Tag: Sturgis

Sturgis rally linked to 15 Minnesota COVID-19 cases, including 1 hospitalization

“Thousands of people attended that event, and so it’s very likely that we will see more transmission,” said Kris Ehresmann, the state’s director of infectious diseases 

Fifteen Minnesotans who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this month have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, including one state resident hospitalized with COVID-19, state health officials say.

The Minnesota Department of Health received the first case report on Thursday and 14 more case reports on Friday, said Kris Ehresmann, the state’s director of infectious diseases, during a briefing Friday with reporters. Minnesotans who tested positive visited multiple campgrounds and bars at the South Dakota event, Ehresmann said, so cases apparently can’t be connected to any one location.

Seven residents of North Dakota also have cases connected to the Sturgis event, a government spokesman told the Star Tribune. Continue reading.

Covid cases are linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, but the full impact may never be known

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As hundreds of thousands flocked to rural South Dakota for a motorcycle rally this month, sparking fears of a coronavirus superspreader event, photos captured people crowding the streets without masks and packing local businesses in the city of Sturgis — including a bar on Main Street, One-Eyed Jack’s Saloon.

Now state health officials say a person who visited One-Eyed Jack’s for about five hours has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. So has an employee of the tattoo shop inside the bar who worked there from last Thursday through Monday. Both could have transmitted the virus to others at the time.

At a news conference Thursday, South Dakota health officials expressed little alarm about cases confirmed among rally attendees. Four days after the event finished, they said they are aware of fewer than 25 infections among people who attended in the 14 days before illness set in. Continue reading.