Former FDA Commissioner: ‘We’re Certainly Going to See Transmissions’ of Coronavirus Coming out of Protests

As thousands of Americans gather to protest police brutality, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner 👤Scott Gottlieb says it is likely that the coronavirus spread between the protesters.

“We’re certainly going to see transmissions coming out of these gatherings, there’s no question about that,” Gottlieb said in an interview on CBS’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday.

He continued, “I think the idea of reducing the risk from these protests is a shared responsibility. There’s steps these protesters can take, and you see many of them wearing masks in these protests and understanding the risks.”

Additionally, he said that there are steps law enforcement officials can take to de-escalate situations and help prevent transmission.

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Gottlieb also said that there is some evidence that large gatherings of people do lead to a greater rate of transmission.

Specifically, he cited festive gatherings in Germany as examples of how the virus spread in gatherings.

“The science showed there was about a two-and-half-times increase in the rate of transmission as a result of bringing people together in large gatherings,” he said, adding, “So we have some scientific basis to understand that these kinds of settings do create risk.”

Finally, Gottlieb noted that it would “take a couple of weeks” to see how the gatherings impacted the spread of the virus.

As a precaution, he urged protesters to take steps such as social distancing, wearing masks, and staying away from people who could be vulnerable to the virus after they attend the protests.