Little evidence that protests spread coronavirus in US: Health experts

There is little evidence that the protests that erupted after George Floyd's death caused a significant increase in US coronavirus infections, according to public health experts.

If the protests had driven an explosion in cases, experts say, the jumps would have started to become apparent within two weeks -- and perhaps as early as five days. But that didn't happen in many cities with the largest protests, including New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C.

In what's considered the first systematic look at the question, a team of economists determined that only one of 13 cities involved in the earliest wave of protests after Memorial Day had an increase that would fit the pattern.

It was Phoenix, where experts say cases and hospitalizations surged after a decision by Gov. Doug Ducey to end Arizona's stay-at-home order on May 15 and eased restrictions on businesses. Arizona residents who were cooped up for six weeks flooded Phoenix-area bar districts, ignoring social ...