06/08/2020

COVID-19 Cases Were Already Rising Before the George Floyd Protests

Easing of stay-at-home orders, Memorial Day tied to increasing rates of outbreak

Across the U.S., tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against decades of systemic racism and police brutality, and to demand justice for George Floyd, a black man who was killed while in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. Amid the well-documented dangers of rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray—which heavily militarized police departments have used against protesters and journalists in recent days—these mass demonstrations carry a more invisible threat, too. The deadly new coronavirus (COVID-19) is still circulating in all 50 states. And with so many people yelling, chanting, and coughing in close proximity, the protests will almost certainly set off devastating new chains of contagion in the coming weeks. (Let’s not forget that the virus thrives in jails and prisons, and this week the police arrested more than 10,000 people.)

The virus typically takes four to five days to incubate before an infected person starts showing symptoms (if they show symptoms at all). But it can take up to 14 days, and—given the additional time it takes people to get tested and learn their results—that means it could be July before the number of new protest-related cases becomes clear. What scientists are already starting to see, however, is that in at least 14 states, including Minnesota, case numbers have been on the rise following the relaxation of stay-at-home orders. And correspondingly, intensive care units have been filling up. In these spikes, epidemiologists see the consequences of states opening up too early, before establishing adequate testing and tracing resources to contend with new outbreaks. And they’re worried about those two forces colliding.

“We’re really dealing with a syndemic right now,” or the compounding effect of multiple, distinct health catastrophes, says Charles Branas, chair of the epidemiology department at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “The epidemic of racial injustice has come to a boil alongside an epidemic of COVID-19, and they’re acting together to really maximize the problem in the U.S.”

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.