(VOS 9) – A youth wrestling tournament in South Dakota has caused an outbreak of COVID-19 that could affect up to 64 Minnesota teams from 52 counties, health officials say.
According to a release from the Minnesota Department of Health, the Northland Youth Wrestling Association tournament was held in Sioux Falls between March 31 and April 3. About 2,000 wrestlers took part in the tournament.
As of Monday morning, MDH confirmed that 16 cases from Minnesota had come out of the event. MDH says it is still monitoring the outbreak, which it said was growing.
Cases related to the event have been confirmed in the provinces of Cass, Le Sueur, Lyon, Morrison, Murray, Rice, Todd, Wright and Yellow Medicine. Eight schools confirmed cases related to the event, including six public and two private schools.
Wrestling is a very risky sport to transmit the virus, MDH said.
As a result, health officials are appealing to everyone who attended the tournament to be tested for COVID-19.
On Monday, Minnesota reported 1,994 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths, with hospitalizations increasing.