CAPE CORAL, Fla -- Health experts are growing more concerned about the impact protests could have when it comes to spreading the coronavirus. They fear it could contribute to a possible spike in cases.
The concerns come as our nation has seen crowds gather in protests that continue across the country, in wake of the death of George Floyd. Health experts are pushing for protestors everywhere to get tested.
In Southwest Florida, hundreds turned out for a peaceful protest Saturday in Downtown Fort Myers.
Now, there's nationwide concern among health experts that this could lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases. This, as cases in the U.S. climb towards two million.
Sunday, The Centers for Disease Cntrol and Prevention said it's closely looking at the demonstrations.
"We really want those individuals to highly consider being evaluated get tested," said CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield.
We're also seeing politicians weigh in on the issue, with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo expanding testing for this reason.
In a tweet, Cuomo said "if you attended a protest, assume you may have been exposed to COVID. Get tested."
He said there are 15 new testing sites in New York City for those attending protests.
The state, which has been particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, has seen crowds of thousands continue to gather in protest over the death of George Floyd.
"We are concerned that those protests may have increased the spread of the virus. We're going to do 35,000 tests per day just in New York City. Snapshot, snapshot, snapshot. So we'll watch it on a daily basis to find out exactly what is happening," said Cuomo.
