Blaming protesters for COVID-19 spread ignores the bigger threats to health

Gatherings in every state in the country this week to protest police brutality may be followed by increased numbers of COVID-19 cases in the next few weeks, state health departments warn. But a narrow focus on whether the number of COVID-19 cases may spike after protests is a distraction from the real health dangers of police brutality and racism.

Public health experts say, though, that governmental failures that allowed the coronavirus to spread are much more dangerous than the recent gatherings. And the issues that protests are calling attention to have been health risks for decades.

“If you point your fingers at a symptom, which is a protest, you’re missing the root cause, which is systemic racism,” says Abraar Karan, a physician at...

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