Iron horse bike rally and music festival

In the three weeks since the rally kicked off, coronavirus cases in South Dakota have shot up at a startling pace. Health officials across five states have linked 178 virus cases to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. 15, 2020 file photo, Bikers ride down Main Street during the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, S.D. The city of Sturgis also downplayed the virus numbers, issuing a statement that blamed the increase in positivity rate on a вЂњsignificant increase in testing performed to proactively reduce the spread of COVID-19вЂі and accusing вЂњindividuals in the national mediaвЂќ of mischaracterizing the event. He also pointed out that Meade CountyвЂ™s vaccination rate of 45% lags behind the statewide rate of 56% eligible people vaccinated. The aftermath of this yearвЂ™s rally looksВ eerily similar to last yearВ - when the event heralded a wave that did not subside until the winter.Д«ut the pandemic fallout from the rally wonвЂ™t be seen for weeks and an exact case count will likely remain unknown, Osterholm said.Дaniel Bucheli, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, said the virus spike is following вЂњa national trend being experienced in every state, not just South Dakota.вЂќ Some health officials noted people could have caught the virus elsewhere.ДЄ team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined last yearвЂ™s rally looked like a вЂњsuperspreader event.вЂќВ The team said the event offered a lesson: Such large gatherings can result in вЂњwidespread transmissionвЂќ of infections and attendees should follow precautions like getting vaccinated, wearing masks and social distancing. Health officials in North Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota and Wisconsin all reported cases among people who attended the rally, with North Dakota also reporting two hospitalizations. вЂњIt will find you, and itвЂ™s so infectious.вЂќ вЂњThis coronavirus forest fire will keep burning any human wood it can find,вЂќ he said. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of MinnesotaвЂ™s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. However, Meade County could be a harbinger of things to come for the Upper Midwest as infections ripple from those events, said Dr. Virus cases were already on the rise when the rally started, and itвЂ™s difficult to measure just how much the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is to blame in a region where local fairs, youth sports leagues and other gatherings have resumed. The hospital was bracing for more COVID-19 patients by converting rooms to intensive care units and reassigning staff.ДЄuthorities record 4 fatalities during Sturgis rally arrests for drugs, drunken driving down The Black Hills regionвЂ™s largest hospital system, Monument Health, warned Friday that it has seen hospitalizations from the virus rise from five to 78 this month.

The county reported the highest rate of cases in the state over the last two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. The epicenter of the rally, Meade County, has become red-hot with new cases, reaching a per capita rate that is similar to the hardest-hit Southern states. While it is not clear how much rallygoers spread the virus through secondary infections, state health officials have so far reported 63 cases among South Dakota residents who attended the event. In the three weeks sinceВ the rally kicked off, coronavirus cases in South DakotaВ have shot up at a startling paceВ - sixfold from the early days of August.

(AP) - Rumbles from the motorcycles and rock shows of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally have hardly cleared from the Black Hills of South Dakota, and the reports of COVID-19 infections among rallygoers are already streaming in - 178 cases across five states, according to contact tracers.

Iron horse bike rally and music festival