Sturgis bike rally revs back bigger, despite Covid variant
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Crowds of bikers are rumbling their way towards South Dakota’s Black Hills this week, raising fears that COVID-19 infections will be unleashed among the
700,000 people expected to show up at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
The rally, which starts Friday, has become a haven for those eager to escape coronavirus precautions. Last year, the rally hardly slowed down, with roughly 460,000 people attending. Masks were mostly ditched as bikers crowded into bars, tattoo parlors and rock shows, offering a lesson in how massive gatherings could spread waves of the virus across the country.
This year, the city is embracing the crowds.
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has given the rally her blessing and will appear in a charity ride. The event is a boon for tourism, powering over $800 million in sales, according to the state Department of Tourism. The rally is happening as other giant summer events — from state fairs to music festivals like Lollapalooza — are returning around the U.S.
In Wisconsin, health officials say nearly 500 coronavirus cases may be linked to the crowds (estimated as high as 100,000 one night) that attended Milwaukee Bucks games or gathered outside the team’s arena during their push to the NBA championship.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sturgis-bike-rally-revs-back-bigger-despite-covid-variant-n1276006
= new reply since forum marked as read
375,000-400,000 attended according to my friend in Chicago.
I don’t know how people do that, with or without a virulent disease on the roam.
Geez, how do you get to a bathroom if needed? 
Then I saw your screen name & laughed again. 
Not a ton of ways across it if you are riding back home to the east.
All motorcycle riders heading east after Sturgis is done should have to stop at the river for a COVID test.
