And now for the rest of the story on 'study'

In response to the letter on Dec. 8 by Jeremy C. The NYT story mentioned continues … "it has become much harder to pinpoint any source of any outbreak, now that the virus is so widespread and Americans may be exposed in so many ways. Most states don’t collect or report detailed information about the exposure that led to a new infection. But in states where a breakdown is available, long-term care facilities, food processing plants, prisons, health care settings, and restaurants and bars are still the leading sources of spread, the data suggest. … Social gatherings have become a convenient scapegoat for political leaders flummoxed by the steeply climbing numbers.

Julia Marcus, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard U., said "it's a way of distracting from the harder public health work that we need to do … by implementing mask mandates, addressing societal inequities and ensuring enough personal protective equipment.

A recent analysis by the NYT showed that states where leaders did not impose these containment measures now have the worst outbreaks. PJ Media, a right-wing political site, referenced a Johns Hopkins U. "study." The "study" was actually a story in the student paper, based on a YouTube webinar hosted by Genevieve Briand, an assistant program director in Hopkins’ applied economics department. Briand is “neither a medical professional nor a disease researcher.” So, another case of a letter writer cherry-picking "info" to support their own secret agenda.

CHRIS MIELKE

Sagle