Portland’s protests against racism and police brutality have continued almost daily since May, drawing crowds of hundreds and sometimes thousands of people together through the summer and fall, even as public health officials warned against gathering in large groups to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
While the gatherings have defied social distancing guidelines, Multnomah County COVID-19 case investigators say there have been no outbreaks of the virus linked to Portland’s ongoing protests.
“There has been no evidence to suggest gatherings of residents protesting the brutal racist policies and systems that led to the death of George Floyd and so many others have contributed to disease transmission locally,” said Kate Yeiser, Multnomah County Communications Coordinator.
Since June, county investigators have interviewed people infected with COVID-19 about risk factors for acquiring the virus, including whether they had attended large gatherings. According to investigators, less than 1% of those interviewed reported attending large gatherings, and among a sample of 120 people infected, only one person reported attending a protest.
“In Multnomah County, it is clear that the highest risk for COVID is close, prolonged contact with known individuals — usually family, friends, and co-workers,” Yeiser said.
Using data collected between June and September, investigators found that anywhere from 13% to 25% of interviewed COVID-19 cases per week reported attending a gathering. Investigators reviewed random samples to assess which types of gatherings were driving transmission and found that 70% were family and social gatherings. Religious gatherings accounted for another 20%.
Public health officials said in June that there had been no evidence of COVID-19 spreading at Portland’s protests following George Floyd’s death after a Minneapolis police officer put his knee on Floyd’s neck. As Oregon’s coronavirus cases have surged in recent weeks, protesters have adapted their organizing strategies to prevent further spread of the virus.
When 29-year-old Sarah Samms, a member of local protest organizing group J.U.I.C.E. (which stands for Justice, Unity, Integrity, Community, Equality) found out she tested positive for COVID-19 Nov. 13, she immediately notified the other 12 members of her group. Samms began a 10-day stay at the Jupiter Hotel’s COVID-19 shelter and her fellow J.U.I.C.E. members entered a self-imposed quarantine and did not leave until they had tested negative twice.
The same day they learned of Samm’s diagnosis, J.U.I.C.E. posted an alert to their social media accounts, outlining three separate outdoor events Samms had attended the previous weekend and urging anyone who also attended and was concerned to contact their physicians.
“I’ve been getting tested once a week for the last couple of months and I’m super careful. I even double-mask,” said Samms, 29, who was reached by phone inside the Jupiter Hotel COVID-19 shelter. “To still get it is just a realistic eye opener of how airborne and how infectious this disease actually is.”
J.U.I.C.E.’s brush with coronavirus led the group to rethink how they’ll continue participating in Portland’s protest movement. The group originally met while protesting outside the Justice Center this summer and began organizing their own marches and events in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, along with offering support to the city’s Black and Indigenous communities and residents of color.
A preacher speaks to a crowd gathered at a Black Lives Matter protest organized by J.U.I.C.E. at the Vanport Historic Marker in North Portland Sept. 26, 2020.Catalina Gaitán
With one of their own members sick and cases surging across the state, J.U.I.C.E. adapted how they organize to prevent further spread of the virus, including pivoting to meeting over Zoom and offering online educational lectures for the foreseeable future.
“We’re going to have to find more clever ways to be active and I think a lot of people will be shifting and modifying,” Samms said. “We’re still working on a layout of how we will be addressing in-person protests here on out, but mostly we’re going to shift and depend more on the virtual world.”
In the wake of Multnomah County’s recent dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases, Yeiser said investigators have had to streamline their interview process for newly diagnosed people.
“Public Health doesn’t anticipate being able to continue collecting or analyzing data regarding type of larger gathering exposure in all cases,” Yeiser said. “However, the data that has been collected and analyzed suggests that protests have not been a source of significant spread.”
For Samms, contracting coronavirus herself hasn’t dampened her commitment. She said her own experience as a homeless youth in Portland has motivated her to help those who are marginalized.
“When I saw how police were behaving in my hometown and I saw all the beautiful people standing together as strangers risking their bodily safety for each other, I knew it was meant for me to stay. There’s nothing that’s going to stop me,” Samms said. “I will continue to be just as active as I have been – it may just be different.”
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