Aftermath of the Sturgis SD Motorcycle Rally

The Quarantine Zone
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Holy shit!

Meade County, where the city of Sturgis is located, is adding an average of 29 new Covid cases a day and neighboring Lawrence County 17 a day…
…
Meade County has the second-sharpest rise in Covid cases of any county in the U.S. compared to two weeks ago… with a 1,233% increase in cases.

Lawrence County is third in the U.S., with a 1,120% increase in cases…

Hospitalizations have also surged more than 200% in the two counties…

The testing positivity rate during the week of August 13 to August 19 was extraordinarily high in Meade County at 33.3%, while Lawrence County’s rate was also above 25%.

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The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally attracted massive crowds from August 6 to August 15 that packed the small town, which had no capacity restrictions, no mask mandates and a population vaccinated at a far lower rate than the U.S. as a whole. Only 38% of Meade County is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, while the overall U.S. rate is 51.5%.

And suddenly I feel less bad for the people of Sturgis…