Reuters slammed for saying Cuban protests 'risk exacerbating COVID-19 spike'

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Media top headlines July 14

Fauci getting criticized for saying 'no doubt' children 3 years and older should wear masks, a CNN anchor dismissing critical race theory as a creation of Republicans, and a Texas State Democrat getting mocked for calling himself a 'fugitive' after fleeing the state to block voting bills round out today's top media headlines

Reuters raised eyebrows on Wednesday for sounding the alarm on the coronavirus pandemic implications of the historic protests that have erupted in Cuba this week. 

The newswire published a story with the headline "Cuban protests risk exacerbating COVID-19 spike - PAHO," citing concerns from the Pan American Health Organization over the contagious Delta variant that has spread globally that could infect Cubans and tourists. 

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"The gathering of individuals for protests... increases the risk of transmission, in particular in cases such as Cuba where you have active transmission in many areas over the last week and 34,244 new cases reported," PAHO director of health emergencies Dr. Ciro Ugarte, PAHO's director of health emergencies.

Reuters shared its story on Twitter, which sparked an intense backlash among media critics. 

"This is a joke, right?" Newsweek opinion editor Josh Hammer reacted. 

"Was this true of the sustained, nationwide protests of last summer as well?" journalist Glenn Greenwald asked. 

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"Unlike BLM protests, Cuban protests risk exacerbating COVID spike," Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon similarly tweeted.

"What [the] hell is wrong with the media, besides everything?" RealClearInvestigations senior writer Mark Hemingway wondered.

Others called out Reuters' past coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests. 

The Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips pulled up several tweets Reuters made last year documenting the protests that took place worldwide without sounding the COVID alarm. 

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The Spectator contributor Stephen Miller went even further, citing a July 2020 Reuters report that conceded that public health experts say "there has yet to be conclusive evidence of large-scale spread" from the BLM protests, noting that many of them took place outdoors and that masks and social-distancing were practiced.