It can be dizzying to follow the rules from government officials, “public health experts,” and the media on what we are and aren’t supposed to do amid the coronavirus epidemic. But the rank double-standards of Democrats, “experts,” and journalists shouldn’t make Republicans and conservatives toss judgment out the window when planning events this summer.
President Trump and the Republican National Committee are taking on unneeded risk in planning a multiday, indoor convention with thousands of delegates and guests from around the country.
Recommended Stories
Trump might be better off with a one-day, outdoor rally, which would pack just as much rhetorical and entertainment punch while providing a much lesser risk of spreading the virus.
Any discussion about coronavirus spread should acknowledge the massive weight of what we don’t know about it. Expert opinion has shifted about whether children spread it, whether outdoor spread is a real threat, whether asymptomatic people spread it, to what extent the virus survives on surfaces, whether masks help, what sorts of masks help, and so on.
But the weight of the evidence, especially when we look at the location of the outbreaks, suggests that the virus is spread through prolonged, close-quarters, indoor exposure to infected people, including pre-symptomatic infected people.
If you bring together 10,000 people from around the country and put them in the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, to shout and cheer in close quarters to one another for hours on end, three days in a row — and then send them back to all 50 states — it seems you’re running a pretty high risk of significantly spreading the virus. That’s especially true because the crowd of delegates will include hundreds of people over 65 and because Trump has been setting a norm against mask-wearing.
An outdoor rally would allow for more spacing and less particle recirculation. Limiting it to one day would provide fewer occasions for infection and reinfection. Trump could pick the 15 best speakers, line them up in a row, and have one major blockbuster outdoor event.
I’m a huge defender of properly spaced outdoor gatherings. I understand why Trump wants a rally. But the direction the RNC is going now doesn’t seem to balance the risks properly.
