It’s a miracle!
Dozens of health experts have signed a letter saying they support the massive protests that have drawn tens of thousands of people together in cities and towns all across the country, despite the fact that for the past three months, we’ve all been warned to stay in our homes and not stand close to each other for fear of spreading the coronavirus.
Why? Well because apparently, while COVID is still allegedly a major risk to gym-goers, grocery shoppers and church congregants, it magically disappears when thousands of people take to the streets to burn down their city protest racism.
"Risk of transmission is lower in open spaces, but wherever there is a gathering there is still the risk of transmitting the virus," said Dr. Elaine Nsoesie, an assistant professor of global health at Boston University.
Of course, Nsoesie admits it’s nearly impossible to observe “social distancing” measures – you know, the rules we’ve been bullied into observing under threat of arrest, jail, and assault from random self-annointed Behavior Police – during a protest.
"I can see how some of these tips can be difficult to follow. For example, if you are angry or frustrated about an issue, you want to express that feeling, and speaking is one way of doing that,” Nsoesie said. "It's also hard to keep 6 feet of distance at a protest.”
Even still, NPR reports, “But the risks of congregating during a global pandemic shouldn't keep people from protesting racism, according to dozens of public health and disease experts who signed an open letter in support of the protests.”
"White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19," the letter said.
Got that? The once-deadly disease that had previously gotten you branded you a "Grandma Killer" if you took your kids to the beach or held a drive-in church service in a parking lot, the pandemic that was so dangerous last week that we all needed to stay cowering in our homes watching hair stylists being thrown in jail for taking customers is now simply a moonier inconvenience to be shrugged off as a giant nothing burger when it comes to people clustering together by the thousands and screaming into the void to protest cops.
And – stay with me here, these are some complicated mental gymnastics – people, especially blacks, should be encouraged to ignore the COVID risk and protest, because COVID has disproportionately affected their communities. Therefore, they should gather together and risk COVID transmission to protest the racial injustice that has contributed to….COVID transmission.
Or something.
“Data is showing that blacks and Latinos have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in many states," said Nsoesie. "Racism is one of the reasons this disparity exists."