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In just a few short weeks, the President of the United States has assembled 18 packed election rallies across the country. Meetings where many of his followers did not wear mouth guards and where physical distance was often low.
Only during the last this week, electoral meetings have been rare.
Now, a Stanford University study shows that Donald Trump meetings sparked about 30,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, writes the Washington Post. Investigators also say they can see a connection between the campaign meetings and 700 deaths.
The study has not yet been published and therefore has not been the subject of any review by external researchers.
The study is thought-provoking, but it’s hard to say what impact each individual meeting has had if infections aren’t closely tracked in each case, Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security tells the agency. of Reuters news.
Adalja is an expert in infectious diseases and did not participate in the study.
Researchers have examined meetings during the period from June 20 to September 30 using a static model and then following the spread of the infection in the areas where the meetings were held. In the report, the researchers say that the publicity of the Trump meetings has been extensive:
“The communities where Trump held his meetings paid a heavy price when it comes to illness and death,” they write in the report.
Additionally, the researchers note:
“Our analysis provides clear support for the warnings and recommendations given by experts regarding the risk of COVID-19 being transmitted in large crowds, especially when the use of mouth guards and physical distancing is low.”
While the researchers found a greater spread of the infection in areas where Trump held his meetings, it has not been possible to see the same increase in surrounding areas.
Trump’s re-election campaign has responded to the investigators’ results in a statement to the Washington Post:
“Americans have the right to meet during the first amendment to the Constitution to hear from the President of the United States, and we have taken strong measures to protect our campaign activities, requiring that each participant be temperature controlled, providing oral protection, that He asked them to use it and made sure there was good access to handheld alcohol. “
The meetings reviewed were held in Tulsa, Phoenix, Mankato, Oshkosh, Yuma, Old Forge, Londonberry, Latrobe, Winston-Salem, Freeland, Minden, Henderson, Mosinee, Bemidji, Fayetteville, Swanton, Vandalia, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Newport News and Middletown. .
