Some members of the Washington, DC, National Guard—deployed over the past 2 weeks of protests and civil unrest in the wake of the George Floyd murder—have tested positive for COVID-19, a National Guard spokesperson confirmed with McClatchy news services yesterday, and US cases today topped 2 million.Though it's not clear how many of the 1,300 troops active in DC in recent weeks are infected, the news dampens optimism that outdoor protests with masked participants would not necessarily spread the novel coronavirus.
The National Guard is encouraging all troops deployed during protests to be tested for COVID-19 within 14 days.The Nebraska National Guard has also confirmed two cases among troops activated in response to protests in Lincoln last