The New York Times Makes a Rather Stunning Admission About Small Gatherings and the Spread of COVID

In response to some Republicans announcing how they’re planning on defying the various gathering limit mandates and “travel guidance” issued by Democratic governors, the Usual Suspects on the left and in the media have rushed to declare them as callous and cold-hearted, uncaring about the health and well-being of the public.

For example, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes alleged that “increasingly the entire Republican Party has basically taken the side of the virus and are actively trying to spread it”, this just days after he encouraged Biden supporters to take to the streets to celebrate in large crowds.

Joe Biden has also weighed in on Thanksgiving get-togethers and endorsed the draconian and unconstitutional mandates, insinuating the country would be in the same position it is in now next year at this time if it didn’t heed Dr. Fauci’s demand to “do what you’re told” here at the holidays.

With all of that in mind, it was more than just mildly interesting to read a report from the New York Times this morning in which they all but admitted that the basis Democratic governors are using for their gathering limit mandates (that they will lead to “superspreader” events) does not match up with the available data:

Household get-togethers undoubtedly do contribute to community transmission of the virus. Canada’s recent Thanksgiving certainly added to its rising cases; such an increase may happen here, too, as the United States embarks on a holiday season like no other. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday warned so strongly against gathering with others outside the household during Thanksgiving.

But are dinners and backyard barbecues really the engine driving the current surge of infections? The available data do not support that contention, scientists say. Still, the idea has been repeated so often it has become conventional wisdom, leading to significant restrictions in many states.

[….]

But many epidemiologists are far less certain, saying there is little evidence to suggest that household gatherings were the source of the majority of infections since the summer. Indeed, 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.

[…]

A constant drumbeat about the dangers of social gatherings may help to convey the seriousness of the current surge, [Harvard University infectious disease epidemiologist Julia Marcus] said. On the other hand, in some states the misperception has led to draconian policies that don’t square with science.

The article is pretty detailed, and there’s a lot to sift through, so make sure to read it in full here.

Small Gatherings Spread the Virus, but Are They Causing the Surge?

"available data do not support that contention" https://t.co/F6olX3aEfe #ncpol #ncga pic.twitter.com/c5UBRabbXu

— 𝑴𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓 (@mjrusher) November 24, 2020

When I first read it, honestly I was shocked that an article that countered so many Democratic narratives about indoor gatherings allegedly leading to superspreaders got past the ~~censors~~ editors at the New York Times. I mean, this news outlet like so many others has spent the last 8 months or so shaming anyone – particularly Republicans – who don’t follow CDC guidelines and government mandates to the letter.

But then it hit me why they’re likely publishing something like this now. Just as the case is with all the articles touting the coronavirus vaccine’s reported effectiveness, we’re finding out the truth about the lack of a factual basis for indoor gathering limits because it would appear that it would take a miracle for Trump to win the election at this point.

Now that it looks all but impossible for him to do that, the media are doing all the pillow plumping they can for the Biden campaign (and Democrats in general) by making it so by the time Biden-Harris take office – assuming they are certified next month – the media can paint them as the heroes of the pandemic, make it appear as though we’ve turned the corner in January, things can get back to normal soon, yada yada – just as they’ve (baselessly) done with NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Though this is some stellar reporting from the NY Times, they don’t get a cookie here for telling us what most of us have long suspected. People should be infuriated over how they didn’t bother to dig into the data on small gatherings until after the election. Was it purely coincidental? Don’t count on it.

Do yourselves a favor at Thanksgiving: Enjoy your time with your family, take precautions just to be on the safe side, and when the holidays are over, come back ready and raring to keep up the good fight against the liberal media bias that infests journalistic institutions like the New York Times. Because no matter who ends up being sworn in next year as president, the mainstream media is only going to get worse.