Mass Gatherings, Erosion of Trust Upend Coronavirus Control

NEW YORK (AP) — Health experts are concerned that protests erupting across the nation and the law enforcement response to them will upend efforts to track and contain the spread of coronavirus just as those efforts were finally getting underway.

Government officials have been hoping to continue to reopen the economy after months of stay-at-home orders.

But health experts also hoped that any reopening would be accompanied by widespread testing, contact tracing and isolation to prevent new waves of illness from beginning.

Mass gatherings and rising mistrust in government, especially in hard-hit minority communities, may undermine the ability to track cases.