Hundreds protest against US COVID-19 rules

Hundreds protested on Saturday (Apr 18) in cities across America against coronavirus-related lockdowns - with encouragement from President Donald Trump - as resentment grows against the crippling economical cost of confinement.

An estimated 400 persons gathered under a cold rain in Concord, New Hampshire - many on foot while others remained within their cars - to send a message that extended quarantines weren't necessary in circumstances with relatively few confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The crowd included several armed men wearing military-style uniforms, with their faces covered.

In Texas, a lot more than 250 people rallied outside the State Capitol in Austin, including far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, founder of the Infowars site, who rolled up in a tank-like truck."It is time to reopen Texas, it is time to let people work, it's time for them to let voluntary interaction and common sense rule your day, not government force," said Justin Greiss, an activist with Young Americans for Liberty.

Stay-at-home mother Amira Abuzeid added: "I'm not really a doctor but I'm a smart one who can do math and it appears like at the end of your day, these numbers are not that worrisome."

Few if any observed social distancing recommendations.

Demonstrators outside Maryland's colonial-era statehouse in Annapolis stayed within their cars but waved signs with messages like "Poverty kills too."

Dolores, a hairdresser, told AFP she actually is not qualified to receive unemployment because she is a business owner, no employee.

"I have to save my business. I need to work to live. Otherwise I'll die," she said.

Other demonstrations occurred in the united states in cities such as for example Columbus, Ohio and NORTH PARK, California, in addition to the states of Indiana, Nevada and Wisconsin.

Few practiced social distancing but lots of the protesters waved American flags.

'LIVE FREE OR DIE'

Protesters have drawn encouragement using Democratic-led states from tweets by Trump, who has said he favors an instant go back to normal, though protests have also occurred in Republican-led states like New Hampshire and Texas.

THE UNITED STATES has seen more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other country on the planet - with an increase of than 734,000 confirmed infections and 38,800 fatalities as of Saturday evening.

The vast majority of Americans are under lockdown orders restricting public movement and keeping all but essential businesses closed.

In Concord, demonstrators carried signs with slogans like "The numbers lie" and "Reopen New Hampshire."

Their common demand was that the stay-at-home order for the state of just one 1.3 million persons be called off before its scheduled May 4 end date.

Others, amid a sea of American flags, chanted the state's Revolutionary War-era slogan, "Live Free or Die."

"People are very happy on a voluntary basis to do what's necessary," one demonstrator, 63-year-old Skip Murphy, told AFP by phone.

He added, however, that "the info will not support the egregious lockdown we are experiencing in New Hampshire."

By early Friday, New Hampshire had reported 1,287 confirmed coronavirus cases and 37 deaths.

'FREE COUNTRY'

"All over the country, a lot of individuals are saying, 'We can do our part, but concurrently, this is said to be a free of charge country,'" Murphy said.

"When that gets transgressed, persons start to say, 'Wait a minute, this is wrong.'"

Most Americans - by a two-to-one margin - actually worry about virus restrictions being lifted too soon, not too late, a recent Pew survey found.

But demonstrators found encouragement Friday from the president, who in a series of tweets called to "LIBERATE" Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia - all states with Democratic governors - from stay-at-home orders.

Trump has repeatedly called for the earliest possible go back to normality as virus-related closings experienced a crushing impact on American personnel and businesses.

"I really think a few of the governors have gotten overly enthusiastic," Trump said at a White House news conference on Saturday.