the rally, a survey of Sturgis residents reported more than 60 per cent of respondents preferring the event be postponed. But local authorities decided to go ahead with the week-long motorcycle rally anyway, because many bikers from around the US were going to turn up, regardless of whether the rally was officially announced or not.

The United States is leading the number of COVID-19 infected people around the world, with over 5.9 million people testing positive as of August 27, 2020. More than 1,80,000 people in the US have died of COVID-19 so far.