Protests over Floyd’s death, “a setup for further spread of COVID”

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Protests after the death of George Floyd could lead to a spike in Coronavirus infection after social distancing is ignored.
• Although protesters are seen wearing facial coverings, it can only do so much to prevent the spread of the coronavirus with a breach in social distancing.
• With protesters coming from different cities, locals might get coronavirus from the close contact with other protesters or bring it home to their cities.

After weeks of social distancing or 6 feet away from other people and staying at home, joining the demonstrations might jeopardize measures to contain the coronavirus infection. The protests have spread to other cities and states as widely as the spread of the coronavirus.

“It makes me cringe on a number of levels,” said Dr. Katie Passaretti, medical director for infection prevention at Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“It’s a setup for further spread of COVID,” Passaretti added. “It’s heartbreaking.”

More than 1.7 million people have been infected with the coronavirus in the country and 105,000 have already perished from it.  The close contact during protests and the shouting, yelling, not to mention the coughs and sneezes that expel large respiratory droplets is a disaster waiting to happen.

Protesters come from different cities and can infect locals or bring the infection home to their cities.

“It’s concerning on a number of fronts, amid multiple horrible situations,” Passaretti said. “It’s hard to step back and believe all this is going on at the same time.”

Participants have been advised to use hand sanitizer, wear masks or face covering, and to wear eye protection against injury by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in a tweet Saturday.

Doing these protective measures can only do so much, though.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a news briefing last Sunday, “If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a COVID test this week, because there’s still a pandemic in America that’s killing black and brown people at higher numbers.”

African Americans are disproportionately affected by Covid-19 according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Former chief of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, warned that the U.S. “isn’t through this epidemic” yet. “Chains of transmission will have become lit from these gatherings,“ Gottlieb told CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

Source: NBC News