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US Cities Fear Protests may Fuel New Wave of Virus Outbreaks

Associated Press

   LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The massive protests sweeping across U.S. cities
   following the police killing of a black man in Minnesota have sent
   shudders through the health community and elevated fears that the huge
   crowds will lead to a new surge in cases of the coronavirus.

   Some leaders appealing for calm in places where crowds smashed
   storefronts and destroyed police cars in recent nights have been
   handing out masks and warning demonstrators that they were putting
   themselves at risk.

   "If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a
   COVID test this week," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Saturday
   evening. "There is still a pandemic in America that's killing black and
   brown people at higher numbers."

   Minnesota's governor said too many protesters weren't socially
   distancing or wearing masks after heeding the call earlier in the week.

   But many seemed undeterred.

   "It's not OK that in the middle of a pandemic we have to be out here
   risking our lives," Spence Ingram said Friday after marching with other
   protesters to the state Capitol in Atlanta. "But I have to protest for
   my life and fight for my life all the time."

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