Question: What can we expect the fallout from Wednesday’s attempted coup with respect to COVID rates in DC? I know, you probably can’t publish that. But the sight of the maskless, lawless looters struck fear for both what they were doing to our democracy and what they’re doing to our health.

Answer: First off, thanks to everyone for reaching out.  My family and I are lucky to work and school from home, so we are safe and hunkered in.  I hope you readers are also safe, and I welcome you to share your perspectives with me if you’re so inclined. Like many of you, we’re angry.  We demand accountability and arrests, a peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Biden, and an end to the racism that allows and promotes white insurrectionists to rampage our Capitol.   

Back to the pandemic– Wednesday’s riot was a perfect storm for a super-spreader event. We witnessed people in closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings, shouting and maskless.  This is the exact type of event that could increase the spread of COVID not only in DC, but in all the places these people returned.  Yesterday, the NY Times and a number of other news outlets published stories on this very matter.  As the NY Times article, Experts say the Capitol Hill riot was probably a super-spreader event, states “hundreds of rioters shouting in crowded rooms and hallways for extended periods of time can infect dozens of people at once.”  This is especially concerning given the new, more contagious variant(s) circulating.