Some big-city mayors say that recently reported coronavirus cases likely are linked to anti-police protests, Fox News reports.
Officials in Los Angeles, Seattle and Miami-Dade County told Fox News that new cases could have been a result of ongoing protests.
Mayors in other cities declined to comment or argued the protests are unrelated to a spike in cases. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office disputed the idea that the protests are tied to a jump in cases.
"Based on our health indicators, which measure hospital admissions, number of people in ICU and percentage of New Yorkers testing positive, we have seen no indication of an uptick in cases," the mayor’s deputy press secretary Avery Cohen told Fox News.
New York City has seen a decrease in cases over the last several months, but local NY NBC Channel 4 reported on Saturday that "over the course of a week, New York's daily death toll has stayed constant, but its percentage of positive coronavirus cases rose four days straight."
Cohen responded to the report by stating New Yorkers testing positive "remains at a steady 2%, far below the nationwide average," and that, "at this time, we do not believe there has been a resurgence in cases related to the protests, which reached their peak over a month ago."
While New York City hasn’t seen a recent surge in cases, other large cities have.
Last Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said protests were likely causing virus cases to rise. Two days before that he said there wasn’t "any conclusive evidence" showing an uptick in cases was tied to protests.
"I talked again with Dr. Ferrer about that this morning," Garcetti said, referencing Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the L.A. County public-health director. "She does think some of the spread did come from our protests.”
He said protesters need to wear a mask, social distance and use hand sanitizer.
A spokesperson for Carlos A. Giménez, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, told Fox News on Sunday the protests were a "contributing factor" to new virus cases along with house parties, graduation parties and restaurants illegally turning into clubs after midnight.
Giménez "meets several times a week with his team of medical experts," spokesperson Patty Abril told Fox News in an email. "Those experts have told him that, based on information in our local emergency rooms, the protests were a contributing factor, along with our community letting its guard down and not social distancing or wearing masks, as mandated.”
Seattle health official James Apa said protests may have played a small role in new reported cases, but said, “protests are not driving our upsurge in cases."
“From what we can tell, protests were not a major factor,” he said of a recent spike in cases. "A small percentage of the total number of cases reported going to a protest, which may or may not mean they acquired it there.”
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