World News | US: Expert Warns About Police Spreading Virus

Atlanta (US), Jun 5 (AP) An Emory University infectious disease specialist says he has serious concerns that police could be spreading the coronavirus by spraying tear gas on demonstrators.

Mass arrests and confining people in small spaces dramatically increases the risk of infecting others with the coronavirus, Dr. Jay Varkey said Friday.

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Tear gas and other chemical agents causes people to rub their eyes, putting demonstrators at risk of being infected, Varkey said.

“When I see the wide use of things like tear gas or pepper bombs that by its nature cause people to immediately rub their eyes, that causes me tremendous consternation in terms of the risk of what that could cause in terms of infection transmission during a pandemic,” Varkey said.

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“From a public health standpoint, I don't know whether law enforcement is actively looking at agents other than tear gas or pepper bombs,” he said. “As a physician, do I think they should? Yes, absolutely." (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)