Sheriff: Kick-off for Sturgis’ rally among the busiest in decades

The opening days of this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota were some of the busiest local officials say they’ve ever seen, even though experts warn the rally could lead to an increase in COVID-19 cases.

“There are more people here than in the 31 years I’ve been doing this,” Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin told the Rapid City Journal in an article published on Saturday.

According to Merwin, the sheriff’s office has received 104 calls for service since Friday, when the rally officially kicked off, mostly about traffic stops and accidents, nearly double the number of traffic calls it received on Friday. last year.

“I don’t know what it is this year, but it looks like people are in a rush to get here and are causing all kinds of traffic problems,” the sheriff said. “We ask the public to please follow our traffic laws and be safe there.”

Sturgis Police Chief Geody VanDewater told the Journal that 207 open container violations have been reported so far, including two arrests.

Experts have raised coronavirus concerns about the rally since before it began, particularly with the most contagious delta variant spreading across the United States.

Best White House Medical Advisor Antoine FauciAnthony FauciCNN’s Jim Acosta on the delta variant: “Why not call it the DeSantis variant?” Sunday Shows Sneak Peek: US Grapples With Rising COVID-19 Cases Reba McEntire Announces Groundbreaking COVID-19 PLUS Infection Sunday noted that he was “very concerned” about the potential for a further increase in cases in the South Dakota area.

“I mean, to me, it’s understandable that people want to do the kinds of things they want to do. They want their freedom to do it,” Fauci said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. “But there comes a time when you face a public health crisis that could involve you, your family, and everyone else, for something to replace what has to do exactly what you want to do.”

An analysis released the year determined that the Sturgis rally was linked to more than 266,000 cases of COVID-19. Government of South Dakota. Kristi noemKristi Lynn Noem Thousands of bikers descend on Sturgis amid fears of spreading Delta Noem to attend Sturgis charity run amid COVID-19 peak America’s pandemic of hypocrisy COVID PLUS (R) objected to the scan last year, saying it was “fiction.” Noem is expected to attend the motorcycle rally this year.

According to the South Dakota Department of Health, about 60% of the state’s total population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.