Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota as more Americans attend large gatherings this year following last year's coronavirus lockdowns.
The rally kicked off Friday and will last over 10 days with 700,000 people expected to attend. The event was widely criticized as a "superspreading event" last year amid the pandemic, when about 460,000 people attended.
Some state officials have urged caution on the gathering, in light of the delta variant of the virus, but have said the rally can be done "safely" with "proper precautions."
Anytime you have a large group of people come together there are risks, but with the proper precautions and mitigation practices, it can be done safely," Daniel Bucheli, director of communications at the South Dakota Department of Health, told USA TODAY.
"We’ve come a long way since this time last year in what we know about COVID-19, with widely available testing and COVID-19 vaccines available to the public," Bucheli said. "We encourage all those attending to continue observing mitigation risk strategies and make the choice to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others."
www.foxnews.com
The rally kicked off Friday and will last over 10 days with 700,000 people expected to attend. The event was widely criticized as a "superspreading event" last year amid the pandemic, when about 460,000 people attended.
Some state officials have urged caution on the gathering, in light of the delta variant of the virus, but have said the rally can be done "safely" with "proper precautions."
Anytime you have a large group of people come together there are risks, but with the proper precautions and mitigation practices, it can be done safely," Daniel Bucheli, director of communications at the South Dakota Department of Health, told USA TODAY.
"We’ve come a long way since this time last year in what we know about COVID-19, with widely available testing and COVID-19 vaccines available to the public," Bucheli said. "We encourage all those attending to continue observing mitigation risk strategies and make the choice to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others."
Sturgis attracts hundreds of thousands as Americans awaken from COVID despite Delta variant
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota despite fears over the delta variant of the coronavirus.
