A study conducted by four Stanford University economic researchers determined that 18 Trump campaign rallies, the bulk of which took place over the past summer, “ultimately resulted in more than 30,000 incremental confirmed cases of COVID-19” and “likely led to more than 700 deaths.”
The study examined 18 counties that hosted Trump rallies in locations such as Tulsa, Oklahoma; Phoenix, Arizona; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, held between June 20 and September 22. It then compared the rate of post-rally Covid-19 infections in the host counties to that of comparable counties that did not host a rally. Attendance at individual rallies varied, but Trump often draws thousands of supporters to these events.
“For the vast majority of county matching procedures we employ,” the authors wrote, “our estimate of the average treatment effect across the eighteen rallies implies that they increased subsequent confirmed cases of COVID-19 by more than 250 per 100,000 residents.” The researchers — B. Douglas Bernheim, an economics professor at Stanford, and Stanford grad students Nina Buchmann, Zach Freitas-Groff, and Sebastián Otero — extrapolated that figure to the entire sample, concluding that the rallies led to thousands of new infections and, likely, hundreds of deaths.
As the authors acknowledge, trying to identify exactly how many infections resulted from a Trump rally (or any other potential superspreader event) is not easy. Factors such as whether the rally is held indoor or outdoor, whether a large number of infected people attended, whether attendees wore masks, and “the distribution of infected individuals among rally attendees” can all lead to vastly different rates of infection.
Likewise, while the authors estimate Trump’s summer rallies led to more than 700 deaths, they note those deaths were “not necessarily among attendees.” For example, a rally-goer may become infected with a mild case, but that same rally-goer might give the virus to his wife, who gives it to a coworker, who gives it to their sister, who dies of Covid-19.
Nevertheless, the average discrepancies between the number of infections in counties hosting Trump rallies and the infection rates in other, similar counties suggest that at least some of Trump’s campaign events were superspreader events, potentially responsible for hundreds of lost lives.
Earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that Trump was “asking for trouble” by hosting mass political rallies as the number of Covid-19 infections surge. But Fauci’s warning does not appear to have deterred the president, who reportedly plans to host 14 rallies in the final three days of the 2020 campaign.
Will you help keep Vox free for all?
The United States is in the middle of one of the most consequential presidential elections of our lifetimes. It’s essential that all Americans are able to access clear, concise information on what the outcome of the election could mean for their lives, and the lives of their families and communities. That is our mission at Vox. But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources. Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers, your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work. If you have already contributed, thank you. If you haven’t, please consider helping everyone understand this presidential election: Contribute today from as little as $3.
"may" - Google News
October 31, 2020 at 11:00PM
https://ift.tt/3oRS8Bx
Trump rallies may be responsible for roughly 700 Covid-19 deaths, study finds - Vox.com
"may" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3foH8qu
https://ift.tt/2zNW3tO
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Trump rallies may be responsible for roughly 700 Covid-19 deaths, study finds - Vox.com"
Post a Comment