Third Black Lives Matter Protester Tests Positive in Melbourne

(Bloomberg) -- A third person who attended a Black Lives Matter protest earlier this month in Melbourne has tested positive for Covid-19 as cases continue to rise in the Australian state of Victoria.

The demonstrator at the June 6 rally was unlikely to have been contagious at the event, but did work for two days at a clothing store in a shopping center while infectious, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing state Health Minister Jenny Mikakos.

Eighteen new cases were recorded overnight in Victoria, Australia’s second most-populous state, including six travelers who returned from overseas and are in mandatory hotel quarantine. That comes after 21 new cases were detected the prior day, and state authorities have said they may be forced to slow down any further easing of social distancing restrictions, the Australian Financial Review reported.

For a second weekend in a row, thousands of people attended rallies across Australia at the weekend as part of an anti-racism campaign highlighting deaths of Indigenous people in custody. Health officials and leaders in Australia, the U.S. and U.K. have warned that mass gatherings in support of racial equality risk inadvertently re-sparking the virus.

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