© Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesBikers fill Main Street during the previous Bike Week in March 2020 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
- Daytona Bike Week, a motorcycle rally occurring this week, is expected to draw in 300,000 people.
- City officials say wearing masks will be encouraged, but not required at the event, CNN reported.
- So far, police have seen crowds of people without masks.
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A Florida city is hosting a motorcycle rally this week that city officials expect will draw in more than 300,000 people over 10 days, CNN reported.
"Typically in the past, (attendance) was estimated between 400,000 and 500,000 for the 10 days over this entire area," Janet Kersey, a Daytona Chamber of Commerce executive, told CNN.
"This year we know because of continued COVID-19 concerns and the loss of income many have had over this past year, it will be less. A reasonable estimate would be around 300,000+," Kersey added.
Daytona Beach is hosting Bike Week, a multi-day annual event typically known for bike shows, concerts, and races that began last Friday and will continue through this weekend - despite the pandemic.
The City Commission of Daytona Beach weighed canceling Bike Week due to concerns about the virus, but ultimately, city commissioners chose to move forward, Kersey told CNN. Kersey said the commission was "very meticulous" with its decision.
Neither the Daytona Chamber of Commerce nor the city commission immediately responded to a request for comment.
Officials told CNN that there will be certain precautions in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus, such as imposing mandates on small businesses to operate at reduced capacity and urging visitors to wear masks. Florida is one of 16 states without a government-issued mask mandate.
Despite the request that visitors and residents wear masks while participating in the event, police told CNN that officers spotted crowds of mask-less attendees.
"The vast majority of the crowd" was unmasked, a Daytona Police Department spokesperson said.
Another motorcycle rally led to a spike in cases
A motorcycle rally in South Dakota last year drew similar crowds - and caused a spike in new COVID-19 cases, experts said.
Health officials traced several coronavirus cases in at least 8 states to the annual 10-day Sturgis, South Dakota, motorcycle rally in August 2020, which hosted more than 400,000 people from across the country.
A Minnesota man died in September from COVID-19 after participating in the Sturgis rally.
The man was in his 60s and had underlying health conditions, the Minnesota Department of Public Health told Insider at the time.
Days before the event, residents in Sturgis and local officials pushed for its cancellation, knowing that the number of confirmed cases in South Dakota was rising at the time. More than 60% of residents said in a survey that they hoped the event would be postponed.
Officials did not at the time mandate that Sturgis attendees show up in face masks, and social distancing was not enforced.
Those who attended the event frequented packed bars and concerts. Many people were not wearing masks.
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