Atlanta mayor urges George Floyd protesters to get tested for coronavirus
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Atlanta’s mayor is worried about George Floyd protests in her city fueling the spread of the coronavirus.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, urged protesters to get tested for the virus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a COVID test this week,” she said Saturday at a news conference. “There is still a pandemic in America that’s killing black and brown people at higher numbers.”
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A similar call was being heard in New York City.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dr. Theodore Long, who is leading New York City’s contact tracing efforts with its public hospitals agency, urged anyone who had been involved in the demonstrations to get tested for the virus and to protect themselves while out, according to The New York Times.
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“We strongly encourage anybody who is out in the protests to wear a mask, practice proper hand hygiene and to the extent possible, socially distance, though we know that’s not always going to be feasible,” Dr. Long said, according to the paper.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bottoms signed an executive order extending a curfew for the city. The new curfew will begin at 9 p.m. Sunday and end at Monday at sunrise, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
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Violent protests across the U.S., some of which have turned into riots amidst a pandemic, and the relaxing of lockdowns have health officials worried about new coronavirus infections. The virus has killed more than 100,000 people in the U.S.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Health experts fear that silent carriers of the virus could unwittingly infect others at protests where people are packed cheek to jowl, many without masks, many chanting, singing or shouting. The virus is dispersed by microscopic droplets in the air when people cough, sneeze, sing or talk.
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“Whether they’re fired up or not, that doesn’t prevent them from getting the virus,” said Bradley Pollock, chairman of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of California, Davis.