>>> THERE’S GOING TO BE A LOT OF
ISSUES COMING OUT OF WHAT’S
HAPPENED THE LAST WEEK.
ONE WILL BE THE CHANGE OF
TRANSMISSION WILL HAVE BECOME
LIT FROM THESE GATHERINGS.
MINNESOTA, ONE OF THE HARD-HIT
STATES BY THE PROTESTS, WHERE
YOU’VE SEEN LARGE MASS
GATHERINGS, THAT STATE HAS BEEN
SEEING AN UPTICK IN CASES TO
BEGIN WITH, EVEN BEFORE THESE
PROTESTS STARTED.
WE SAW RISING HOSPITALIZATIONS
IN THE STATE.
THIS COUNTRY ISN’T THROUGH THIS
EPIDEMIC.
THIS IS CONTINUING TO EXPAND AT
A MUCH SLOWER RATE, BUT WE HAVE
POCKETS OF SPREADING COMMUNITIES
THAT AREN’T UNDER GOOD CONTROL.
>> IF YOU WERE OUT PROTESTING
LAST NIGHT, YOU PROBABLY NEED TO
GO GET A COVID TEST THIS WEEK.
BECAUSE THERE’S STILL A PANDEMIC
IN AMERICA THAT’S KILLING BLACK
AND BROWN PEOPLE AT HIGHER
NUMBERS.
>> THE MAYOR OF ATLANTA.
BEFORE THAT, FORMER FDA
COMMISSIONER SCOTT GOTTLIEB, ON
THE POTENTIALLY DEADLY
CONSEQUENCES OF LARGE PROTESTS
DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.
JOINING US NOW, "MORNING JOE"
CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT DR.
DAVE CAMPBELL.
DR. DAVE, I’M SURE WE WEREN’T
THE ONLY ONES THINKING THIS.
WATCHING THIS UNFOLD, AND THESE
PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, VERY CLOSE TO
EACH OTHER, SOME OF THEM,
OBVIOUSLY, SCUFFLING, HAVING
PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS.
HOW POSSIBLE IS IT THAT THERE
WILL BE A FEW, IF NOT MORE,
CORONAVIRUS CASES OUT OF THESE
PROTESTS THAT TURNED INTO RIOTS?
>> YOU’RE RIGHT.
EVERYBODY ACROSS THE COUNTRY WAS
WATCHING THIS UNFOLD WITH THE
SAME QUESTION IN THEIR MIND.
ALL THE EXPERTS SO FAR THAT I’VE
INTERACTED WITH DO BELIEVE THAT
WE WILL SEE A SPIKE, AND IT WILL
BE IN AREAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY,
NOT JUST MINNEAPOLIS, BUT WE’LL
SEE AREAS THAT ARE ALREADY
SHOWING HOT SPOTS, LIKE IN THE
SOUTH AND THE WEST, THAT WILL
SHOW SOME INCREASE IN THE
NUMBERS OF CASES OVER THE NEXT
FEW WEEKS.
MAYBE BY JULY 4th AND
THEREAFTER, WE’LL START SEEING
INCREASING DEATHS.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
BEING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE, AND
THERE IS A GREAT DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN HAVING A FACE COVERING
ON OR NOT HAVING A FACE COVERING
ON.
SO THE LITTLE BIT OF GOOD NEWS,
MIKA, WOULD BE THAT THE PROTESTS
ARE OUTSIDE.
BUT I WOULDN’T TAKE THAT EXAMPLE
TOO FAR.
BECAUSE MANY, MANY CLOSELY
QUARTERED INDIVIDUALS ARE GOING
TO SPREAD AEROSOLS AND DROPLETS.
AND WE ALREADY KNOW THAT TALKING
SPREADS THIS DROPLET BY ABOUT 6
FEET.
COUGHING BY ABOUT 12 FEET.
SNEEZING BY ABOUT 18 FEET.
I DON’T KNOW ANYBODY THAT’S
LOOKED AT SCREAMING AND
CHANTING, HOW FAR THAT WILL SEND
THE VIRAL PARTICLES, WHETHER
THEY’RE AEROSOLIZED OR BY
DROPLET.
>> YEAH.
YOU KNOW, EDDIE GLAUDE, HOW
CONCERNED WERE YOU DURING THESE
PROTESTS, WATCHING THESE
PROTESTS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL
DAYS, BY THE FACT THAT IT IS,
UNFORTUNATELY, BLACK AND BROWN
AMERICANS WHO HAVE FELT THE
DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT OF
COVID-19, AND PROBABLY A
MAJORITY OF THE PROTESTERS THAT
WE HAVE SEEN HAVE BEEN BLACK
AMERICANS.
>> YEAH.
MY OWN SON PARTICIPATED IN A
PROTEST YESTERDAY IN TRENTON,
NEW JERSEY.
WE HAD TO HAVE A HARD, DIFFICULT
CONVERSATION ABOUT SOCIAL
DISTANCING AND THE THREAT OF
COVID-19.
YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE THE ECONOMY
TRYING TO -- FOLKS FORCING THE
ECONOMY TO OPEN, FORCING PEOPLE
TO MAKE A CHOICE BETWEEN
PROVIDING FOR THEIR LIVELIHOOD
AND THE RISK OF DEATH, YOU HAVE
FOLKS MAKING THE CHOICE THEY
HAVE TO PROTEST POLICE BRUTALITY
AND RISKING THEIR OWN LIVES
AGAIN.
END OF THE DAY, JOE, I LOOK AT
IT LIKE THIS.
IN 1968, AFTER THE UPRISINGS,
AMERICA MADE A CHOICE TO DOUBLE
DOWN ON THE UGLINESS AND TURNED
ITS BACK ON THE POSSIBILITIES
THE FREEDOM ACT OPENED UP.
2020, WE HAVE TO RUN A KNIFE’S
EDGE.
WILL WE DOUBLE DOWN ON THE
UGLINESS, OR WILL WE BECOME A
TRULY MULTI-RACIALLY JUST
AMERICA?
THAT’S THE CHOICE RIGHT NOW.
>> DR. DAVE, GIVEN THESE
PROTESTS ARE IN ALL 50 STATES,
OFTEN MULTIPLE CITIES IN EACH
STATE, WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT IN
WHAT IS THE DATA TELLING YOU
ABOUT A SECOND WAVE, AND WILL
THESE EVENTS, PERHAPS, STEP THAT
UP?
>> WE SHOULD LOOK TO JULY 4th.
WE KNOW ON MEMORIAL DAY, A LOT
OF STATES OPENED UP.
IN FACT, ALL 50 STATES NOW HAVE
SOME DEGREE OF OPENING UP.
ALL 50 STATES ALSO HAVE HAD
CORONAVIRUS CASES, COVID-19.
SO IF WE LOOK AT THE CALENDAR
AND REALIZE THAT A FEW WEEKS,
ONCE YOU’RE INOCULATED, TO BE
INFECTED AND GET SICK, THEN A
FEW MORE WEEKS FOR THOSE THAT
ARE GOING TO GO IN THE HOSPITAL,
THEN A FEW MORE WEEKS FOR THOSE
THAT WILL UNFORTUNATELY DIE,
WE’RE LOOKING AT JULY WHEN WE
COULD START SEEING SOME DRAMATIC
SPIKES.
ALTHOUGH, EVEN IN A COUPLE
WEEKS, IN SOME OF THE VERY HOT
SPOTS, WHERE THE PROTESTS HAVE
BEEN DENSELY CONGREGATED, WE
COULD SEE IT EVEN SOONER,