PORTLAND, Ore. — After four days of demonstrations across Portland over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Multnomah County says it could be a couple weeks before the area sees a potential impact on COVID-19 infections. For now, the county plans to stay the course toward reopening on June 12.
Thousands of people gathered and marched in protest over the weekend, images showing a mix of precaution. Some demonstrators wore masks, while others did not. Some crowds maintained distance, but many others grouped closely together.
Kim Toevs, communicable disease director for Multnomah County, said Monday it could take two to three weeks before officials can spot any coronavirus surges connected to these demonstrations.
"The level of contact, and the closeness and whether it's indoors or outdoors is really important in terms of risk of transmission, so folks who are having more prolonged contact within a few feet of each other." Toevs explained. "Certainly there were a lot of protesters close together."
She noted demonstrators being outside reduces risk of COVID-19 exposure, but close contact outdoors still poses risk.
Now the county says it's a waiting game for people to get tested, for results to be processed, and for the county to trace cases back to points of exposure.
"Whether it's the protests, whether it's reopening certain types of businesses, people traveling to other counties that reopened earlier than us, in general, what we'll be watching for is an increase in the number of cases and an increase in the proportion of tests that come back positive," Toevs said.
She said tests are currently coming back positive about 5% of the time, and the goal is to keep that number from rising.
Multnomah County will submit its application to enter Phase 1 of reopening on June 5, with the goal to reopen June 12.
Toevs added, the county will also reassess data on Monday, June 8 to make sure there are no drastic changes.