Conservative radio host Mark Levin cited a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Saturday concluding that the decision to cut back on subway trains forced more people on fewer trains and contributed to the coronavirus spread.
“MIT study and analysis: New York’s decision to cutback on subway trains and public buses crowded more people onto fewer subway cars and buses creating the pandemic’s ground zero in the city,” Levin tweeted Saturday.
MIT study and analysis: New York’s decision to cutback on subway trains and public buses crowded more people onto fewer subway cars and buses creating the pandemic’s ground zero in the city.https://t.co/tc0UM5B0Ow
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) April 18, 2020
“New York City’s multitentacled subway system was a major disseminator — if not the principal transmission vehicle — of coronavirus infection during the initial takeoff of the massive epidemic that became evident throughout the city during March 2020,” the abstract of the study stated.
“The near shutoff of subway ridership in Manhattan — down by over 90 percent at the end of March — correlates strongly with the substantial increase in the doubling time of new cases in this borough. Maps of subway station turnstile entries, superimposed upon zip code-level maps of reported coronavirus incidence, are strongly consistent with subway-facilitated disease propagation,” the study continued. “Local train lines appear to have a higher propensity to transmit infection than express lines. Reciprocal seeding of infection appears to be the best explanation for the emergence of a single hotspot in Midtown West in Manhattan. Bus hubs may have served as secondary transmission routes out to the periphery of the city.”
The study conceded that the data “cannot by itself answer questions of causation,” but the author says that typical subway conditions match up with how the virus spreads according to popular belief.
“We know that close contact in subways is fully consistent with the spread of coronavirus, either by inhalable droplets or residual fomites left on railings, pivoted grab handles, and those smooth, metallic, vertical poles that everyone shares,” he wrote.
Hofstra University professor Anthony Santella responded to the study by saying he’s “not surprised” that there is a correlation between the virus’s spread and the subway but questioned the study’s conclusion.
“We’re talking about early March — before the restrictive public health control measures went in place,” Santella told the New York Post.
“It’s certainly not solely related to the subway system. It’s because of our own behaviors and when these other measures went into place.”
New York was the state hardest hit by the virus, which has killed over 14,000 people there.
“If you look at the past three days, you could argue we are past the plateau and starting to descend,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday. “So we’re not at the plateau anymore, but we’re still not in a good position.”
The daily death toll dropped below 500 on Monday for the first time since April 2.
