Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield is suggesting protestors who are gathering amid unrest over George Floyd’s death get tested for the coronavirus.
Redfield expressed his desire for demonstrators–especially those in metropolitan areas–to “highly consider” being tested for the coronavirus, he told Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) during Thursday’s House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
“I do think there is a potential, unfortunately, for this to be a seeding event,” he said. “And the way to minimize that is to have each individual to recognize it’s to the advantage of them to protect their loved ones.”
He continued that people should say, “‘Hey, I was out, I need to go get tested.'” The CDC director then suggested people get tested in about three to five days after going out into the protests to “make sure you’re not infected.”
Frankel then mentioned her question to Redfield as she asked what he advises states to do if they are “overwhelmed and they don’t have the contact tracers.”
“I want to work with the states so they don’t get to that pace,” Redfield responded, adding, “They need to work with us now to make sure … they are overprepared … This is a time to be overprepared.”
There have been large gatherings over the last week for justice over Floyd’s death — whose neck was pinned by a former Minneapolis police officer and who died in police custody on May 25 — with many seen wearing masks, but with little distance from one another.
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Additionally, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) showed a picture of Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri crowded with people, saying, “Look at these folks, this is unbelievable.”
Over Memorial Day weekend, hundreds of people flocked to the lake — a state health official, however, said that there were no new known coronavirus cases since.
DeLauro noted that Missouri “does not” have the capacity to do contact tracing.
“Is the CDC tracing everyone who was there? Yes or no, Dr. Redfield?” she asked. Redfield, however, said the state has not asked them to assist with that.
Asked then about the crowd at the NASA space launch recently, Redfield said, “I think the really important thing of all of this, as you pointed out, is not to just the individuals but to the risk that they’re putting the individuals they go home to.”
On the protests and coronavirus pandemic, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said similar remarks to Redfield during Thursday’s press conference.
“If you were at one of those protests, I would, out of an abundance of caution, assume that you are infected,” he said. “One person, one person can infect hundreds if you were at a protest.”
Coronavirus tests are available to all protesters. We ask protesters to be responsible.
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 4, 2020
Wear a mask. Get tested.
Act as if you may have been exposed.
“You went to a protest, get a test,” Cuomo added. “Tell people, act as if you may have been exposed.”
