According to a new study published earlier this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the nationwide demonstrations don’t appear to be linked to spikes in coronavirus cases.
“Our findings suggest that any direct decrease in social distancing among the subset of the population participating in the protests is more than offset by increasing social distancing behavior among others who may choose to shelter-at-home and circumvent public places while the protests are underway,” the report reads.
“Cities which had protests saw an increase in social distancing behavior for the overall population relative to cities that did not,” the report notes.
Basically, during the massive protests, enough people stayed home to avoid running into the massive demonstrations that it could have actually helped limit the spread of the virus.
For example, in Texas, one of the first states to completely disregard the health of its residents in favor of economic gains, Gov. Greg Abbott said people under 30 have made up a majority of new coronavirus cases in several counties.
