‘Screw COVID’: 250,000 Bikers to Defy Common Sense for Nine Days at Sturgis Rally

[Danke]

https://trendingpolitics.com/nope-tu...PtAIy.facebook


NOPE: Turns Out the Sturgis Biker Rally Was No COVID 'Super-Spreader' After All



Follow Jonathan Davis

Posted September 2, 2020 in Politics , Source: pjmedia,




No matter how much we would like to change the minds of all Americans who have been brainwashed into believing that COVID-19 is a planet-killer, no single news story is going to do that.

Changing – or rather easing – minds will take time and a series of reports before those folks will come around and realize that the virus isn’t the global threat the anti-Trump fear-porn pushers in the ‘mainstream’ media have led them to believe.

So, we’ll start with this one.
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Left-wing Democrats and their fear pushers in the media bemoaned the fact that the town of Sturgis, S.D., decided to go ahead with its annual motorcycle rally this year in spite of the pandemic. Never mind that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, never shut down the state, to begin with, and never mind that the state has never been a coronavirus “hot spot.”

Like a predictable broken record, they all said that the rally would become a “super-spreader event,” leading to death and suffering and pestilence on a Biblical (or a “Walking Dead”) scale.

Once again, the fear pimps in the Democrat Party were wrong, as PJ Media’s Stacy Lennox noted Wednesday:

The 80th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally took place from August 7-16 in South Dakota. Attendance at the rally was slightly down, at 462,000, a 7.5% decrease from 2019. No doubt COVID-19 fears played a part in the attendance reduction. Perhaps those with pre-existing health conditions declined to attend.

COVID-19 panic certainly preceded the rally. Indeed, it was predicted that it would be a mass superspreader event that would result in significant illness and death. Or not. The numbers are in for the City of Sturgis, and they are quite laughable. More people died from fatal crashes during the rally than from the virus.

"The City of Sturgis conducted mass COVID testing for its citizens after welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors for the 80th annual Motorcycle Rally. Now, the city is announcing the results," officials said.

"A total of 650 people took advantage of the free testing, with 26 people testing positive for COVID-19. All of them were asymptomatic at the time of testing."​

Two takeaways, at least for Americans who have long accepted the reality that COVID-19, while certainly no ‘hoax,’ is also not the end of the world as we know it:

1) Once again, we see that the virus is virtually harmless in healthy, younger individuals who don't have underlying health problems;​
2) The disease is so mild in the vast majority of cases people don't even know they've got it.​

A regional health correspondent for Fargo, North Dakota-based Forum News Service posted even more yawning coronavirus numbers in a tweet late last week.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1299396172508004357


"In total, it appears, as of August 28, 12 days after the rally, a total of 196 positive tests were linked to rally attendance," Lennox writes.


No need to panic. No need to clear out the hospitals in the states where Sturgis attendees traveled from. No need for a mass order of body bags. No need for a run on funeral plots.

But what this does indicate is that Americans need to calm down, relax, and stop slurping up the fear potion pushed by media whores who are still trying to exploit a virus to destroy a president.

[Anti Globalist]

So did the media go around claiming a lot of new cases happened after this rally?

[Anti Federalist]

Nuh uh...The left claims 266,000 caught China Flu.

The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event:The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and COVID-19*Large in-person gatherings without social distancing and with individuals who have traveled outside the local area are classified as the “highest risk” for COVID-19 spread by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Between August 7 and August 16, 2020, nearly 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts converged on Sturgis, South Dakota for its annual motorcycle rally. Large crowds, coupled with minimal mask-wearing and social distancing by attendees, raised concerns that this event could serve as a COVID-19 “super-spreader.” This study is the first to explore the impact of this event on social distancing and the spread of COVID-19. First, using anonymized cell phone data from SafeGraph, Inc. we document that (i) smartphone pings from non-residents, and (ii) foot traffic at restaurants and bars, retail establishments, entertainment venues, hotels and campgrounds each rose substantially in the census block groups hosting Sturgis rally events. Stay-at-home behavior among local residents, as measured by median hours spent at home, fell. Second, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a synthetic control approach, we show that by September 2, a month following the onset of the Rally, COVID-19 cases increased by approximately 6 to 7 cases per 1,000 population in its home county of Meade. Finally, difference-in-differences (dose response) estimates show that following the Sturgis event, counties that contributed the highest inflows of rally attendees experienced a 7.0 to 12.5 percent increase in COVID-19 cases relative to counties that did not contribute inflows. Descriptive evidence suggests these effects may be muted in states with stricter mitigation policies (i.e., restrictions on bar/restaurant openings, mask-wearing mandates). We conclude that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally generated public health costs of approximately $12.2 billion.

