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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Have any coronavirus cases on Martha’s Vineyard been linked to Obama’s 60th birthday party?

By Lisa Freedland
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NO

On Aug. 7, 2021, former President Barack Obama held a party for his 60th birthday on Martha’s Vineyard, an island just south of Cape Cod. The Obamas “scaled back the event to include only family and close friends” amid rising concern about the spread of the delta coronavirus variant, and asked guests to show either proof of vaccination or test results showing they were free of the virus.

The Daily Mail reported that of 158 coronavirus cases documented on the island since the date of the event, none has been attributed to the party. A local health official told the Daily Mail that after contact tracing, there haven’t been “any cases linked to the Obama party,” adding that if there were, “we’d be seeing them already.”

Official Massachusetts data groups Dukes County, which includes Martha’s Vineyard, with nearby Nantucket County. Records show the 14-day average daily infection rate rose in the counties to 67.4 per 100,000 people in the two weeks ending Aug. 21, from 46.3 in the prior two-week period.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Snopes Did Obama scale back ‘massive’ 60th birthday party due to COVID-19 concerns?
Daily Mail Martha’s Vineyard Hospital bears brunt of COVID spike two weeks after Obama birthday party
Commonwealth of Massachusetts COVID-19 response reporting
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Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.