COVID-19 cases in South Dakota increase more than 450% since start of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
CBSN
South Dakota has seen a sharp increase in daily COVID-19 cases following the Sturgis Motorcycle rally in Meade County this month. Hundreds of thousands of bikers descended upon the area August 6-15, despite the Delta variant wreaking havoc on the U.S.
On August 4, the date closest to the start of the rally for which data was available, the state reported 657 active cases. On August 25, the state reported 3,655 active cases. That's a 456.31% increase of active cases from before the start of the rally to two weeks after, according to the state's department of health. As of August 24, about two weeks from the start of the event, South Dakota saw a weekly positivity rate of 38.8%. The week leading up to the rally – July 30 to August 6 – the state's weekly positivity rate was just 10.38%, the department of health data shows. The week before that, July 23-30, the positivity rate was 6.10% — a smaller increase between weeks leading up to the rally.Authorities made two gruesome discoveries Tuesday after a Missouri woman walked into a police station and told officers that she fatally shot one of her children and drowned the other, officials said. Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said at a news conference that authorities believe both children were killed Tuesday morning.
Strong storms with damaging winds and baseball-sized hail pummeled Texas on Tuesday, leaving more than one million businesses and homes without power as much of the U.S. recovered from severe weather, including tornadoes, that killed at least 24 people in seven states during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.