Surgeon general expects new outbreaks of coronavirus from George Floyd protests

Dr. Jerome Adams, surgeon general of the United States is pictured during a visit to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, in Jackson, Miss. in 2018. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP)

After a few months of social distancing to slow the spread of coronavirus — and in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and too many more black people at the hands of police — Americans across the country have come together to publicly protest police brutality. While these protests, which have often contained thousands of people, send a powerful message, they can also quickly reverse the progress that parts of the U.S. have made in limiting new coronavirus infections.

In an interview with Politico on Monday, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams outlined the difficult balancing act that has defined the past several days. Protesters have valid concerns that should be heard, he said, but it is also practically impossible to effectively social distance at these events.

“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, adding that the impact of these protests on the spread of coronavirus could be seen in the next few weeks.

“Based on the way the disease spreads, there is every reason to expect that we will see new clusters and potentially new outbreaks moving forward."

Adams also noted, as he has in the past, that coronavirus has disproportionately infected people of color, meaning that a new increase of cases will be yet another challenge for these communities to meet.

“There is going to be a lot to do after this, even to try and get the communities of color back to where they need to be for people to be able to recover from COVID, and for people to be able to recover from the shutdown and to be able to prosper.”