Massive protest threatens COVID-19’s revival, so city officials will prepare

STate and the local public health authorities are in a difficult situation. After imposing restrictions for months to protect residents from the highly infectious coronavirus, they now make a great deal of sacrifice in the lives of their families and the wider economy, and they are now just as important as others. It is necessary to balance their efforts with protecting the rights of Americans who come together to protest with their obligations Police atrocities and racism.

This balancing is compounded by timing. According to the World Health Organization, new daily cases of COVID-19 worldwide hit a record high on June 7, indicating a potentially worsening pandemic. And after ordering at home for months to delay the spread of the disease, many states and counties are still beginning to resume their economy. Sufficient evidence Many of them have not yet met containment benchmarks, further increasing the likelihood of new infections nationwide.

In response to the confluence of these factors, public health officials are doing something high-wire. In most states and territories, political leaders refused to block protests and instead prepared local hospitals, test centers, and contact tracking units for what would be expected to revive COVID-19 across the country. Moving to do But just as the risks of the virus itself have not changed, there are no financial or organizational obstacles that have disrupted the state during the early months of the pandemic.

The country’s patchwork response is probably rocky and possibly deadly, as two crises currently in effect overwhelming black Americans, one of which is a pandemic, and other ongoing police atrocities. Authorities predict that there may be a future outlook.

Weigh the risks

Days and weeks after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, police protested extensively, with most governors, mayors, doctors, epidemiologists, and local health commissioners blaming the rally or calling out participants. I didn’t encourage me to go home. Instead from the mayor Atlanta To Oklahoma City Washington D.C. joined the march and city officials in Minneapolis, New York, St. Louis and Baltimore distributed masks to demonstrators. About 1,300 health workers Open letter He called the protest “essential to the public health of the public and to the health of the black population in the United States in particular.”

But these solidarity actions were not neglected, a public health expert told TIME. The threat of COVID-19 is not diminishing, but the situation is changing and protesters, or authorities, Informed calculation About the relative threat to public health and safety. “The effects of systemic racism over the centuries are far greater than the effects of COVID,” said Julia Marcus, an epidemiology epidemic at Harvard Medical School. “And if we can move towards the demolition of structural racism at the moment of collective action, that could actually have a positive impact on public health.”

But Mr Marcus must also strive to encourage state and local officials to gather protesters as safely as possible. “What we need to do now is very clearly communicate the risks and ways people can reduce their potential harm,” she says. For example, June 6, New York City Department of Health Recommendation For protesters, encourage people to use noise makers instead of singing and singing, carry hand sanitizers, and avoid contact with vulnerable people after attending demonstrations. Public leaders in many cities encourage residents to undergo COVID-19 testing after participating in protests.

Police interaction

Many protesters across the country appear to wear masks, but not everyone does. Public health experts also say police officer behavior can make things worse. Photos and videos from across the country show police officers not wearing masks and other police actions, including enclosing demonstrators, spraying chemical stimulants that cause tears and coughing, and crowding vans and prisons. It indicates that it can exacerbate the spread of the virus. In Chicago, Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, Alderman in the 33rd arrondissement of the city, spent hours last week in the precinct to help release bail-out protesters, and TIME said “no officers were masked.” I said.

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Taylor Barros, a 16-year-old arrested for a protest in Brooklyn, told TIME that police officers who had interacted with her regarding the use of the mask were not consistently acting. “As soon as we got on the bus, they took my bandana off the face because the police officer said I could be strangled,” Barros said. Another officer later distributed the mask to the detainees.

Departmental protocols require New York City and Chicago police officers to wear masks during a pandemic. Formerly NYPD Told TIME It was “working as quickly and safely as we could to handle the arrest during this unprecedented time.” Chicago police spokespersons told TIME that in addition to demanding masks and gloves outside, police were “highly encouraged” to wear these items on precincts and in department cars, but ” It wasn’t always the last week, given the growing activity we’ve been responding to.

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Prepare for surge

Studies show that people who are newly infected with coronavirus can take up to 14 days to show symptoms of the disease. As a result, epidemiologists hope that cases related to ongoing protests will begin to appear next week or two. But they warned, and the data are murky: Already, almost half of the states are seeing rising coronavirus rates, probably related to lifting home orders starting late April and May. It seems. By June 9 22 states The number of cases of COVID-19 was increasing.

This dynamic movement-a combination of increased infections on resumption and another expected rise from protests-means the state is rushing again to prepare for increased hospitalization. But by the beginning of June, some cities and regions are much better prepared than others. NYC Health + Hospitals, a company that operates public hospitals in New York City, said, “If the epicenter of the outbreak, the city soared again, “it is ready to reinvigorate the strategy it implemented in late March to early April. ” Corresponds to COVID-19. “These steps include nearly doubling the ICU’s ability, relocating doctors to treat patients with coronavirus, and recruiting additional clinical support,” a spokesperson said. Said.

