Officials in New York have openly fretted that the massive civil rights and anti-police protests following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd could lead to a new coronavirus outbreak as tens of thousands packed together on city streets.
Yet, testing data released by city and state officials in recent days shows little evidence of any spike — a seemingly confounding development that experts say is attributable to a few key factors.
First, the lag in test results and COVID-19’s long incubation period mean the Big Apple may not be out of the woods, yet.
“It is too soon to tell what public health impact the protests of the last few weeks will have on New York,” said Professor Summer McGee, the dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of New Haven, in Connecticut.
“We will have a much better picture of things in another week or two because positive tests and hospitalization lag behind exposure by a few weeks.”
However, the protests were outdoors in the fresh air and the vast majority of protestors at demonstrations wore face masks or other protective coverings, two important things that scientists say help prevent the virus’ spread.
“Most protesters I saw were wearing some kind of cloth face covering,” McGee added. “But prolonged close proximity to others is a concern when individuals are wearing bandanas and less effective masks.”
Masks are increasingly central to efforts by public health authorities to slow the spread of the disease.
A new study out of Britain showed that even homemade cloth masks can dramatically reduce transmission of COVID-19, according to a report published by the Reuters news agency.
“Our analyses support the immediate and universal adoption of face masks by the public,” Dr. Richard Stutt, who co-led the study at the University of Cambridge, told the wire service.
He added that combining widespread mask use with social distancing and some lockdown measures could be “an acceptable way of managing the pandemic and re-opening economic activity” as scientists race to develop a vaccine for the virus.