Sturgis Bike Rally, Which Included Trapt, Buckcherry, Drowning Pool, and Fozzy, Linked to New COVID-19 Cases

This month’s 80th annual Sturgis Buffalo Chip Rally, which took place in Sturgis, South Dakota, has been linked to at least seven new cases of COVID-19 in the region, the Panhandle Public Health District tells NBC News.

The ten-day motorcycle rally, which reportedly drew more than 460,000 vehicles, included performances by Buckcherry, Trapt, Fozzy, Drowning Pool, Quiet Riot, Smash Mouth, Adelitas Way, Saving Abel, and Night Ranger. Festival goers were not required to wear masks or practice social distancing. Photos from the rally, like the one above, show that most attendees did, indeed, fail to take proper precautions against the spread of the coronavirus.

According to a report by KSTP:

“The state’s health department has received reports from other states that people who traveled from the rally have tested positive, state epidemiologist Josh Clayton said. Contact tracers have been able to work with most people to determine who they were around and may have infected. But the health department has issued public warnings for two bars in the region because they were not able to track all of the people at the bars who may have been exposed to the coronavirus.

“Sturgis is planning to conduct mass testing of its residents next week in an attempt to stem a possible outbreak of infections from the rally.”

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Dakota had already been on the rise prior to the event.

Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell told the crowd at one point, “We’re all here together tonight. Fuck that COVID shit.” But “A representative for the group” has told NBC that “the band had no further comment.” 

[via Metal Injection]