Sturgis Rally 2020

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is happening this year in South Dakota. This is the 80th anniversary of the annual event. South Dakota has some of the lowest COVID infection numbers in the US with 9,477 confirmed as of 8/9/20. It will be interesting to see if the rally impacts infection numbers in SD. It may not have any measurable impact because most of the bikers are from out of State. Videos on YouTube show very few wearing masks and social distancing is mostly non-existent. Bikers are not going to let a viral pandemic get in the way of their annual social event!

Meanwhile, the parking lots at Minnesota casinos are full again. My girlfriend works at one of the casinos and reported to work with a cough one day this past week. They made her get a COVID test before she was allowed to go back to work. Luckily, the test was negative, but it makes you think about how things would change if it was positive. Minnesota now has 60,142 confirmed cases and Wisconsin is reporting 64,231. The US has passed the 5 million mark with 162,000 deaths so far. Trump had to sign an executive order yesterday to extend enhanced unemployment benefits after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed. This order does not include a second $1200 relief payment. It feels like there is a good chance that the second payment will not happen. The Democrats had a chance to show some flexibility, but they couldn't reach an agreement, and forced Trump to take action. Making your opponent look like a hero only a few months before an election is never a good move.