Protest Leader In St. Petersburg Tests Positive For Coronavirus

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Terron Gland, who has led the St. Pete protests about police brutality following the death of George Floyd in May, said he has tested positive for the coronavirus on a Facebook post.

Gland shared his results on Monday with local protesters on a post in a Facebook group for protesters, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Gland, 32, told the Times he began feeling sick on Sunday and went to an emergency room, where he got tested immediately. In a text message to the Times, he said he is in “good spirits and looking forward to a speedy recovery.”

He's taking a break from leading the protests and said he will stay home for the next 14 days. He also encouraged other protesters on the Facebook post to get tested.

A study published in June by five economists in the National Bureau of Economic Research said there is no link to protests increasing coronavirus cases.

"Furthermore, we find no evidence that urban protests reignited COVID-19 case growth during the more than three weeks following protest onset," the report said. "We conclude that predictions of broad negative public health consequences of Black Lives Matter protests were far too narrowly conceived."

Gland told the Times that the march, which hands out masks and hand sanitizer, will continue to encourage safe practices.