In Minneapolis, doctors say they are on track to deal with the proliferation of new cases. Abbott Northwestern Hospital, near the location where Floyd died, has not taken any specific steps in response to the protest, but Dr. Timothy Sierrahu, Chief Medical Officer of Arena Health, which runs the hospital, said , Said the medical system is ready to expand its response as needed. “Allina Health has been actively preparing for the surge in COVID-19 patients over the last few months,” he said in a statement. “We have a solid plan and we do it according to the amount of patients we have.”

The data suggest that other parts of the country, where cases are increasing, are less prepared. 32 states had low ICU availability on Tuesday, according to data from Covid’s exit strategy.. Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama was very crowded and had to send patients To other parts of the state, And in metropolitan areas such as Phoenix and Memphis, the COVID-19 Burden Index, run by healthcare intelligence company Leavitt Partners, predicts that ICU beds will be depleted in three weeks.

Arizona Director of State Health Requested hospital On June 6, the emergency plan will be “fully enabled” to reduce or suspend selective surgery. The directive said the ICU was “very busy” after Banner Health, the state’s largest medical system, told reporters, so the system should immediately implement a surge plan if the trend continues. .. By June 8th, banner health The above Recently, we have also reached the capacity of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines to act as extracorporeal lungs in patients with severe lung injury, a potential complication of COVID-19.

Racial differences

As local authorities prepare, public health authorities have carefully designed hospital care, testing, and contact tracking efforts. Dies at a much higher rate from COVID-19 Lorraine Dean, associate professor of epidemiology at Human Health at Johns Hopkins University, who has less trust in public institutions than whites, says: “Black and brown people are particularly aware of the unethical treatments that occur and how even public health policy contributes to the worsening health inequality.

Dean’s actions in the federal government-from defending President Trump’s white nationalists in Charlottesville to his slow reaction to the current pandemic-have made it difficult for people to trust local authorities and the health sector as well. Point out. “If you already have distrust of the whole United States and the whole United States system, the healthcare system is part of it,” she says.

Some states have taken proactive steps to address this trust gap. For example, the Minnesota Department of Health is working to set up a voluntary COVID-19 test site for anyone attending a large gathering of demonstrations, cleanups, vigils, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. .. Said on June 7 His state has added 15 test sites for protesters, and New York City has conducted 35,000 tests a day to help demonstrators better protect themselves and their families. Atlanta added Free test site Public health officials in other metropolitan areas frequently reminded residents that they could now be tested for COVID-19 without symptoms.

Even before the protest, Baltimore has launched pilots for three mobile test sites that, in addition to other community test sites, do not require appointments or doctor referrals. The city used flyers and radio ads to reach some of the communities that may not be on social media. These are still options for those who want to take the test after participating in the protest.

Trust gap

The next step is contact tracking. This involves personnel identifying who has been in contact with the infected person and providing guidance on quarantine, health care and other services. This tracking is widely believed to be essential to slow the spread of COVID-19. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tells Congress on June 4 that the US needs between 30,000 and 100,000 contact tracers to control the next wave of COVID-19 I said. Many cities have begun to hire rafts of new contract tracers, but they are still largely catching up.

A few weeks ago in Los Angeles Only 400 Of the 6,000 contact tracers estimated to be needed for the resumption of California, New York City Sale Contact tracking program with 1,700 workers on June 1 after Mayor Bill de Brascio Said in early May He aimed to reach 2,500 by early June and ultimately hired 5,000 to 10,000 contact tracers. Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health has established a new contact tracking department, but currently has only about 12 contact trackers on staff. In Columbus, Ohio, health department staff has been reassigned as contact tracers, and workloads have increased significantly over the last few weeks. At a press conference on June 4, John Henry Jr., who is currently pursuing follow-up as an HIV counselor, was contacting reporters a few weeks ago about 12 contacts each day, Now 30 contacts daily.

If police continue to arrest you, abuseProtesters, public health officials say contract tracers face a difficult battle. Many protesters are already distrustful of police and public authorities, and may be reluctant to provide government officials with the names and contact information of their protesting friends and colleagues. “I’m worried that utilization will be even lower, especially in communities that really need to track the most contacts,” said John Des Hopkins expert Dean. “I think there’s certainly some distrust of the healthcare system that already existed and was justified. For COVID, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue.”

Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, Baltimore Health Commissioner, told TIME that her city is working to bridge the trust gap. “So far, we have made some deliberate efforts in our contact tracking messages and never asked for specific personal information such as social security or credit card numbers or immigration status.” Says Dzirasa.

On June 4, Baltimore announced that it would hire about 300 additional contact tracers to support about 100 full-time staff and 28 part-time staff. The city is also partnering with trusted locals such as church leaders, community organizers, fellow recovery experts, and others to communicate to residents about the importance of everything from wearing a mask to tracking contacts. I am supporting. This last part is probably the most important. “We know that you don’t always get the right answer,” says Dzirasa. “But I think it’s important that we continue to work hard, build trust within the community, and tell us who you have contacted.” “

After all, effective contract tracking may be one of the only ways to encourage mass protests and at the same time reduce the spread of deadly illness.

— Andrew R. Chow / Report by New York

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