SIOUX FALLS, SD (AP) – Rumors of motorcycles and rock shows at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally have barely been removed from the Black Hills of South Dakota, and reports of COVID-19 infections among attendees at the rally are already being broadcast: 178 cases in five seconds according to contact plotters.
In the three weeks following the start of the rally, coronavirus cases in South Dakota have skyrocketed at an astonishing rate – six times since the first days of August. While it’s unclear to what extent protesters spread the virus through secondary infections, so far state health officials have reported 63 cases among South Dakota residents who attended the event.
The epicenter of the concentration, Meade County, has become hot with new cases, reaching a per capita rate similar to the most affected southern states. According to Johns Hopkins researchers, the county reported the highest case rate in the state in the past two weeks.
The largest hospital system in the Black Hills region, Monument Health, warned Friday that it has seen hospitalizations for the virus increase from five to 78 this month. The hospital was preparing more patients with COVID-19 by turning the rooms into intensive care units and reassigning staff.
Virus cases were already on the rise when the rally began and it is difficult to gauge how much the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is to blame in a region where local trade fairs, youth sports leagues and others have resumed.
However, Meade County could be a harbinger of things to come in the Western Midwest as infections occur from these events, said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Research Center. and University of Minnesota Infectious Disease Policy.
“This coronavirus forest fire will continue to burn all the human wood it can find,” he said. “He’ll find you and it’s very contagious.”
Health officials in North Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota and Wisconsin reported cases among people who attended the rally, and North Dakota also reported two hospitalizations. Some health officials noted that people may have caught the virus elsewhere.
A team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that last year’s rally appeared to be a “superextension event.” The team said the event offered a lesson: such large meetings can lead to a “widespread transmission” of infections and attendees should follow precautions such as getting vaccinated, wearing masks and socializing.
The aftermath of this year’s rally is very similar to last year – when the event announced a wave that did not subside until winter.
But the aftermath of the concentration pandemic will not be seen for weeks and the exact case count will likely remain unknown, Osterholm said.
Daniel Bucheli, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, said the rise of the virus follows “a national trend that is being experienced in every state, not just South Dakota.”
He also noted that the Meade County vaccination rate of 45% lags behind the state rate of 56% of eligible people vaccinated.
The city of Sturgis also downplayed the virus figures, issuing a statement blaming the increase in the positivity rate on a “significant increase in tests performed to proactively reduce the spread of COVID-19” and he accused “individuals in the national media” of erroneously characterizing the event.
Despite the most contagious delta variant, this year’s motorcycling test was even bigger than last year’s. More than 500,000 people showed up during the 10-day rally.
Sturgis streets are filled with rallies drawn to South Dakota’s libertarian rules – There was no need for motorcycle helmets, minimal clothing and body paint welcome and there were often no masks in sight. The bikers debuted in the bars and got involved in rock shows.
Two bands that performed at the rally have canceled the shows after the musicians fell with the virus. Corey Taylor, the Slipknot singer who had embarked on a solo tour, told fans he was “very, very sick” of COVID-19, though he didn’t say where he hired him.
“This is the worst I’ve ever been sick of in my life,” Taylor said in a Facebook video this week. “If I hadn’t been vaccinated, I shuddered at the thought of how bad it would have been.”