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COVID-19 death tied to Sturgis biker rally, Minnesota reports
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A Minnesota man who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota last month has died of COVID-19, Minnesota health officials reported Wednesday.
The death is the first reported that is possibly linked to the biker rally that drew hundreds of thousands of people. Infections among rallygoers have been reported among 269 people in 12 states spanning coast to coast, according to a survey from The Associated Press. The rally went forward despite fears it could become a super-spread event, with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem welcoming bikers and the tourist dollars they spend.
Rallygoers crowded into bars and rock shows, mostly ignoring social distancing recommendations. Few wore masks.
The man who died in Minnesota was in his 60s, had underlying health conditions and was hospitalized before he died, said Kris Ehresmann, infectious-disease director at the state Department of Health.
For 10 days in August, the rally created a travel hub in western South Dakota comparable to a major U.S. city, according to an analysis of anonymous cellphone data from Camber Systems, a firm that aggregates cellphone activity for health researchers. The researchers found that 61% of all the counties in the U.S. have been visited by someone who attended Sturgis.
South Dakota has seen the bulk of cases tied to the rally, with the Department of Health reporting 105 tied to the rally. The city of Sturgis made coronavirus tests available to residents and city employees after the rally in an attempt to uncover people who had infections but no symptoms.
The state has experienced a surge in cases in recent weeks, currently ranking third in the country for new cases per capita over the past two weeks.
Cases among people who attended the rally have been reported in 11 other states, from Washington state to New Jersey.
FDA shake-up: A second Trump administration appointee has been ousted at the Food and Drug Administration in the wake of the agency’s botched announcement about an experimental therapy for COVID-19, which medical experts said damaged the health regulator’s credibility with the public.
An FDA spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that John “Wolf” Wagner, a political appointee installed by the White House earlier this summer, is no longer heading the agency’s office of external affairs. Instead, Heidi Rebello, a longtime FDA career official, has stepped into the position on an acting basis, overseeing all FDA public communications.
The shake-up comes just five days after conservative communications specialist Emily Miller was removed from her post heading the agency’s press office. Miller served just 11 days on the job and helped coordinate the agency’s announcement that it had granted emergency authorization to convalescent plasma for COVID-19 patients.
That announcement triggered a backlash last week after FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn was forced
Bulgaria protests heat up: to correct misstatements that inflated the potential benefits of the therapy. The decision to authorize the treatment also followed threats and complaints from President Donald Trump, raising concerns that the FDA had buckled to political pressure from the president.
Charlie Hebdo trial: Thirteen men and a woman went on trial Wednesday in the 2015 attacks against the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket in Paris that marked the beginning of a wave of violence by the Islamic State group in Europe.
Seventeen people and all three gunmen died during the three days of attacks in January 2015. Later that year, a separate network of French and Belgian fighters for Islamic State struck Paris again, this time killing 130 people in attacks at the Bataclan concert hall, the national stadium, and in bars and restaurants.
Those on trial in France’s terrorism court are accused of buying weapons and cars and helping with logistics in the January 2015 attacks. Most say they thought they were helping plan an ordinary crime. Three, including the only woman accused, are being tried in absentia after leaving to join Islamic State.
Budget deficit spike: The federal budget deficit is projected to hit a record $3.3 trillion as huge government expenditures to fight the coronavirus and to prop up the economy have added more than $2 trillion to the federal ledger, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.
The spike in the deficit means that federal debt will exceed annual gross domestic product next year, a milestone that would put the U.S. in the company of countries like Greece whose accumulated debt exceeds the size of their economies.
The $3.3 trillion figure is more than triple the 2019 shortfall and more than double the levels experienced after the market meltdown and Great Recession of 2007-09. Government spending, fueled by four coronavirus response measures, would register at $6.6 trillion, $2 trillion-plus more than 2019.
Mail voting lawsuit: President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican Party sued Montana on Wednesday after Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock gave counties the choice to conduct the November election entirely by mail amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The lawsuit alleges Bullock’s directive would dilute the integrity of Montana’s election system.
The legal challenge is the latest attempt by Trump to block mail-in voting, which he has claimed without proof would lead to widespread fraud. His campaign and the Republican Party also sued last month over a new law in Nevada that will automatically send voters mail-in ballots for November, contending the plan would undermine the election’s integrity.
A Kennedy loses: U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III became the first in his storied political family to lose a run for Congress in Massachusetts, falling short in his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Edward Markey in a hard-fought Democratic primary.
Meanwhile, the race for Kennedy’s House seat in the 4th Congressional District remained too close to call, with Democrats Jake Auchincloss and Jesse Mermell separated by a tight margin. Republican Julie Hall, an Air Force veteran, defeated David Rosa on the GOP ticket.
Markey harnessed support from progressive leaders to overcome a challenge from his younger rival, a grandson of Robert F. Kennedy. With 98% of the vote counted, his margin of victory was nearly 11 points.