Protesters are at risk of retaliation from police as well as of contracting Covid-19. | Stanton Sharpe/LightRocket/Getty Images

Tips for reducing the risk of spreading the coronavirus in a mass gathering, from public health experts.

As protesters take to the streets in dozens of US cities to mourn the death of George Floyd, resist police violence, and demand justice, many are wondering whether it’s possible to participate safely with the Covid-19 pandemic still spreading and taking lives.

On social media, there’s been a lot of discussion of the intersecting risks: how protesters risk retaliation from police, risk violence at the hands of counterprotesters, and risk Covid-19 infection, which they could then spread to others. And many have judged the protesters harshly for taking all of these risks.

But looming above it is the long history of police violence as a wretched public health