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People Who Attended Black Lives Matter Protests In Australia Urged To Self-Isolate

People Who Attended Black Lives Matter Protests In Australia Urged To Self-Isolate

Medical experts are worried there could be a spike in new coronavirus cases

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Tens of thousands of people attended Black Lives Matter protests in Australia over the weekend.

There was a lot of concern about the planned events as it was going to be nearly impossible for everyone to socially distance from one another and the coronavirus pandemic isn't fully eliminated in the country yet.

There were attempts to stop some of the rallies from going forward but, in the end, all were permitted and allowed many to talk about the racial injustices seen on home soil.

Many have called for justice for the more than 400 Aboriginal people who have died in custody since the 1990s, while others begged for people to educate themselves about the history of Black Lives Matter in Australia.

PA

But now medical experts are concerned about every single person who attended these rallies and have told them to self-isolate for two weeks just in case.

Australian Medical Association chief Dr Tony Bartone said: "We need to be very clear - we are still very much in the early phase of dealing with COVID-19. Mass gatherings are certainly the last gatherings on the list [of restrictions] and it was clearly against the advice of all the health authorities.

"[The] only safe way...of minimising any risk of it [coronavirus] spreading over the next 14 days is to ensure that we keep our distance from the rest of the community."

Pictures show the vast majority of people who attended the protest demonstrations in capital cities across the country wore face masks to avoid spreading or catching the virus. However, officials say we won't know whether the mass gatherings resulted in more coronavirus cases for a few weeks.

PA

Dr Bartone continued: "Indeed if that one person is a superspreader, the ability to infect many tens of people is very easily achieved. The game is very much alive and we all need to be vigilant, but especially those who attended the rally."

"No matter how much hand sanitiser, no matter how much the masks were being worn, for those periods of time there is a risk of the virus passing," he also told Radio 3AW.

Australia's deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth added: "In terms of what the effect of that mass gathering is going to be, we have to accept that they have happened, and we have to wait and see what will happen as a result of the mass gatherings.

"There is no current recommendation that people who attended those mass gatherings should do anything different, in fact, do exactly the same thing which is get tested if they become unwell."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Australia