Coronavirus threat at protest rallies should be taken seriously, state officials say
Protesters who attend rallies in South Carolina should wear masks and keep their distance from others to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, a highly infectious disease that has plagued the state since early March, state health officials said Wednesday afternoon.
The virus can spread easily in large crowds, including protest rallies occurring across the nation and state over police brutality, officials said.
“One thing we do know about this virus is that the louder you speak, the more likely you are to transmit if you are infected, or if you are singing at sort of a loud volume, you are more likely to transmit if you are infected,’’ said Joan Duwve, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control’s public health director.
“These are things that commonly happen at protests,’’ she said. “I’m not saying they should not be done, but just that people should be aware of the increased risk.’’
In addition to advising people to wear masks to rallies, Duwve said people should stay apart to prevent the spread of the infectious disease. The general rule is to maintain a distance of six feet if not more. Duwve said she has been told some people who organized rallies handed out masks last weekend in Columbia.
State and federal health officials say masks will contain germs so that infections are not spread from one person to another. Infected droplets can be expelled through people’s mouths and noses. Everyone in large gatherings needs masks if they are near one another, officials say.
South Carolina is seeing a rise in cases of the coronavirus after restrictions intended to contain COVID-19 were eased, beginning in early May. The coronavirus, which makes breathing difficult, has killed more than 500 people in the state since early March.
Since those restrictions were lifted, people have packed beaches, stores, boat ramps, and other public gathering places, often without masks. That has raised concerns that the virus would begin to expand again, after initial efforts seemed to be containing COVID 19.
Now, protest rallies — which state officials say they aren’t opposed to — have added to the public health concern.
Thousands of people gathered in Columbia, Charleston and Greenville last weekend to protest the death of a Minnesota man who was pinned to the ground by a white police officer. Many have called for an end to racism that they say police agencies display toward African Americans.
Orderly rallies in Columbia and Charleston preceded crowds of people roaming the streets, in some cases breaking windows and burning police cars. Many involved in the mayhem in Columbia were not wearing masks and were packed tightly together.
Helmut Albrecht, who heads the University of South Carolina medical school’s department of internal medicine, said large gatherings make conditions ideal for viruses to spread.
“I sympathize and I understand’’ the protests, he said. “But it is a new reality out there, and even protests should adjust to this new reality. If you are yelling, you want to be at least six feet — probably more — away if you don’t wear a mask. If you are leading a chant, or something like that, you should be distanced and the other people should wear a mask.’’
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 6:29 PM.
