(Scott Johnson)
The Sturgis apocalypse has arrived in Minnesota. The authorities have announced 15 new COVID-19 cases among Minnesotans who attended the Sturgis biker rally. One of the 15 is even hospitalized. Are women and minorities hardest hit, as in the parody New York Times headline? Not yet!
The media cannot get enough of it, of course, as one may infer from yesterday’s press briefing (audio below). Star Tribune reporter Christopher Snowbeck, to take just one example, followed up on his own story at about 31:30 of the audio recording.
The authorities reported 835 new cases yesterday. This reflects in part a spike in southern Minnesota counties Waseca and Le Sueur this week, but the median age of new cases remains 36. After jumping up to 17 on August 19, deaths attributed to the epidemic have returned to the lower level of the past two months. The authorities attributed 7 (8/20) and 8 (8/21) deaths to the disease over the past two days.
Six of the 15 new deaths occurred among residents of long-term care facilities. Nursing home residents account for 74 percent of all deaths attributed to the disease. In the Department of Health’s weekly update of August 20, the median age of all decedents remains 83.
