Attending Protests Undoubtedly Increases Infection Risk, Experts Say. But There Are Ways To Mitigate It.

NPR: Protesting? Here's How To Help Keep Your Family Safe From COVID-19 When You Go Home
Protesting during a pandemic likely leaves participants with at least two questions: Did I get infected? And might I be putting others at risk?Given that COVID-19 has an incubation time of up to two weeks, experts say it will take a couple of weeks before the impact of the protests on community transmission is known. But in the meantime, there are critical steps you can take to minimize the risks to yourself and those you live with. (Godoy, 6/10)

Bloomberg: Positive Protest Tests Raise Virus Spread Concerns: Protest Wrap
A protester who attended a Black Lives Matter rally in Melbourne, Australia, last weekend has tested positive for the coronavirus, raising concerns that global protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death may contribute to a second wave of virus spread. Some National Guard members in Washington D.C. had earlier tested positive after responding to protests there. The mayor of Los Angeles urged protesters in his city to consider self-quarantining for 14 days. (6/10)

CIDRAP: US COVID-19 Cases Top 2 Million As First Protest-Linked Infections Noted
Some members of the Washington, DC, National Guard—deployed over the past 2 weeks of protests and civil unrest in the wake of the George Floyd murder—have tested positive for COVID-19, a National Guard spokesperson confirmed with McClatchy news services yesterday, and US cases today topped 2 million. Though it's not clear how many of the 1,300 troops active in DC in recent weeks are infected, the news dampens optimism that outdoor protests with masked participants would not necessarily spread the novel coronavirus. The National Guard is encouraging all troops deployed during protests to be tested for COVID-19 within 14 days. (Soucheray, 6/10)

The New York Times: Why Are So Many N.Y.P.D. Officers Refusing To Wear Masks At Protests?
Riot helmets, ballistic vests, shields, batons — fully decked-out police officers have become staples in New York City as the protests against racism and police brutality approach their third week. But increasingly, one piece of equipment has attracted attention with its absence: the face mask. On any given day, any corner, any group of officers, some or all of them are not wearing masks. Others wear them below their chin. With masks having become as ingrained as shirts and shoes in the vast majority of New Yorkers’ wardrobes, their widespread absence on the police is striking — and to a mayor and governor still fighting the coronavirus pandemic, troubling. (Wilson, 6/11)

Reuters: Washington, D.C. Urges Anti-Racism Protesters To Get Tested For Coronavirus
Washington, D.C. on Wednesday urged people who had participated in protests against police brutality and systematic racism to get tested for the coronavirus. The federal district joins a number of other locales, including Boston, Dallas and the state of New York, that have asked protesters to be tested, after thousands of people flooded the streets in demonstrations amid the pandemic that has sickened nearly 2 million Americans and killed about 112,000. (6/10)

The Hill: Fauci Underscores Concerns About Protests Spreading Coronavirus 
Anthony Fauci early Wednesday expressed concern that recent mass protests against police brutality and racism would spread the novel coronavirus because of a lack of social distancing. Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert and member of the White House coronavirus task force, told ABC's “Good Morning America” he isn’t surprised that members of the Washington, D.C., National Guard who mobilized in response to the protests had tested positive, but he called the development “disturbing.” (Chalfant, 6/10)

Reuters: Pence Says No Rise In U.S. Coronavirus Cases Seen Yet Due To Protests
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday there had been no sign yet of an increase in coronavirus cases from two weeks of nationwide protests over police misconduct and racism. “What I can tell you is that, at this point, we don’t see an increase in new cases now, nearly two weeks on from when the first protests took effect,” Pence said in an interview on Fox Business Network. (6/10)

The New York Times: Meet The ‘Grandmother Of Street Medics’
As protests against police brutality have swept the country, in some cases leading to additional police aggression, toward demonstrators, a loosely organized group of trained volunteers has been on call to intervene and treat injuries. Street medics, who may be medical professionals or first aid practitioners with only basic training, bandage cuts and rubber bullet wounds. They treat symptoms from tear gas, Mace and pepper spray, using water and saline to flush protesters’ eyes. And, working as teams, they help move marchers out of harm’s way. (Bromwich, 6/10)

Kaiser Health News: Fighting COVID And Police Brutality, Medical Teams Take To Streets To Treat Protesters
Amid clouds of choking tear gas, booming flash-bang grenades and other other “riot control agents,” volunteer medics plunged into street protests over the past weeks to help the injured — sometimes rushing to the front lines as soon as their hospital shifts ended. Known as “street medics,” these unorthodox teams of nursing students, veterinarians, doctors, trauma surgeons, security guards, ski patrollers, nurses, wilderness EMTs and off-the-clock ambulance workers poured water — not milk — into the eyes of tear-gassed protesters. (Dawson, 6/11)

Los Angeles Times: LAPD Investigating 56 Claims Of Police Misconduct During Protests
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating 56 allegations of misconduct by officers during protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death, officials said Wednesday. Of the 56 investigations, 28 involve alleged use of force, the LAPD said Wednesday in a statement. Seven officers have been taken out of the field pending the outcome of the investigations. The LAPD has tasked 40 investigators with looking into the allegations of misconduct, excessive force and violations of departmental policy during the protests. (Winton, 6/10)