I'm sure some people got COVID-19 at protests, but all data shows that it did not drive any major uptick in the transmission rate. The assumption is that outdoor transmission is pretty rare and that masks help reduce the chance even further.

As for it not being "real", I'm not sure why 100+ different national governments - ranging from far left to far right - and medical professionals around the globe would all conspire to make something up. Hard to imagine. Impossibly hard to imagine.