County investigators find no link between COVID-19 outbreaks and local protests



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Portland’s protests against racism and police brutality have continued almost daily since May, gathering crowds of hundreds and sometimes thousands throughout the summer and fall, even as health officials public warned against gathering in large groups to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As the rallies defied social distancing guidelines, Multnomah County COVID-19 case investigators say there has been no virus outbreak linked to the ongoing protests in Portland.

“There has been no evidence to suggest that residents’ rallies protesting the brutal racist policies and systems that led to the deaths of George Floyd and so many others contributed to the transmission of the disease locally. Said Kate Yeiser, Multnomah County communications coordinator.

Since June, county investigators have asked people infected with COVID-19 about risk factors for contracting the virus, especially if they had attended large gatherings. According to investigators, less than 1% of those polled said they had attended large gatherings and out of a sample of 120 people infected, only one person said they attended a protest.

“In Multnomah County, it is clear that the highest risk of COVID is close and prolonged contact with known people – usually family, friends and co-workers,” Yeiser said.

Using data collected between June and September, investigators found that 13% to 25% of COVID-19 cases surveyed per week said they attended a rally. Investigators looked at random samples to assess which types of gatherings were the cause of transmission and found that 70% were family and social gatherings. Religious gatherings still accounted for 20%.

Public health officials said in June that there was no evidence of the spread of COVID-19 during protests in Portland following the death of George Floyd after a Minneapolis police officer put his knee on the Floyd’s neck. As coronavirus cases in Oregon have increased in recent weeks, protesters have adapted their organizing strategies to prevent further spread of the virus.

When Sarah Samms, 29, a member of the local protest organizing group JUICE (which stands for Justice, Unity, Integrity, Community, Equality) found out that she had tested positive for COVID-19 on November 13, she immediately informed the other 12. members of his group. Samms began a 10-day stay at the Jupiter Hotel’s COVID-19 shelter and his fellow JUICE members entered a self-imposed quarantine and did not leave until they had tested negative twice.

The same day they learned of Samm’s diagnosis, JUICE posted an alert on their social media accounts, describing three separate outdoor events that Samms had attended the previous weekend and urging anyone who was also there and concerned to contact their doctor.

“I have been tested once a week for the past few months and I am very careful. I even have a double-mask, ”said Samms, 29, who was reached by phone inside the COVID-19 shelter at the Jupiter Hotel. “Getting it again is just a realistic revelation of how this disease is airborne and contagious.”

JUICE’s contact with the coronavirus led the group to rethink how they would continue to participate in the Portland protest movement. The group initially came together in a protest outside the Justice Center this summer and began to organize their own marches and events to support the Black Lives Matter movement, while also offering support to the city’s Black and Indigenous communities and residents. colored.

A black man wearing a gray cap, blue waistcoat, t-shirt and jeans and holding a clipboard speaks to a crowd gathered on a grassy field using a microphone.  A white tent is behind them.  Some people in the crowd are sitting in the grass and others are standing.  Rain clouds are above.

A preacher speaks to a gathered crowd at a Black Lives Matter event hosted by JUICE at the Vanport Historic Marker in North Portland on September 26, 2020.Catalina gaitan

With one of its own members sick and cases pouring in statewide, JUICE has adapted the way it organizes itself to prevent the spread of the virus, including meeting on Zoom and offering educational conferences online. for the foreseeable future.

“We’re going to have to find smarter ways to be active and I think a lot of people are going to change and change,” Samms said. “We’re still working on a presentation of how we’re going to approach protests in person here, but most of all we’re going to change and become more dependent on the virtual world.”

Following Multnomah County’s recent dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases, Yeiser said investigators had to streamline their interview process for those newly diagnosed.

“Public health does not anticipate being able to continue to collect or analyze data regarding the type of largest collection exposure in all cases,” Yeiser said. “However, the data that has been collected and analyzed suggests that the protests have not been a significant source of spread.”

For Samms, contracting the coronavirus herself has not held back her commitment. She said her own experience as a homeless youth in Portland motivated her to help marginalized people.

“When I saw how the police behaved in my hometown and saw all these beautiful people standing together like strangers risking their physical safety for each other, I knew it was done. for me to stay. There’s nothing going to stop me, ”Samms says. “I will continue to be as active as I have been – it might be different.”



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