Correction: MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Misinterpreted Oklahoma Virus Test Data

Last updated on July 2nd, 2020 at 01:10 pm

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes issued a correction and said that he misinterpreted Oklahoma’s 100% positive test rate after Trump’s Tulsa rally.

Hayes said:

On Monday I said that in Oklahoma authorities tested 352 people for coronavirus over the weekend and found every test positive. They then tested another 178 people and found them all positive as well. I was so incredulous over those numbers, I even checked the website to confirm those numbers before we went on air. Indeed, that is what is on the official website. We weren’t wrong. That’s what they report. The problem is there is a lag in the way that Oklahoma reports its data. With fewer but almost entirely positive tests being reported on the weekends and then larger numbers including negative tests

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reported later in the week. Those numbers I said on Monday did not provide a clear or complete picture because they were not the final numbers for Oklahoma’s weekend testing. If a statistic sounds too wild to be true, it probably is. I’m going to remind myself of that in the future.

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Here is the original story:

Even though Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma quickly became a laughingstock after only about 6,000 people showed up, it may be having an impact on the spread of coronavirus in the state.

As MSNBC’s Chris Hayes pointed out on Monday, 100 percent of coronavirus tests in Oklahoma came back positive over the past two days.

“Yesterday in Oklahoma, they tested 352 people for the coronavirus, and every single test came back positive,” the MSNBC host said. “Today they tested another 178 people, and all those tests came back positive, too.”

“If you can’t do the math in your head, that’s 100% positive rate,” he added.

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Hayes said:

And it comes less than ten days after that infamous Tulsa, Oklahoma rally where even with the arena far from full, you still had thousands of people gathered in an indoor space cheering and screaming in a city that had just seen a spike in cases and in violation of every single recommendation for safety, again, from the Trump administration’s own CDC. And while we never know cause and effect exactly, particularly in the moment, it’s hard to figure out what the exact impact of that rally looks like. Look at this: yesterday in Oklahoma, they tested 352 people for the coronavirus, and every single test came back positive. Today they tested another 178 people, and all those tests came back positive, too. If you can’t do the math in your head, that’s 100% positive rate. That’s extremely bad.

Trump’s actions are only helping the virus spread

As Chris Hayes noted on Monday, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact cause and effect of mass gatherings like Trump’s rally in Oklahoma on the spread of the coronavirus – especially in the short term.

What we do know, however, is that the president’s actions – both direct and indirect – are helping the virus spread.

Whether it’s bringing people together at events that violate every single one of his own CDC’s recommendations or refusing to be an example for the country by wearing a mask, Trump himself is an obstacle to stopping the spread of this deadly virus.

The best thing for the health and wellbeing of the United States is for Donald Trump to be voted out of office.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.