Colorado health care workers block anti-quarantine protesters amid coronavirus pandemic
Standing in the middle of a busy road in Denver, a man in teal scrubs and a respirator mask faced down protesters demanding an end to the state’s quarantine guidelines.
Across the country, in states such as Texas, Indiana, Nevada and Wisconsin, demonstrators are disobeying social distancing orders and gathering to call for a reopening of their states and the economy.
When protesters tried to do the same in Denver on Sunday, they were met with health care workers blocking their path.
Photojournalist Alyson McClaran was there for the event and captured images of the clash that have now gone viral. McClaran told the New York Times the counterprotesters “were blocking the roads until the police force stepped in.” The people calling for an end to the quarantine “were putting their cars right up against them.”
In a video posted to Twitter, a protester holding a sign that reads “Land of the Free” shouts at a health care worker: “Go to China if you want communism.”
Colorado, which currently has at least 9,700 coronavirus cases, is on stay-at-home orders until April 26, mandating that only essential personnel go to work.
On Sunday, President Trump sympathized with anti-quarantine protesters. “They have got cabin fever. They want their life back,” he said. “Their life was taken away from them.” But a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll released Monday found that most Americans, including Republicans, are concerned about lifting COVID-19 restrictions too early.
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