Black Lives Matter Protester Tests Positive For Coronavirus After Attending 10,000 People Rally In Australia

By Edna Wande Last updated Jun 11, 2020

A Black Lives Matter protester has tested positive for coronavirus after attending a 10,000 people rally in Melbourne, Australia.

The man who is in his 30s reportedly marched through the city on Saturday and developed Covid-19 symptoms 24 hours later, sparking fears of a second spike in infections in the country.

Health official fear the man may have passed the disease onto others, even if he wore a mask while at the rally.

Minister of Home Affairs Peter Dutton speaking on Sydney radio 2GB, said the case could be the start of a mass outbreak, saying;

This realises our worst fears. Now we could slip back into a second wave like other countries have.

A Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has however argued that it was unlikely that the man contracted the virus at the protest, because it was too soon for him to start showing symptoms.

He stated;

This case is unlikely to have been acquired at the protest but we were all concerned about the possibility of transmission occurring at that protest. It is obviously helpful that the individual wore a mask but masks are not 100 percent protection.

Dr. Sutton, who reportedly warned people not to attend Saturday’s rally, also urged people not to gather in groups larger than 20 in future demonstrations.

On his part, the Treasurer of Australia, Josh Frydenberg condemned the protesters, saying;

People should not have gathered in those numbers for those rallies. In doing so, they put the broader community’s health at risk. That was the obvious message from the medical experts about those rallies. And it was very unfortunate that they proceeded in the way that that did.

Speaking on Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed the protesters and said he wants anyone attending future rallies to be charged with breaking public health orders.

He stressed that;

I saw some people say, when they attended this rally, ‘oh I knew the risk I was taking by attending’. They were talking about themselves, they were not talking about the Australians who were not there, you know, millions of quiet Australians who have done the right thing.

Reiterating the comment of Brett Sutton, deputy chief medical officer Professor Michael Kidd said it was too early to tell if the protests will cause a spike or if the patient contracted it at the rally.

He expressed that;

The incubation period for COVID-19 is five to seven days, up to 14 days. So we will only start seeing new cases occurring if that transmission had occurred on the weekend over the days ahead. We are continuing to be very cautious and obviously we need to see what happens over the next few days.

Activists taking part in the country’s protests have said while they are aware of the risks involved, they feel their cause is too important not to take to the streets.

Demonstrations have been held all over the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a former police officer in Minneapolis, US.

Many protesters across the globe have shown solidarity with the unarmed black man, who was recorded crying ‘I can’t breathe’ as policeman Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck for almost nine minutes.

As at press time, Australia has a total of 7,285 confirmed cases and 102 casualties.