Can Half-a-Million Motorcyclists Practice Social Distancing?

Sure enough, the reports on the spread of COVID-19 cases, arising from the ten-day bacchanalia of motorcyclists in Sturgis, South Dakota, have now begun. More than a half-million likely attended, as the S.D. Department of Transportation reported around 462,000 vehicles going into Sturgis. The director of the Panhandle Public Health District in Nebraska so far has confirmed seven of their new cases to Sturgis, and Kristen Ehresmann, the director of Minnesota Department of Health Infectious Disease Division, has confirmed 15 cases from Sturgis and expects more. Two locations in Sturgis have already been identified: One-Eyed Jack’s Saloon on Main Street and Asylum Tattoo have already proven to have had infected attendees and/or employees. The Smash Mouth rock concert also lacked social distancing and masks. More reports are expected, as the hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists make their way back home over the last week.