COVID-19 cases are surging, but not because of Black Lives Matter protests
Public health officials’ early predictions that these protests would cause a spike may not have taken into account every factor involved in spreading the virus around. (Unsplash/)Scientists at the National Bureau of Economic Research analyzed the relationship between anonymous cell phone tracking data from cities where Black Lives Matter protests occurred and CDC data on new COVID-19 cases. They found that, contrary to what some experts predicted, COVID-19 infection rates actually decreased in places that experienced BLM protests—even when those protests had particularly large showings of people. Their results are published in a working paper that has not yet undergone peer review, a key step to getting a research study published in a scientific journal. Using anonymized cell phone tracking information gathered by the data company SafeGraph as well as CDC COVID-19 data, the researchers found no evidence that the Black Lives Matter protests “reignited COVID-19 case growth during the...