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With large groups of people gathering in the Richmond region during the past week to protest the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, and police treatment of blacks in a broader sense, public health officials in the region are urging protesters to use caution.
“There is no question that COVID-19 can spread during these protests,” Henrico Health Department officials wrote in a statement Thursday. “Many people are wearing masks, but others are protesting without them, which makes the crowd as a whole more vulnerable. Even outdoors, COVID-19 can transmit from person to person through large gatherings, and just a handful of contagious people can potentially infect hundreds around them. The virus also spreads more easily if an infected person is yelling, which is certainly common during a protest, or when a person is coughing or sneezing.”
Even as they expressed strong support for those who are protesting, health department officials warned citizens to take a number of precautions.
“The horrific events of the past few weeks have reminded us that racism is an ever-present force in our society that has been far deadlier over time than the COVID-19 pandemic,” health department officials wrote. “The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery may have been the tipping point that led to local and national protests, but black and brown people have been forced to live with threats and acts of violence, racism, and the weight of our broken systems for decades and centuries. Police violence is a public health crisis that has lifelong impacts on the physical and mental health of individuals, families, and entire communities.”
Those who feel sick should stay home, officials wrote, and those who attend marches or protests to wear masks that cover the nose and mouth. COVID-19 can be spread from infected people through coughing or yelling in close proximity to others.
It is impossible to predict how many people will become infected, officials said, and contact tracing will be made much more challenging by the fact that so many strangers are standing close together during protests.
Other tips offered by the department for those who are planning to attend a protest or rally:
• use noisemakers or written signs instead of voices;
• wear goggles to protect your eyes, through which the virus may be transmitted, and saline spray to reduce coughing and sneezing if you are exposed to smoke, pepper spray or other chemical irritants.
• try to stay close to people you know while marching; it will help with contact tracing efforts if one member of the group becomes sick;
• monitor yourself closely for symptoms of the virus for two weeks afterwards;
• if symptoms appear, isolate and call your primary care provider to arrange testing, or attend a community testing event;
• even if you don’t develop symptoms, wear a mask and practice social distancing for two weeks afterwards or longer.
Dates and times of future community testing events are available on the department’s website at www.rchd.com. For details, call the department’s COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501.
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