There have been protests and demonstrations around the world against responses to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
by governmental bodies, and these protests have also drawn pushback
from those who think the government mandates and lockdowns are
justified. Some forms of protests have been compared to the Anti-Mask League of San Francisco movement that was seen during the 1918 pandemic. Various strikes have also occurred.
Africa
Ivory Coast
Protesters have destroyed a coronavirus testing center that was being built in Abidjan, which they said was in a crowded residential area too close to their homes.
Kenya
The Kenyan government has been accused of extreme measures, with protestors accusing the Kenyan Police
of killing at least six people within the first 10 days of the
lockdown. Others protested against the forced quarantine of individuals
failing to comply with regulations or returning home from abroad,
claiming that they had been quarantined for longer than 14 days and made
to pay the government for their care.
Malawi
A Malawi
high court temporary barred the government from implementing a 21-day
lockdown after it was challenged by the Human Rights Defenders
Coalition, after it was argued that more consultation was need to
prevent harm to the poorest and most vulnerable. Small protests had been
staged prior to the ruling, in at least three major cities with some
protestors stating it was better to contract the virus then die of
hunger due to lack of work.
Nigeria
A group
of at least twenty coronavirus patients forced their way out of an
isolation facility to protests against alleged improper care and the
governments actions which they believed to worsen their conditions. Workers at a construction site rioted against lockdown measures that limited their ability to work on constructing an oil refinery for billionaire Aliko Dangote.
Rwanda
Refugees that had been relocated to the country from an overcrowded refugee camp in Libya, protested against the lockdown from the refugee camp in the capital Kigali.
South Africa
Many
residents protested against the policy that food parcel aid would only
be going to households that earn below R3600, and demanded action from
the South African Social Security Agency. Surfers have also protested to be allowed to surf during the lockdown, that allows exercise but not water activities.
Asia
China
Protest against plans to set up designated coronavirus clinics near residential areas in Hong Kong on 15 February 2020
Small shop owners protested the continuation of rent charges outside
of the Grand Ocean Department Store in Wuhan, chanting "Exempt rental
for a year, or refund the lease". Videos from the demonstration were
posted in the social media platform Sina Weibo but quickly censored.[10]
A woman was arrested and facing criminal charges after attempting to
rally about 100 people to protest the poor management and overpriced
provisions during the lockdown. She has been charged with "picking
quarrels and provoking trouble" an offense normally used to detain
dissidents and social activists.
Pakistan
Dozens of doctors were arrested in Quetta after protesting the lack of safety equipment that they had been given to battle the spread of the disease.
Hundreds of laborers protested against their forced layoffs due to the
pandemic by gathering outside their old places of work throughout the
city of Karachi.
Parents of students who had been studying abroad in the Chinese
province of Hubei protested against the governments decision to leave
the children in the area in February 2020.
India
After the televised announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the lockdown was to be extended until at least 3 May, police used batons to disperse protesting migrant workers in Mumbai.
Thousands of jobless migrant workers had gathered at railway stations
and were demanding to be allowed to break the lockdown to return home.
Similar protests were seen in other parts of the country by the
workers, and those who claimed that they received no aid which was
promised by the government to provide them during the lockdown period.
Israel
Thousands of Israelis engaged in social distancing while gathering to protest against the believed anti-democratic measures in the country by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Many were involved in the Black Flag movement which had been allowed to
protest by police if they stood six feet apart and all wore masks. An
earlier protest had seen the protesters drive to Jerusalem to protest anti-democratic measures. Other demonstrations have been seen in the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim with men and youths throwing rocks at police before being arrested.[18]
Iraq
Protests against the lockdown have been coupled with the ongoing protests against the current government and the female based violence within the country.
Lebanon
Many protesters argued for monetary relief from the countries slumping economy after weeks of the lockdown. At least one demonstrator died after soldiers used tear gas, batons, and live bullets to disperse a protesters in Tripoli who were throwing molotov cocktails. Protesters also congregated in Beirut
outside the central bank and threw rocks at the building, and took over
major roads as they claimed there wasn't enough done to protect the
economy and those that would suffer the most economically.
