4 ms·

Oh sure, it was Memorial Day, not the mass groupings of people who were protesting for BLM.

ogre_codes 6y ago
If this were primarily related to BLM protests, the COVID hotspots would be the places where BLM protests were biggest, not Arizona, California, and Texas. > The new research, which was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found no evidence that coronavirus cases jumped in 315 cities in the weeks following the first protests. I'm sure BLM numbers affected it, but there were also millions of people who went to beaches, bars, and barbecues on Memorial Day Weekend as well who seemed to have moved the needle much more. NYC, where there were massive BLM demonstrations, just had it's first day with zero COVID deaths in months.
fzeroracer 6y ago
No, the BLM protests did not cause an uptick in cases. Multiple studies [1] [2] [3] seem to indicate that the coronavirus doesn't spread nearly as well outdoors as it does indoors. In fact, studies have indicated that one of the greatest surge predictors is card-present transactions in restaurants [4]. The reason why we're seeing such a massive uptick in Austin is because of poor state leadership and the fact that we opened too early and with reckless abandon. As the other commentator said, the coronavirus hotspots do not correspond with the protest activities. [1] https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/494348-new-study-finds-few-cases-of-outdoor-transmission-of-coronavirus-in-china https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/494348-new-study-finds... [2] https://apnews.com/a288340b3bd3fbc62e564b3d0adfaa2e https://apnews.com/a288340b3bd3fbc62e564b3d0adfaa2e [3] https://www.nber.org/papers/w27408.pdf https://www.nber.org/papers/w27408.pdf [4] https://fortune.com/2020/06/26/is-it-safe-restaurant-coronavirus-cases-credit-cards-restaurants-jp-morgan-chase-covid-19-outbreaks/ https://fortune.com/2020/06/26/is-it-safe-restaurant-coronav... reply

If this were primarily related to BLM protests, the COVID hotspots would be the places where BLM protests were biggest, not Arizona, California, and Texas. > The new research, which was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found no evidence that coronavirus cases jumped in 315 cities in the weeks following the first protests. I'm sure BLM numbers affected it, but there were also millions of people who went to beaches, bars, and barbecues on Memorial Day Weekend as well who seemed to have moved the needle much more. NYC, where there were massive BLM demonstrations, just had it's first day with zero COVID deaths in months.

fzeroracer 6y ago

No, the BLM protests did not cause an uptick in cases. Multiple studies [1] [2] [3] seem to indicate that the coronavirus doesn't spread nearly as well outdoors as it does indoors. In fact, studies have indicated that one of the greatest surge predictors is card-present transactions in restaurants [4]. The reason why we're seeing such a massive uptick in Austin is because of poor state leadership and the fact that we opened too early and with reckless abandon. As the other commentator said, the coronavirus hotspots do not correspond with the protest activities. [1] https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/494348-new-study-finds-few-cases-of-outdoor-transmission-of-coronavirus-in-china https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/494348-new-study-finds... [2] https://apnews.com/a288340b3bd3fbc62e564b3d0adfaa2e https://apnews.com/a288340b3bd3fbc62e564b3d0adfaa2e [3] https://www.nber.org/papers/w27408.pdf https://www.nber.org/papers/w27408.pdf [4] https://fortune.com/2020/06/26/is-it-safe-restaurant-coronavirus-cases-credit-cards-restaurants-jp-morgan-chase-covid-19-outbreaks/ https://fortune.com/2020/06/26/is-it-safe-restaurant-coronav... reply