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Public health experts and government officials, including New York’s governor, are warning that large street protests over racial inequities and excessive police force could worsen the spread of the novel coronavirus. The protests over the death of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis last Monday, have spread to cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Baltimore. (Humer, 6/1)

New York: Leaders in the state said they were concerned about a possible resurgence of coronavirus stemming from the protests, but acknowledged the significance of the demonstrations sparked by George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. “It’s very hard to say to people, when there’s such pain, such anger, that you say don’t come out because of the pandemic,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. “For those who have made either presence felt, made their voices heard, the safest thing from this point is to stay home, obviously,” he added. “We don’t want people in close proximity to each other.” (Calfas and Rasmussen, 6/1)

Tens of thousands of people, masked and unmasked, have thronged the streets of Minneapolis, Atlanta, Louisville, Ky., and other cities in the week since George Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck. They are the largest public gatherings in the U.S. since the pandemic forced widespread shutdowns, and many local officials warned of a possible spike in new cases in one or two weeks. "Risk of transmission is lower in open spaces, but wherever there is a gathering there is still the risk of transmitting the virus," said Dr. Elaine Nsoesie, an assistant professor of global health at Boston University. (Chappell, 6/1)

“With protests, there is a high risk of spread in the sense that people are in close quarters with each other, they're screaming and yelling,” said Abraar Karan, a public health expert and internist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Health officials and experts are walking a fine line between telling protesters to go home, a warning that would almost certainly be ignored, and acknowledging the threat of the virus. The California Department of Public Health published recommendations for protesting while maintaining social distance. (Wilson, 6/1)

Several leading health groups are speaking out against police brutality, calling it a public health issue that leads to poorer health outcomes for communities of color, especially during a pandemic. “Police brutality in the midst of public health crises is not crime-preventive — it creates demoralized conditions in an already strained time,” American Medical Association President Patrice Harris and Board Chair Jesse Ehrenfeld said in a statement. (Hellmann, 6/1)

Mass protests over police brutality have shuttered coronavirus testing sites, complicated efforts to track people who have been exposed and set off fears among local officials that the unrest could spark fresh waves of virus infection. Testing sites in Pennsylvania, Florida, California and Illinois closed after violence broke out over the weekend, limiting cities’ ability to track the virus just as thousands of people participate in crowded demonstrations across the country. (Ollstein, Ehley, Goldberg and Lim, 6/1)

Community coronavirus testing sites are closing in several states as a precaution as protests and unrest spread over the death of George Floyd in police custody.Among the closures are sites in Illinois, California and Florida, according to reports. (Sweeney, 6/1)

There will likely be a new rash of coronavirus cases following widespread protests this weekend over racism and the death of George Floyd — but people’s concerns need to be heard, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in an interview. “I remain concerned about the public health consequences both of individual and institutional racism [and] people out protesting in a way that is harmful to themselves and to their communities,” Adams said in a phone call. (Owermohle, 6/1)

As heavily armed police officers advanced on peaceful protesters outside the White House Monday night, President Trump declared recent acts of protest across the country “domestic terror” and vowed to crack down on any future group violence in a brief speech that did not address the issue of racism or police brutality that has fueled the unrest. (Bidgood and Goodwin, 6/1)

Protesters and journalists have been met with tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper balls at rallies and riots across the U.S. over the death of 46-year-old George Floyd, who died while in police custody in Minnesota. The measures used by police, while not lethal, are designed to break up crowds and — in the case of pepper spray — can also be used by the general public for personal protection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But they can cause permanent damage. (Fowler, 6/1)

Even before protesters across the country took to the streets in rage and grief over police brutality, Americans were already facing unprecedented stress, isolation, depression, and fear brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, as the country began to consider relaxing stay-at-home orders and reopening businesses, experts warned that the months of isolation and unemployment prompted by the coronavirus pandemic may increase deaths of despair, a term for an alarming rise in early deaths among young and mid-life Americans, from suicide, drug overdoses, and alcoholism. (Ao and Whelan, 6/1)

As cities across the U.S. shut down access into and out of downtown areas in response to protests and riots over the death of George Floyd, access to hospitals is being limited for medical staff and patients. Health systems are limiting services, offering tips on how to clear police checkpoints and working with law enforcement to help staff and patients get to their facilities. (Christ, 6/1)