Burning Man 2022 ends with eight-hour traffic jam and reports of a spike in COVID cases

On Monday (5 September) the first Burning Man festival since the pandemic started came to a close, and after attendees had to battle through a huge sandstorm earlier in the festival, they also faced apocalyptic traffic queues lasting over eight hours to exit the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nevada.

The 10 hour long traffic jam leaving Burning Man. pic.twitter.com/uRi4stqZf2

— Jezebelley (@RealJezebelley) September 6, 2022

There's also a clip going viral of the returning Mad Max Thunderdome-inspired fight where festival-goers were put in harnesses and pushed towards one another with foam batons.

It also looks like attendees experienced a spike in COVID cases at the desert festival, with campers posting about people testing positive during the event in the Burning Man subreddit, and others warning people to be extra careful.

If the r/BurningMan subreddit is any indication, a lot of burners caught COVID at Burning Man this year. pic.twitter.com/HkUPoWUols

— Brett Forrest (@brettforrest89) September 4, 2022

I'm hearing really high proportions of folks who went to Burning Man are testing positive for Covid. All 80,000 of them are returning to their homes now, carrying it with them, so be extra careful out there.

— Kalera Stratton (@nisslbodies) September 6, 2022

There’s been both COVID and MPX outbreaks at Burning Man.

Everyone “there” is from somewhere else. 80k people are going home now.

If you went, test right now. Look at your body, examine your symptoms. Get prepped. I am sorry. This is happening.

— Susie Bright (@susiebright) September 7, 2022