A NEW study has suggested that Donald Trump rallies across America in the run up the presidential election may have lead to more than 700 deaths from Covid-19, and over 30,000 infections.
A Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research report released on Friday hinted that due to Trump supporters' general reluctance to adhere to public health guidelines such as wearing face masks or staying socially distanced, many of their rallies - brought on by the reluctance of Trump himself - has lead to extensive spread of coronavirus.
According to the Daily Mail, researchers examined the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the weeks after Trump held 18 massive rallies between June 20 and September 22 - three of which were held indoors.
They compared the spread of the virus in the counties that held the rallies to the counties that had similar coronavirus case trajectories before the rallies were held.
President Donald Trump's campaign rallies may have lead to more than 700 Covid-19 deaths in the USThey found that the rallies increased subsequent cases of Covid-19 by over 250 infections per 100,000 residents. Extrapolating that figure to the 18 rallies led researchers to conclude the events resulted in more than 30,000 Covid-19 cases.
"The communities in which Trump rallies took place paid a high price in terms of disease and death," the study said.
"Our analysis strongly supports the warnings and recommendations of public health officials concerning the risk of Covid-19 transmission at large group gatherings, particularly when the degree of compliance with guidelines concerning the use of masks and social distancing is low," the report adds.
Over 230,000 people have died as a result of Covid-19 in the US, while more than nine million citizens have been infected with the virus since the outbreak.
