South Dakota’s Republican Gov. Kristi L. Noem welcomed bikers from all over the country into the state in a tweet on Friday. Despite worries by health professionals that the state’s numbers would increase with large events, Noem happily first hosted Donald Trump’s Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration and plans to host more large events. “We hope people come,” Noem said when she spoke of the motorcycle rally, according to The Washington Post. “Our economy benefits when people come and visit us.”
According to the Argus Leader, more than $1 million in city and state tax revenue was brought in by the event hosted in Sturgis last year. During the rallies, Sturgis is described as “alive,” hosting “the largest community in the state,” a letter by the town Mayor Mark Carstensen said. Carstensen told CNN Monday that while “[w]e cannot stop people from coming,” the town can emphasize the importance of “personal responsibility.” He noted that sanitation stations and masks are available to be given out, but not required to be worn.
The state does not have any mandates requiring facial coverings. Noem has repeatedly supported the Trump administration’s downplaying of the severity of the virus and even resisted stay-at-home orders at the start of the pandemic. “We've been ‘Back to Normal’ for over 3 months, and South Dakota is in a good spot,” Noem said on Twitter. The numbers, however, seem to disagree. According to The Washington Post, while the average daily cases reported in the state remain under 100, they have risen in recent weeks. Without requiring masks or social distancing protocols, a surge in cases is likely to be seen.
"Those super spreader events are real," Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Lifespan Health System and associate professor at Brown University, told CNN. "We have reports from across the country of one person infecting 90 or 100 (people) or even more. And so if you have a few of those infections that start at Sturgis, people go back home and even have the potential to spread in their own communities." Ranney added that not all symptoms are visible and apparent. "This has the potential to seed new hotspots literally across the country," she said.
While Noem showed no concern over the risk of COVID-19 spread, not everyone in the town was happy to host the event. A survey was sent to all residents asking if they agreed to have the rally proceed on its scheduled date. While 60% of the fewer than 7,000 city residents voted against holding the event starting Friday, the city council approved it anyway. According to CNN, on its 75th anniversary, the event had close to 1 million people in attendance.
While this year’s event did not gather as many attendees as previous years, Kevin Lunsmann, a motorcyclist who has previously attended the rally, told the Associated Press that outside of a few people wearing masks, the event remained the same, with bars and nightclubs still full. According to the Argus Leader, the number of arrests and citations even increased. In addition to a fear of COVID-19 spread, residents experienced crashes and fears of drunk drivers on the road. During a 24-hour period from Saturday to Sunday, the Department of Public Safety reported 84 arrests for driving under the influence or drug-related offenses.
“We have to be here after they leave, and we’re not sure what they’re leaving,” a 65-year-old resident of Hill City, another small town flooded with bikers, told The Washington Post. She requested to remain anonymous for fear of backlash. “No masks, no social distancing,” she said. “I just wish other people would respect the locals a little bit more.” Regulations and confirmations on whether or not bikers from coronavirus-ridden states self-quarantined prior to attending the event or would be required to afterward were nonexistent.
Most attendees were not at all concerned about the virus, with some expressing more concern about driving etiquette, The New York Times reported. “My biggest concern is drivers — they just don’t pay attention to bikes. But I don’t know one person in a six-state radius who has had Covid. I think it is all just political,” Michael Brown, an attendee of the rally, told The Times. The event had both new and old bikers in attendance. “We got married here three years ago, so we come out here every year for our anniversary. Now we have a reason to come here every year,” Monica Hartman told The New York Times. “We have no concerns — if we are going to get sick, then we’ll get sick.”
Local town residents weren’t the only ones concerned with a potential outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Prior to the start of the event, authorities from the Cheyenne River Reservation announced they would deny access through the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation to prevent the potential spread of the pandemic, The Hill reported. While commercial energy and essential vehicles were allowed, tourists were not allowed to pass through the territory’s checkpoints. Since the start of the pandemic, Indigenous communities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, with previous healthcare obstacles present including limited access to water and an underfunded healthcare system.
Photos and videos of the weekend-long crowded gathering are being shared across social media platforms. In most videos, out of the hundreds of people shown, only one can be seen wearing a mask.
As of Aug. 9, at least 128 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in South Dakota. Having seen an increase in the last two weeks, the state now has an average of 93 cases per day, according to The New York Times database. While South Dakota has seen less than 10,000 cases of coronavirus statewide, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is likely to change this.
Nationwide more than 4.8 million people in the U.S. have been infected by the novel coronavirus. Until residents across the country observe safety measures, including wearing a mask and social distancing, the number of cases and deaths as a result of COVID-19 will continue to rise.
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