Dr. Sabia acknowledges support from the Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies at San Diego State University, including grant funding from the Troesh Family Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation. We thank Alicia Marquez, Kyu Matsuzawa, Melinda Mueller, and Samuel Safford for outstanding research assistance

http://ftp.iza.org/dp13670.pdf

Based on the increase in case count, the researchers group, estimated that cases connected to the gathering resulted in $12 billion in public health costs, not including the costs associated with any deaths that might be tied to cases from the event. That dollar amount is based on another estimation that an average of $46,000 is spent on each patient who tests positive for COVID-19.

Researchers concluded that more than 266,000 cases were tied to the event attended by more than 460,000 individuals.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...rce=whatfinger

[tod evans]

[tod evans]

Report estimates Sturgis Rally is responsible for $12.2B in healthcare costs, state officials disagree

https://www.kotatv.com/2020/09/08/re...ials-disagree/

- A white paper released by four economic professors with the IZA Institue of Labor Economics says the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was a superspreader event, leading to a national spike in COVID-19 cases that cost billions in healthcare dollars.

The report gathered its results by using cellphone data from SafeGraph, Inc. It shoed “smartphone pings from nonresidents” and “foot traffic at restaurants and bars, retail establishments and entertainment venues, hotels and campgrounds each rose substantially" through Aug. 7 through 16.

The main takeaways of the report link the Rally to an estimated 267,000 COVID-19 cases nationwide and say the overall health costs from the rally are $12.2 billion.

The $12.2 billion costs are based on another estimation that $46,000 is spent per positive COVID-19 case, the nonprofit research institute found.

However, South Dakota Health officials dismissed the 63-page report from IZA in today’s state COVID-19 media briefing. Gov. Kristi Noem has also chimed in and disagreed with the report.

“From what we know the results do not align with what we know,” state epidemiologist Joshua Clayton said.

He mentioned that a white paper isn’t peer-reviewed. And pointed out the paper doesn’t note schools in the state also reopened close after the Rally ended, which could have attributed to the surge of cases in South Dakota.

Addressing costs, Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said they want to “better understand the source they are using” to come up with the $12.2 billion healthcare total.

Additionally, she says people “shouldn’t put too much stock into models” and that using cell phone pings to project COVID-19 cases isn’t an accurate correlation.

The state is tracking primary infections only, unlike the study that mentions secondary infections.

Clayton mentioned in the call that in-state there have been 124 cases linked to the Rally from South Dakota residents.

Health officials confirmed 105 new cases Tuesday, bringing total known cases in the state to 15,403. However, active cases fell by over 200 to 2,679 due to new recoveries.

[phill4paul]

The main takeaways of the report.....

The report gathered its results by using cellphone data from SafeGraph, Inc

[John-G]

And how many of the 88 positives were false positives? not to ignore the people who have died from covid, this virus is real just like the flu but this is no reason to shut down society. Open up society now and allow the people who want to continue the quarantine to keep doing what they are doing

[Anti Federalist]

Nuh uh...The left claims 266,000 caught China Flu.

The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event:The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and COVID-19*Large in-person gatherings without social distancing and with individuals who have traveled outside the local area are classified as the “highest risk” for COVID-19 spread by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Between August 7 and August 16, 2020, nearly 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts converged on Sturgis, South Dakota for its annual motorcycle rally. Large crowds, coupled with minimal mask-wearing and social distancing by attendees, raised concerns that this event could serve as a COVID-19 “super-spreader.” This study is the first to explore the impact of this event on social distancing and the spread of COVID-19. First, using anonymized cell phone data from SafeGraph, Inc. we document that (i) smartphone pings from non-residents, and (ii) foot traffic at restaurants and bars, retail establishments, entertainment venues, hotels and campgrounds each rose substantially in the census block groups hosting Sturgis rally events. Stay-at-home behavior among local residents, as measured by median hours spent at home, fell. Second, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a synthetic control approach, we show that by September 2, a month following the onset of the Rally, COVID-19 cases increased by approximately 6 to 7 cases per 1,000 population in its home county of Meade. Finally, difference-in-differences (dose response) estimates show that following the Sturgis event, counties that contributed the highest inflows of rally attendees experienced a 7.0 to 12.5 percent increase in COVID-19 cases relative to counties that did not contribute inflows. Descriptive evidence suggests these effects may be muted in states with stricter mitigation policies (i.e., restrictions on bar/restaurant openings, mask-wearing mandates). We conclude that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally generated public health costs of approximately $12.2 billion.

