Public Health Officials Concerned Protests Will Cause a Spike in Coronavirus Cases

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Public health officials voiced concern for a spike in COVID-19 coronavirus cases this week as protests against police brutality continued nationwide. Officials including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Center for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield urged caution among protesters and recommended the use of antibody tests.

Some coverage from left-rated outlets acknowledged the risk of public gatherings, while comparing it to police brutality's effects on black Americans. Many also argued that there is a link between systemic racial inequality and marginalized communities’ tendency to have higher rates of mass incarceration, poverty and disease. Coverage from right-rated outlets generally also expressed caution over a potential second coronavirus wave, with some also pushing back against equating pandemics of "risky behavior" with true disease outbreaks. Some on the right accused the left of hypocrisy for being against large gatherings just two weeks ago, and now being favorable toward them in the face of a favored political cause.

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During an April 2 interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News, Surgeon General Jerome Adams compared deaths caused by COVID-19 to deaths caused by smoking and drug abuse. "More people will die, even in the worst projections, from cigarette smoking in this country than are going to die from coronavirus this year," he said.

Wallace questioned the analogy. "Dr. Adams," he said, "there's a big difference between opioids and cigarettes, which are something that people decide to use or not to use, [and] the coronavirus, which people catch. It's not an individual choice."

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A top U.S. health official cautioned on Thursday that protests sweeping across the country could increase the spread of the novel coronavirus, particularly in cities that have struggled to control the outbreak, and that participants should “highly consider” getting tested.

Huge crowds have taken to the streets of dozens of cities since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody set off unrest that has roiled America in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

As someone with asthma, Meredith Blake was very worried about getting sick in the pandemic. With Covid-19 spreading across America, she stayed inside her home in Boston for 12 weeks, isolating from others as much as possible.

Her self-quarantine ended on June 1. After George Floyd’s killing at the hands of police in Minneapolis, she was compelled to march in the streets with a large crowd of other Bostonians, in close proximity. She wore a face mask and used lots of hand sanitizer wipes.