PIERRE, SD – In a weekly call with the South Dakota Department of Health, health providers across the state were told that extra mass testing events will be implemented in time for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, August 7-16, Sturgis, SD.
According to Tim Southern, Lab Director for the state public health lab, the SD Department of Health is looking “very strategically” at locations around the Black Hills for extra testing support.
ID NOW, rapid testing machines manufactured by Abbott Laboratories, are currently being used in Spearfish, Rapid City and Hot Springs. The state’s DOH is considering adding an extra machine in Spearfish, two in Sturgis and five more in Rapid City to help meet the demand for COVID-19 testing around the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
The event annually attracts up to 500,000 motorcyclists from around the world. The Sturgis City Council voted in June to continue with the iconic event based on indicators that participants would attend regardless of any action taken by the City of Sturgis to cancel or curtail the event.
Abbott has shipped nearly 4.5 million of the rapid ID NOW tests to all 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the Pacific Islands.
The FDA has released a public alert regarding the Abbott ID NOW test for Covid-19 and its potential to provide inaccurate negative results. Abbott has agreed to conduct post-market studies for the ID NOW device that each will include at least 150 COVID-19 positive patients in a variety of clinical settings. The FDA will continue to review interim data on an ongoing basis.
