Tear gas being deployed by police in cities across the country to quell protests might “catalyze” another outbreak of COVID-19, a Duke University researcher said.
Police are using tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and other devices to control protests and rioting across the country in response to the death of George Floyd, who died while in Minneapolis police custody May 25. Sven-Eric Jordt, an associate professor of anesthesiology at Duke University, worries that coughing, which is an effect of tear gas, could help spread coronavirus at mass gatherings, he told The New York Times.
“I’m really concerned that this might catalyze a new wave of Covid-19,” he said.
A tear gas canister erupts as protesters disperse on May 30, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Jordt’s comments came as experts voiced concerns over protests spreading COVID-19. The White House coronavirus task force has reportedly discussed the potential for the virus to spread at mass demonstrations.
A potential second outbreak sparked by protests could disproportionately affect black individuals, who have already been hit particularly hard by the virus.
A World War I parade in Philadelphia, held during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, acted as a major catalyst in spreading the illness. Just 72 hours after the parade, every hospital bed in the city was reportedly filled. The city experienced a spike in deaths in the weeks after the parade.
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