Quick Q&A: Protesting in a Pandemic
A doctor who treats people with Covid-19 answers common questions about staying safe right now
The protests ignited by the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer are continuing throughout the U.S. and the world. The coronavirus pandemic is also continuing. Public health experts like Abraar Karan, MD, MPH, an internal medicine doctor at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, have been sharing their thoughts on social media about why they support protesters. “If anyone thinks that we as doctors aren’t concerned about Covid-19 anymore, you’re wrong. We are,” he recently shared on Twitter. “However, attempts to pit the control of Covid-19 against the efforts to stop racism are going to fail. You cannot dichotomize two things that are deeply connected.”
The Medium Coronavirus Blog caught up with Karan and asked him some questions about protesting and the pandemic.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Medium Coronavirus Blog: In your opinion, what should we expect coronavirus case-wise from the number of people at the protests?
Abraar Karan: From what we understand about transmission dynamics, superspreading events may be causing a large amount of spread in general…
