Hospital leaders are anticipating an uptick in COVID-19 cases as Americans gather to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man who died Memorial Day in the custody of Minneapolis police.
While social distancing has flattened the number of COVID-19 patients, hospital leaders like Huntsville (Ala.) Hospital CEO David Spillers said gatherings of large groups of people will inevitably mean more COVID-19 cases, he told local news station WAFF 48.
"We changed from an environment where people weren't even going out of their house to an environment where people are engaging and interacting," Mr. Spillers told the news station. "There is no way it won't go up, we just have to make sure it goes up [at] a manageable rate. Then hope it doesn't convert to inpatients and then hope inpatients don't convert to ventilator patients and people who don't survive the virus."
Mr. Spillers encouraged people who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to get tested for the virus before participating in the protests. He said he doesn't think all protesters should be tested for COVID-19, but should be tested if they are symptomatic.
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