Priti Patel urges people not to join George Floyd protests and says UK 'must put public health first'

Katy Clifton6 June 2020

Priti Patel has urged people not to join protests planned across the UK in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

African American Mr Floyd, 46, died after a white police officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis on May 25, sparking days of protests in the US.

Demonstrators are expected to converge on Parliament Square in London on Saturday and the US Embassy in the capital the next day, while other events are planned across the country.

Speaking on Sky News, the Home Secretary addressed those intending to protest this weekend, saying: "Please don't. We must put public health first."

REUTERS

She added: "I completely understand people’s desire to express views and have that right to protest but we are in a health pandemic.

"I think it’s important for everybody to remember that right now we’re trying to protect and save lives."

It comes as hundreds of people started gathering in Parliament Square in London for a peaceful protest at 1pm.

The protests coincide with new statistics showing Covid-19 transmission levels are rising in certain part of England, with the R value in London having increased from 0.4 to 0.95 in a matter of weeks.

Yesterday, it emerged that 40,261 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday, up by 357 from 39,904 the previous day.

On Wednesday June 3, Star Wars actor John Boyega was among those to speak at the rally before protesters, many wearing masks and holding placards, marched on Westminster.

Activists chanted “black lives matter” and “we will not be silent” at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, in a peaceful protest before tensions escalated outside Downing Street.

Diseases expert Professor John Edmunds, who attends meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) advised protestors to be "very careful", wear face masks and observe social distancing rules.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning he said: “I can understand why people would want to protest but on the other hand I think people need to be careful – very careful.

“If you think about it, overall the infection rate in the community is about 1 in 600, 1 in 700 maybe, so in large groups of individuals you would expect there to be some individuals in a large group who would be infectious.”

He said people can transmit coronavirus before displaying symptoms, and added: “Mask wearing would reduce the risk to some extent from individuals who may be infectious.”

On wearing masks in hospitals, Prof Edmunds said he did not think mask wearing was “particularly effective” but that it “might help a bit”.

“We really need to get on top of these hospital outbreaks and epidemics,” he said.

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