Dr. Sabia acknowledges support from the Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies at San Diego State University, including grant funding from the Troesh Family Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation. We thank Alicia Marquez, Kyu Matsuzawa, Melinda Mueller, and Samuel Safford for outstanding research assistance

http://ftp.iza.org/dp13670.pdf

Based on the increase in case count, the researchers group, estimated that cases connected to the gathering resulted in $12 billion in public health costs, not including the costs associated with any deaths that might be tied to cases from the event. That dollar amount is based on another estimation that an average of $46,000 is spent on each patient who tests positive for COVID-19.

Researchers concluded that more than 266,000 cases were tied to the event attended by more than 460,000 individuals.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...rce=whatfinger

Cringeworthy Study Debunked: There Was No 'Sturgis Superspreader' COVID-19 Event

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2020...-event-n910325

By Stephen Green Sep 09, 2020 12:38 PM EST

There was not a “Sturgis superspreader” event infecting hundreds of thousands with COVID-19 at a cost of billions to American taxpayers.

A recent study claimed that the annual motorcycle rally held last month in Sturgis, South Dakota was a “superspreader event” infecting more than half of the 460,000 attendees at a cost of $12 billion to our public health institutions.

The Sturgis event happened, in that same wonderfully crazy way that the Sturgis rally always happens.

The “Sturgis superspreader” event did not happen.

Not even a little.

In a report titled “IZA DP No. 13670: The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and COVID-19,” claimed that “large crowds, coupled with minimal mask-wearing and social distancing by attendees” turned the rally into a “superspreader” infecting 260,000 people.

Authors Dhaval M. Dave, Andrew I. Friedson, Drew McNichols, and Joseph J. Sabia concluded that “the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally generated public health costs of approximately $12.2 billion.”

The public health risks of Sturgis were so rigorously studied by the authors that “no medical journal would touch it,” as bestselling author and public health writer Alex Berenson noted on Tuesday. Instead, the report was posted on the website of the obscure Insitute of Labor Economics, a leftwing German thinktank.

Our infotainment industry — formerly known as “the mainstream media,” and prior to that as “the news business” — went bonkers over the claim.

The Hill — formerly a respectable Washington-based publication — breathlessly ran the study’s claims as though they were undisputed by anyone without a political agenda. Reporter J. Edward Moreno briefly quoted South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) at the end of the piece, but that was it for “balance.” Instead, we got steno-pool quality reporting like this:

Based on the increase in case count, the researchers group, estimated that cases connected to the gathering resulted in $12 billion in public health costs, not including the costs associated with any deaths that might be tied to cases from the event. That dollar amount is based on another estimation that an average of $46,000 is spent on each patient who tests positive for COVID-19.

If you’re a reporter reporting on health issues and you didn’t take those claims with a grain of salt, or without at least quoting actual experts in the fields of infectious disease and public health, maybe you ought not to report on health issues.

For starters, the authors of the study made outrageous claims about the cost to treat a typical COVID-19 case, particularly asymptomatic cases.

COVID-19 doesn't cost this much

The typical cost for an asymptomatic case is probably close to zero, since most asymptomatic COVID-19 sufferers have no idea that they’re sick.

How many people actually suffered a death attributed to COVID-19 following Sturgis?

Sturgis superspreader event never happened

One.

Other infotainment outlets that fell for this rotten study include the usual suspects, and to date not one has issued a retraction or correction that I could find.

Here’s a partial list:

NBC News: Sturgis rally may have caused more than 250,000 new coronavirus cases, study finds
USA Today: Study says Sturgis bike rally was a ‘super-spreader’ event, led to 260,000 COVID-19 cases
IBT: Sturgis Rally May Have Led To 250,000 New US Coronavirus Cases, Study Estimates
Jalopnik: Results Are In: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Was A COVID ‘Super Spreader’ Costing Billions
Forum News Service: Researchers: Sturgis rally a ‘superspreader event’ linked to 267K coronavirus cases
Kaiser Health News: Sturgis Biker Rally Linked To 260,000 COVID cases

Yes, even Kaiser Health News. They really ought to know better.

Plus Fox News, The Washington Post, New York Times…

I could go on, but I’m on a deadline.

Also, I’d just like to add that it’s always the major infotainment outlets and the left-wing trolls in PJ Media’s comments section who accuse bloggers of writing nothing but clickbait.

In reality, the media prefers to spread COVID-19 panic and disinformation.

That’s why for the most part they didn’t apply a critical eye to a study that was ridiculous on the face of it.

As Reason’s Elizabeth Nolan Brown noted earlier on Wednesday:

According to South Dakota health officials, 124 new cases in the state—including one fatal case—were directly linked to the rally. Overall, COVID-19 cases linked to the Sturgis rally were reported in 11 states as of September 2, to a tune of at least 260 new cases, according to The Washington Post.

If I’ve done my math right — and I have — the breathlessly repeated, non-medical, non-factual “study” was off by three orders of magnitude.

That is what actual scientists call “a whole lot of wrong.”