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Right wing-led protests spread against Covid-19 curbs in US
Protestors at these gatherings, which took place in Michigan, New York, Kentucky and some other states earlier, have defied social-distancing norms, as per the guidelines issued by the Trump administration.
More than 1,890 people died of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours as right wing-led protests against restrictions in force to combat the spread of the coronavirus spread to more US states Saturday, after President Donald Trump came out in their support and encouraged them with “LIBERATE” tweets.
Hundred of protestors congregated in states capitals in Texas, Maryland, Utah, California, Arizona, Washington and Colorado, with signs and chants protesting the restrictions as a violation of their rights. Some carried signs saying the virus was a hoax, and some in Texas called for firing a top epidemiologist Anthony Fauci, who is a member of Trump’s coronavirus task-force but has come to be seen by some on the far right as someone who is undermining the president; he was recently given a security detial after receiving threats.
People chanted “Let us work” and “Make America Free Again”, at a protest staged in Austin, Texas, called by Infowars, a right-wing outfit that has been banned by social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter for advocating conspiracy theories. Its founder Alex Jones, who is also banned by these outlets, made a brief appearance, according to local news media outlets.
Protestors at these gatherings, which took place in Michigan, New York, Kentucky and some other states earlier, have defied social-distancing norms in force in these and other states, as per the guidelines issued by the Trump administration. They remain in force also in line with the “reopening guidelines” unveiled by the president last week recommending steps states could take to lift the restrictions in a “science-based” phased manner.
But Trump has supported them, unwilling, critics have said, to take on his own base and supporters. He went further with a series of tweets Friday saying, “LIBERATE Michigan”, LIBERATE Virginia” and “LIBERATE Minnesota”; all three states with Democratic governors.
Most governors are moving towards reopening their states, but want to rush into it. They have sought to ramp up testing as a key step to link reopening to verifiably sustainable declining numbers of new cases. They have sought federal support for it, which has put some of them at odds with the president.
There is all-around agreements among public health officials and experts that the United States is past the peak now, and that the worst is over, in new infections. Fatalities will take a while reflecting it as they follow a two-week lag, according to experts.
The US toll went up 1,891 over the past 24 hours to 39,025 Sunday morning and infections rose by 32,491 to 735,366. New York state, the epicenter of the US outbreak accounted for 17,627 of the fatalities; 13,157 in New York city alone.
