#Minnesota man who attended Sturgis motorcycle rally dies of coronavirus

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People ride through downtown Sturgis during the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
AP

A Minnesota man who attended South Dakota’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally last month has died of coronavirus, health officials announced Wednesday.

The man, in his 60s, had underlying health conditions and was hospitalized before dying, according to Kris Ehresmann, infectious disease director at the Minnesota Department of Health.

Although the man attended the rally, it’s not known if he was sickened at the massive 10-day gathering that attracted hundreds of thousands of people from across the country.

To date, at least 290 rally-goers from 12 states have tested positive for COVID-19 since the event, according to an Associated Press survey. South Dakota has reported 105 cases tied to the rally.

Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, a state with 23 coronavirus patients that went to Sturgis, has alluded to the difficulty in tracking the cases.

“We can’t say that Sturgis was or was not the cause of these cases,” Goodsitt said.

Many of the rally attendees flouted social distancing guidelines, and traveled between various campgrounds to numerous bars.

With Post wires