Will Covid make Jan 21 antiabortion march a superspreading "March for Death?"

The Supreme Court appears poised to kill Roe v Wade, and the religious right is smelling blood. On Jan 21, probably about 1/4 million of them will pack the so-called "March for Life," marching shoulder to shoulder with no masks while shouting. Meanwhile, DC has become #1 Covid/Omicron hotspot in the entire US. That could turn this event into a superspreader on the scale of Sturgis 2020-a "March for Death."

This is of course a permitted march, with rally permits from the Park Service, march permits from MPD, etc. If those permits are to remain in force, it would be advisable to make mask use a condition of them not being revoked. During the 2020 rounds of protests, the summer uprising featured mostly masked protesters, and all or nearly all cases were connected to Central Cell Block and arrests. Then in Nov and December came the Proud Boys, 3%ers and other fascists. Almost none of them wore masks, indoors or out. After Nov 14, 2020, MPD had dozens of cops newly in quarantine, as I remember more than 40 of them No doubt many more cases resulted, but were not counted as DC cases as they did not show up until the newly exposed fascists had returned home.

The November and December 2020 events were about ten times smaller than the so-called "march for life" usually is. The annual antiabortion march had it highest turnout to date in 2013, where organizers claimed 650,000 turned out. Even a tenth of that packed tightly with no masks as Omicron spreads is a dangerous public health risk, with continental implications. Omicron is more transmissable then Delta, and Delta was said to be as transmissble as chicken pox.