As the protests grew, many people not participating opted to stay home and avoid going out.
Using COVID-19 case counts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and data from SafeGraph, a company that collects anonymous cellphone data to show the movement of populations, the researchers were able to look at not only how cases of COVID-19 were trending in various cities but also how the protests affected the behavior of those who did not participate.
However, the authors said that while there was little effect on the spread of COVID-19 for counties as a whole, it’s possible that the protests caused an increase in the spread of COVID-19 among those who actually attended the protests."It's certainly possible that there is probably a small increase in cases among the protesting population," Dhaval Dave, an economics professor at Bentley University and one of the authors of the paper, said.
in early June, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that it takes a minimum of three weeks for a behavioral change — such as shifting away from social distancing to large mass gatherings — to cause an increase in infection rates. “We’ve not seen any evidence that the number of new cases identified in Philadelphia is associated with any protest activities,” the city's Department of Health said in a statement to NBC News. “The daily numbers aren’t dropping as quickly as they have in the past few weeks, which is concerning, but we can’t tie that to protests, other summer activities, or anything else in particular.”
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Black Lives Matter protests have not led to a spike in coronavirus cases, research saysDespite warnings from public health officials, new research suggests Black Lives Matter protests across the country have not led to a jump in coronavirus cases.
Read more »
Here's the latest on the Black Lives Matter protestsIt has been nearly a month since George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, which sparked the ongoing Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the US and around the world. Here's a look at the latest headlines.
Read more »
Why We Need a Black Lives Matter Activist in Congress'We learn that if we continue to vote the same people into office, they will simply continue to sign off on our destruction.' CoriBush on why we need to vote in a generation of organizers:
Read more »
Trans teen mocked by couple after he stops them heckling Black Lives Matter bake sale17-year-old transgender teen mocked and harassed after stepping in to intervene when he saw man and woman giving a hard time to volunteers at bake sale benefiting Black Lives Matter movement.
Read more »