In a report published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, titled “The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and COVID-19,” Economics Associate Professor Andrew Friedson, along with collaborators, describes the impacts of the August 7-16, Sturgis, South Dakota, motorcycle rally as a superspreader event. “We found that for counties that had a lot of people going to Sturgis, after the rally, their case numbers starting taking off relative to similar places that did not have a lot of people going to Sturgis,” said Friedson.
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally May Have Caused 250,000 Coronavirus Cases, Economists Say
Forbes, Sept 8
Report: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally May Have Caused Over 250,000 Coronavirus Cases
US News and World Report, Sept 8
Report: Sturgis motorcycle rally could have led to 260,000 COVID-19 cases
The Denver Channel, Sept 8
Sturgis Motorcyle Rally linked to more than 265,000 cases of COVID-19 costing $12 billion
New York Daily News, Sept 8