Yesterday's #Justice4BlackLives rally in Niagara Falls obviously saw many images of people in close proximity to one another and there are health concerns as COVID-19 is still transmitting in the community.
Niagara's Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Mustafa Hirji says he understands the need for people to come together for the cause but he says those who participated need to know they did put themselves at risk for the virus.
"It's an important issue people are marching for, the issue of racism which unfortunately we have seen quite rapidly of late and it's something we certainly support at public health, but we do recognize though there are absolutely risks of infection being transmit when you have that large a number of people particularly when they are that close together as they seemed to have been"
Hirji says he was encouraged to see so many wearing face protection and he said that will help, he's hopeful participants will monitor themselves closely and if any COVID-19 symptoms do present, that they call public health and get tested immediately.
He says the fact the event took place outside also helps a little bit in minimizing the risk of transmission.