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A 10-Day Motorcycle Rally Caused 20% of US Coronavirus Cases; and Half a Million Children in the US Diagnosed with Covid-19.
20 percent of new coronavirus cases in the United States between Aug. 2 and Sept. 2 can be traced to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This is according to researchers from San Diego State University’s Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies.
The 10-day event, held in South Dakota, was attended by more than 460,000 people. This is despite fears that it could become a super-spreader event. As a result, more than 266,000 cases have been attributed to the rally.
“We conclude that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally generated public health costs of approximately $12.2 billion,” wrote the researchers in a paper. “This is enough to have paid each of the estimated 462,182 attendees $26,553.64 not to attend.”
Photographs from the event show that attendees largely ignored social distancing guidelines and rarely wore masks. They packed local businesses and bars and stood shoulder-to-shoulder during live performances.
The same researchers also studied the coronavirus spread tied to Black Lives Matter protests. However, they concluded that the protests were not as harmful to public health as feared.
“We conclude that predictions of population-level spikes in COVID-19 cases from Black Lives Matter protests were too narrowly conceived because of failure to account for non-participants’ behavioral responses to large gatherings,” wrote the researchers.
Related: Americans Will Wear Masks for ‘several years’, Says COVID-19 Expert
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association say that half a million US children have now been diagnosed with COVID-19. There has been a 16 percent increase in child cases over the past two weeks alone, bringing the total number of affected children to at least 513,415 cases.
“These numbers are a chilling reminder of why we need to take this virus seriously,” says Dr. Sally Goza, the American Academy of Pediatrics president.
“While much remains unknown about COVID-19, we do know that the spread among children reflects what is happening in the broader communities,” she said.
“A disproportionate number of cases are reported in Black and Hispanic children and in places where there is high poverty. We must work harder to address societal inequities that contribute to these disparities.”
Although fights broke out over toilet paper just a few months ago, the public quickly resumed normal social activities over the summer, which only encouraged the spread of COVID-19.
Related: Children at Risk: COVID-19 Causing Health Problems, Doctors Warn
