Trump campaign rallies led to 30,000 cases, Stanford researchers say

President Donald Trump’s election rallies have led to more than 30,000 cases of the coronavirus, according to a new document released by researchers at Stanford.

Researchers looked at 18 Trump rallies held between June 20 and September 22, and analyzed Covid-19 data in the weeks following each event. They compared the counties where the events took place to other counties that had a similar trajectory of confirmed Covid-19 cases before the rally date. Of the 18 rallies analyzed, only three were indoors, according to the study.

Researchers found that the rallies ultimately resulted in more than 30,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. They also concluded that the rallies likely resulted in more than 700 deaths, but not necessarily among the participants.

Researchers said the findings support warnings and recommendations from public health officials regarding the risk of transmission of Covid-19 during large group gatherings, “particularly where the degree of compliance with guidelines regarding the use of masks and social distancing is low.

“The communities in which Trump’s rallies were held paid a high price in terms of illness and death,” said B. Douglas Bernheim, chairman of the Stanford Department of Economics and lead author of the article.

The document, which has yet to be peer reviewed, has been posted on the open access SSRN preprint platform.

Responding to the document, Trump campaign spokesperson Courtney Parella said, “Americans have the right to assemble under the First Amendment to hear from the President of the United States.”

“We take all the necessary precautions for our campaign events, requiring each participant to have their temperature checked, providing them with masks that they are responsible for wearing and ensuring access to plenty of hand sanitizers. We also have signs at our events asking participants to wear their masks. , “she added.

A spokesperson for Joe Biden’s campaign released a statement after the newspaper’s publication, claiming that Trump “is costing hundreds of lives and triggering thousands of cases with rallies of super-spreaders who only serve his own ego.”

“The worst part is that it doesn’t even capture the many super-widespread Trump events on White House grounds or the past five weeks of events across the country. How many lives have been turned upside down during that time. “How many more empty seats are there at kitchen tables across America because of Donald Trump’s ego?” Said spokesman Andrew Bates.

The researchers said they had to overcome “significant challenges,” acknowledging that the dynamics of Covid-19 are “complex,” and “even the most superficial examination of the data reveals that the process governing the spread of Covid-19 differs by county. “

The new research comes as the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly across the United States. The United States continued to set new highs for infections this week, Friday marking a record 99,321 new cases per day, bringing the seven-day average of daily new cases to a new high of 78,738, CNBC analysis showed. data from Johns Hopkins University.

Trump has often been criticized for organizing in-person rallies, sometimes with tens of thousands of people, during a pandemic. He has sought to downplay the virus, often linking the increase in Covid-19 cases to more testing. But public health officials and infectious disease experts dispute this claim, saying the rate of tests that come back positive and hospitalizations are also on the rise.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, said on Friday the United States was reporting an “extremely high and completely unacceptable” daily number of cases leading up to the winter season, when people will spend more time in inside.

“We are in a precarious position for the next few weeks or months,” Fauci told SiriusXM’s “Doctor Radio Reports”, calling on people to continue to wear face masks, socialize and move on. time outdoors as much as possible indoors.