by Kara Machowski
You would think that an “Anti-Coronavirus Rally” would be organized to plead for more government aid to hospitals, medics, essential workers, Americans amongst job losses and weak stimulus check which many have yet to receive. However, the protests that occurred over the weekend, this Monday and last week were intended to encourage the country to reopen while condoning the virus as a “governmental and media influenced hoax”. Many protesters branded construction paper signs with slogans such as: “be like Sweden”, “the cure is deadlier than the virus” and multiple signs regarding the governor of Michigan with Nazi-like-terms.
"They want their life back. Their life was taken away from them." - President Trump
On Friday President Trump, post a firestorm of tweets encouraging states to "liberate" themselves, addressed the public during the white house briefing defending the protests saying “if you look at some of the states you just mentioned, it’s too tough” with regard to current lockdown measures. He about the rally goers he said; "They want their life back. Their life was taken away from them", without realizing how many Americans actually did loose their lives, let alone front-line workers who had fallen ill and died. He also stated that the protesters looked like “very responsible people to him”. He shamed Virginia governor for amending gun rights in Virginia on April 10th, which was imposed mainly because of the mass shooting at Virginia Tech that left 32 dead and had been an ongoing topic since before the beginning of the year.
Friday, protesters gathered in Huntington Beach, CA. One protester ironically wore a hazmat suit while displaying a sign that said “Covid-19 is a lie”. More protesters gathered in Ohio, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Wisconsin and Arizona. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who leads the National Governors Association, criticized Trump for condoning protests that contradict the the president's own reopening guidelines by saying that they were nonsensical and unhelpful. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) stated that the president was “delusional.” He also said that Trump is highlighting protesting because he hasn’t been able to contain the virus or deliver enough tests to reassure governors to be able to open states. The protesters also adorned MAGA hats, signifying that they were Trump supporters, another reason that the president would inflate the cause and agree with them.
In a neighborhood in Staten Island posters circulated with photos on president Trump advertising a protest rally meeting at Conference House Park on April 19, stating that they should bring their children and saying "if you're sick, that's okay, it's your right", directly contradicting the president's stay-at-home order. On Monday, at a protest in Pennsylvania a woman was shown attending the protest without a mask and carrying her small child in close proximity, less than 6-feet, to other protesters.
On Sunday the president addressed the public again defending the rallies and when asked about the displaying of Nazi flags he said that he hadn't seen those but he noticed many American flags. "I have never seen so many American flags at a rally as I have at these rallies" he stated, "These people love our country. They want to get back to work. I watched the protest(s) and they were all six feet apart. It was a very orderly group of people.”
Pursuing procedures to endure the state's safety while reopening have included many world wide and Chinese adopted measures, one being the taking of temperatures for businesses that want to reopen and eventually for citizens to open public spaces. However, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York stated (big surprise, drum roll please) that the country doesn’t have enough thermometers to supply businesses around the country, let alone states.
The trouble that many have with reopening the country is that we still doesn’t have enough tests, let alone the antibody tests that many companies across America say that they need to feel safe to reopen. There is still an issue with antibody testing, which have just begun to roll out across the country. The NSA has been watching Americans for years, however we have still been unable to implement any sort of contract tracing, a system that China began using during their reopening. With it, if they have a positive coronavirus cas they could trace who that person came into contact with and whe4re they had been. China however, has seen a new cluster of Covid-19 and is imposing another lockdown in areas. 22 million people have filed for unemployment since the lockdown orders have been implement, while the unemployment rate sits at 17%, surpassing the great depression.
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