How To Safely Protest Amid The Pandemic, According To Experts 

Mass protests against police brutality have broken out around the country, following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd. Crowds are gathering in streets to demand justice for Floyd, and all of the innocent black lives lost, overlooked, or living in fear because of systemic racism. As they gather, public health officials have raised concerns over protesting safely in the middle of a pandemic. 

"All things considered, there's little doubt that these protests will translate into increased risk of transmission for COVID-19," computational public health researcher Maimuna Majumder, Ph.D., tells the Atlantic. That said, "structural racism has been a public health crisis for much longer than the pandemic has," Majumder explains. 

That structural racism has even left racial and ethnic minority groups more vulnerable1 to the coronavirus. "People of color, particularly African Americans, are experiencing more serious illness and death due to COVID-19 than white people," VP and chief diversity officer Sherita Hill Golden, M.D., MHS, writes for Johns Hopkins Medicine. 

These health inequities are often due to economic and social conditions that are more common among people of color, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains. "In public health emergencies, these conditions can also isolate people from the resources they need to prepare for and respond to outbreaks." 

Those risks are still very real and should be taken seriously. "Protesting during a pandemic is complicated because joining in the protest carries risks of infection," public health researcher Eleanor Murray, ScD, MPH, tells mbg. "So, protesting in a pandemic is important when the aim of the protest is to address a life-and-death or public health problem. Racism and police violence are both."

As a reminder, the coronavirus is thought to be spread through respiratory droplets2, like coughing and sneezing, but also shouting or chanting. Person-to-person transmission is the most common, especially when people are within 6 feet of each other. "The virus that causes COVID-19 is spreading very easily and sustainably between people," the CDC says. 

Social distancing3 is a strategy used to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and one way the CDC recommends doing that is by avoiding crowded places and mass gatherings. Most protests, by nature, can't fully adhere to social distancing recommendations, and they will likely lead to a spike in cases, according to experts. 

It's going to be difficult to stay 6 feet from everyone during a crowded protest. When possible, though, try to distance from strangers and stick with a buddy system. 

Murray recommends self-quarantining for 14 days following the protests. "If at any time in that period they develop symptoms, they should seek COVID-19 testing," she says.