Amongst global concerns over the spread of COVID-19, protests have begun to arise over stay-at-home orders in the United States.
Ever since the first advisories from medical professionals and the government advised the public to stay at home to curb the spread of COVID-19, there have been dissenters. These dissenters claim that social isolation is a violation of personal freedoms. These protests have evolved into public demonstrations in Michigan and several other states across the country. Some of these protests were also spoken on Twitter.
In Michigan, demonstrators surrounded the state capitol, honking their horns and blasting music in protest of governor Gretchen Whitmer’s extension of the state’s stay-at-home order. With 5.2 million Americans filing for unemployment in the week ending on April 11 and 22 million claims over the past several weeks, tensions over society re-opening are continuing to rise, according to CNN. Due to this, more protests are appearing across the country to demand an end to lockdown orders.
These demonstrations are occurring despite the 828,441 and counting COVID-19 cases in the US, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Though these protests are happening, many are dismissing them as a movement, declaring the anti-lockdown campaign as astroturfing, according to Vox. A recent poll by CBS News showed 63% of Americans are more worried about re-opening things too soon and causing the COVID-19 outbreak to get worse, with only 13% of the polled saying they would return to public places within the next few weeks if restrictions were immediately lifted regardless of if the outbreak is slowing down. 70% of people polled said the priority for the country should be staying at home to slow the spread of COVID-19, with the remaining 30% say they should be getting back to work. When questioned on supporting protesters like those in Michigan, 62% answered they oppose their actions.
