When officials in South Dakota allowed the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis to go on with virtually no coronavirus precautions, any rational person knew bad news wouldn’t be far behind.
And so the inevitable is coming to pass: States are beginning to report cases of COVID-19 stemming from the rally.
Media reports last week showed that at least 12 states had reported cases connected to Sturgis. The number of people infected had surpassed 260, and the first known COVID-19 death from the event occurred in Minnesota last week.
Given that the 10-day rally drew some 400,000 people, those numbers may not sound that bad. But epidemiologists say the actual number is likely much higher. Limited contact-tracing ability in some states is artificially reducing the case numbers, they say. Plus, there was a strong thread of disdain in the crowd for testing and other safety measures.
And no doubt, the numbers are going to go higher. That’s what happens when you get hundreds of thousands of people flouting basic public health standards during a pandemic by crowding into bars, shops and campgrounds in a tiny town. If you’ve ever been to the rally, you know that social distancing would be practically impossible. Bikes are parked handlebar-to-handlebar for blocks, and the sidewalks and buildings are packed.
Worse yet, officials in South Dakota took a wild-west approach on the event that only emboldened participants not to wear masks, distance themselves or, better yet, just skip the trip for a year.
That brought out a crowd heavy on “no-mask” types who see personal protective equipment as a symbol of oppression, and business closures as government overreach. Contrast that with Las Vegas, where the sheer size of the resorts allow people to spread out, where properties are under mandate to provide distancing and practice good sanitation, and where visitors and staff are expected to wear masks.
And speaking of contrasts, Las Vegas’ biggest biker event — the annual BikeFest week — would be right around the corner if the organizers hadn’t done the responsible thing and canceled it this year. It’s only a fraction of the size of the Sturgis rally, at about 30,000 participants annually, but pulling the event this year will keep a lot of people safe here and beyond. The event draws bikers from across the country.
Hopefully, the aftermath of the superspreader event in Sturgis will help convince the no-maskers that they’re misguided.
Let’s state this for the umpteenth time: Wearing a mask helps keep others from contracting the disease, and also benefits the wearer by reducing the viral load upon infection. That gives the immune system a better chance of contending with the virus early on without becoming overloaded, which can make the difference between getting a mild case and being hospitalized.
Meanwhile, business closures and capacity mandates reduce the spread and ease pressure on medical facilities.
Neither closures nor PPE are the tools of some takeover of our democracy. Period.
The cruel irony of the Sturgis rally this year is that it was promoted as a celebration of American freedom and individual liberties. But in actuality, it was an assault on social responsibility.
Who knows how many participants were infected, and how many of their family members, friends, co-workers, etc., will suffer COVID-19 via contact with them?
Ask those unwitting victims how free they feel about the rights of individuals versus the responsibility to protect others. We’re guessing they’ll fall on the side of taking precautions to keep our fellow citizens safe.
Meanwhile, here’s hoping that as the case numbers rise, common sense will kick in and Sturgis will be the last mass-population event for the foreseeable future. If that happens, at least one good thing will come out of the rally.