On June 1, the seventh day of protests and riots across the United States, triggered by the death of an African American man caused by the violent enforcement of white police, showed no signs of relief. Continuous protests have affected the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic in the United States. Many officials and experts worry that large-scale crowd gathering will destroy the previous anti epidemic achievements, leading to a second outbreak.
Analysts believe that the United States is experiencing "two crises" of epidemic and protest demonstrations, which interact and even strengthen each other, making it more difficult for the United States to solve any crisis.
On June 1, people protested against police violence in New York Times Square.
Increase communication risk
The protest took place at a time when the current anti epidemic situation in the United States is still grim, raising concerns about whether there will be a sharp rebound in the United States.
Richard Ellison, an American epidemiologist, said that the current protests in the United States are very large and the participants are very close. If there are virus carriers present, other people will face the risk of infection even if they are outdoors. Speaking loudly, singing and shouting slogans will release more droplets to the air, and tear gas and pepper spray will cause runny nose and cough, which are conducive to the spread of the virus.
According to Xinhua News Agency reporters who have been observing the demonstrations in Washington for several days in a row, although most of the protesters wear masks, due to the large number and limited places, they are almost crowded, unable to maintain a safe social distance at all.
At present, many officials in the severely affected areas have expressed concern about the outbreak. New York governor Cuomo said on June 1 that he was worried that the large-scale demonstrations in New York City would lead to the failure of previous efforts to fight the epidemic. Allison awadi, director of the city's public health department, said the new coronavirus doesn't care what's going on in the city. It uses every opportunity to spread. Eric gachetti, mayor of Los Angeles, warned that there might be so-called "super communication activities" during the demonstration, which would trigger a second round of outbreaks.
On May 30, people demonstrated in Chicago to protest against the violent law enforcement by the police.
The impact has been felt
According to the New York Times, the most worrying thing for experts is the asymptomatic infected, who will participate in demonstrations and spread the virus because they feel good about themselves, which will bring great risks. Ellison pointed out that it usually takes 5 to 14 days for the contacts to show symptoms if they are infected, so it will be a while before protests lead to more cases of new crown infection.
If it remains to be seen whether the protests will lead to a second outbreak, it is a reality that the prevention and control work will be affected. Los Angeles, for example, closed several outbreak detection sites on May 30 because of riots; Illinois also announced on June 1 that it would close new coronavirus detection sites in the community during the demonstration.
What has been affected is the economic restart. In response to protests and riots, as of June 1, curfews had been imposed in at least 40 cities in the United States, including Washington, D.C., and at least 23 states and Washington used the National Guard to coordinate police policing. At the same time of strengthening public security measures, many governments decided to suspend the resumption of economic activities. For example, the Washington city government announced on June 1 that the number of outbreaks rebounded last week, and Washington will postpone the "second phase" restart plan to continue to open some commercial and public places. Miami Dade County, Florida, has decided to suspend plans to open its beaches on June 1 until a local curfew ends.
On May 30, protesters clashed with police in Los Angeles.
A vicious circle of fear
On the one hand, the protest affected the prevention and control of the epidemic, on the other hand, the occurrence of the protest had nothing to do with the epidemic. Analysts believe that the rapid and large scale of the Freudian protest is largely due to the intensification of multiple social contradictions under the epidemic.
Ethnic minorities, especially African Americans, were "more injured" in the US outbreak. Statistics show that African Americans account for about 23% of the deaths in the new crown epidemic in the United States, which is significantly higher than about 13% of the population. Experts pointed out that this is behind the gap between the rich and the poor, uneven distribution of medical resources, racial discrimination and other reasons.
Phil willetto, the leader of freedom, justice and peace defenders movement in Virginia, believes that the widespread and violent protests triggered by Freud incident are closely related to the long-term economic stagnation caused by the epidemic, which has a serious impact on the working class.
Analysts said that Freud incident is just a "fuse", which not only arouses people's anger at violent law enforcement and racial discrimination, but also ignites American people's dissatisfaction with the government's poor anti epidemic and hard to maintain their livelihood. However, once the protests lead to a rebound in the epidemic, the situation of ordinary people will be more difficult, and their dissatisfaction will be further deepened. At present, the situation is still fermenting, and there may be a new "fuse" to intensify the contradictions. In addition, the White House is still creating divisions. Many people are worried that the protests and even riots in the United States will not be easily subsided, or will fall into a vicious circle of protests and the deterioration of the epidemic.
