The sheer volume of reporters/newspapers/tv stations that have unquestioningly accepted the results of the #SturgisRally study is... well... disappointing

There are some assumptions in it that could very well be flawed. ($46K per case for example)

I looked at CO data...
(more)

Study specifically references Jefferson, Weld, and Adams counties where 1.) lots of residents went to Sturgis and 2.)saw a notable increase in COVID cases.

So, I looked at each county's data...

Adams, for example, experienced NO marked increase.

https://www.tchd.org/823/Case-Updates

Jefferson County did see a small bump,... but it didn't sustain itself

https://www.jeffco.us/4007/COVID-19-Case-Summary

Weld County...

little to no bump

https://www.weldgov.com/departments/health_and_environment/2019_novel_coronavirus/covid19_data

To be clear, I'm not saying the study is wrong...

But I am guessing most reporters reporting on this have yet to even read the study

Here it is if you want to read it:
http://ftp.iza.org/dp13670.pdf 

The study suggests Sturgis was a superspreader event that could be tied to a quarter of a million cases

With a cost of $12.2 BILLION to the health care system

Yet in the three Colorado counties that saw a high number of people go... the Colorado data shows no sustained growth

Could that change?

Sure

Was it responsible for thousands of people to crowd together in a SD town in the middle of a pandemic?

You can decide for yourself

BUT

for reporters to take the non-peer reviewed study w/o question for cheap clicks...

WELL.

That's not great

And THIS IS PRECISELY WHY OUR NAYSAYERS CRITICIZE US

By sharing the negative "sky is falling" stories w/o questioning it... and simultaneously showing skepticism of stories that suggest maybe it's not

we become unwitting cheerleaders in a story with huge policy implications.

All I'm asking for is consistent level of skepticism to be shared across the spectrum on this story.

That's all...

We've scared people, sometimes (but not always) needlessly so.

This story is scary enough without our worst tendencies adding more fuel to this fire.