People of all backgrounds, including teachers, plumbers, and stay at home parents, have decided that they have had enough of the stay at home orders. This has led people all across the country to join in rallies to protest the “government overreach.” While some of these people are protesting closures of businesses that have left them jobless and without income, this will instead focus on the people who are protesting simply because they want to go outside again. 

One photo that has gone viral over the past few weeks is an image of a woman holding a sign at a rally that says, “I want a haircut.” This image, and the sign specifically, highlights the fact that many of the people protesting want others to return to work, putting themselves in danger, for the benefit of the people protesting. In addition to this, many of the people who are protesting are not following CDC recommendations to wear a face mask when outside. This means that everyone at the protests are endangering not only the other people at the rally, but also all of these people’s family members. 

The result of these people’s decisions was seen recently when someone who attended a rally later tested positive for Covid-19, meaning that everyone they came into contact with could have been infected. Many of the people who attended one of the rallies were interviewed, and many of them stated that they believed the virus was a hoax. This belief has been discussed heavily by Fox News, where many claim that the virus is being dramatized by the Left in order to win the upcoming election. This dangerous belief, while has led to many virus related deaths is spread even further at these protests. 

At a recent protest in Arizona, a Nurse, who has been working in a Corona treatment facility, stood her ground in opposition of people claiming that the stay at home order was inhibiting their freedom.  The Nurse, Lauren Leander, wore a face mask and scrubs while standing face to face with the protesters. She was hoping to be the voice for the people that have lost their lives to the deadly virus through peaceful protest. She was joined with a few other health care workers who all stood in a line on the capitol steps. Leander said that, “A lot of the top comments we got were about us being fake nurses, there was a huge majority of them that still believe this virus is fake, that it’s a hoax and not real at all. They were convinced that we’re fake nurses and that’s why we weren’t talking.” (CNN) 

These protests have become not only a place where the virus spreads, but also a place where misinformation spreads. Many of the protests planned to occur by people parking and remaining in their cars, but at almost every rally, people have gotten out of their cars and gone against the six feet social distance recommendation. Some of the protestors have brought their kids, while other protestors are old enough that they fall into the “high risk category” for the virus. The protests are driven by ignorance, and the outcome of these rallies is only going to be an increase in the amount of cases in the area.