Europe
France
The Paris suburb,
has seen riots since a 18 April incident in which a motorcyclist
crashed into an open unmarked police vehicle, which have grown from
heavy-handed policing but have grown to include issues about lockdown
policies. Many have reported that in poorer neighborhoods the policies
are difficult to follow due to over crowding and cause the neighborhoods
to be impacted more than wealthier Parisians. The demonstrations have
since been seen in the suburb Hauts-de-Seine, and other French cities Toulouse, Lyon and Strasbourg.
Germany
Protest in Kreuzberg, on 1 May 2020
Around 1,000 people gathered in Berlin near the Volksbühne theater, and hundreds of others protested in Stuttgart
on 26 April, for the fourth consecutive Saturday of protests. They were
protesting against government lockdown measures and handed out
newspapers questioning the need for the lockdown and claiming the
pandemic was an attempt to seize power through fear. More than 100 anti-lockdown protesters were arrested in central Berlin on 26 April.
Italy
Catholic
clergy in Italy took to posting video messages in response to the
lockdown policies and the re-opening policies that have been slowly
introduced in Italy as the pandemic infection rates have decreased.
Giovanni D'Ercole, bishop of Ascoli Piceno in the Marche region, claimed in a video that the inability for religious institutions to hold services outside of funerals was like a dictatorship.
Poland
Hundreds of protesters gathered in the Polish border town of Zgorzelec
to protest the lockdown regulations, the protest was staged
specifically on the foot bridge connecting Zgorzelec and the German town
of Gorlitz
as many lived in Poland but worked in Germany. Many protested the
inability to cross the borders of the countries as they lived in a
different country from where they worked, and similar protests were seen
in border towns along the Polish-German border and the Polish-Czech border.
Russia
Security forces broke up a crowd of about 2,000 individuals protesting against the lockdown in Vladikavkaz, with some detained and the believed organizer arrested prior to the event.
Some protesters at the event used their social media to post videos
about their demands against the lockdown, with one stating; "Today,
under the pretext of the coronavirus, which doesn't exist, people are
driven into slavery, they are trying to establish total control over all
us all."
Spain
Thousands of people, mostly supporters of the far-right party Vox, attended protests in Madrid and the country's regional capitals over the lockdown and its impact on the Spanish economy. The protestors drove in convoys to adhere to social distancing, with the Madrid protest lead by a bus containing Vox leader Santiago Abascal. Abascal called for the current government to resign over its handling of the virus.
United Kingdom
Around
20 people, which included young children, protested and defied
social-distancing rules outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters.
About 50 anti-lockdown and anti-vax protesters defied social-distancing rules at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, including Piers Corbyn - the brother of former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn - who was arrested. There was further smaller protests on same day in Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast and other cities across the country.
North America
Canada
An anti-lockdown protest at Queen's Park, Toronto, on 25 April 2020
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Anti-lockdown protest in Vancouver, British Columbia, on 3 May 2020
In Canada, American imitation protests began 19 April in Vancouver. Protests also occurred in Toronto, Edmonton, and Ottawa.
On 21 April it was reported that prisoners at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary had been protesting against restrictions placed upon them in response to COVID-19.
United States
The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the United States in early 2020. In the United States there was no centralized national response to the pandemic. Beginning in mid-March various social distancing measures to limit spread of the virus were undertaken by individual state governors and in some cases counties or cities. Actions taken included Stay-at-home orders ("quarantine"), school and business closures, and limitation on the size of gatherings. By 7 April, 42 states had lockdown orders orders in place.
The shutdowns had serious economic effects, including a steep rise in
unemployment due to the shutdown of stores and workplaces.
By 15 April protests and demonstrations had broken out in some states,
demanding that the area be "re-opened" for normal business and personal
activity. By 1 May there had been demonstrations in more than half of
the states, and many governors began to take steps to lift the
restrictions.
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One of the first protests was in Michigan
on 15 April 2020, organized by conservative groups which also
encouraged groups in other states to copy their wording and templates.
Protesters in numerous other states said they were inspired by Michigan,
and they used Michigan's material on their own websites, Facebook
groups, and Reddit pages to promote their protests. Subsequent protests were organized by Republican activists or party organizations, Tea Party activists, armed militia movement supporters, guns-rights activists, and "anti-vaccination" advocates.
Protesters opposed the shelter-in-place orders in their states
for various reasons. Many said they want businesses reopened so they can
go back to work. Many others displayed pro-Trump banners, signs, and MAGA hats.
Still others insisted the lockdowns were a violation of their
constitutional rights. One militia leader told a reporter, "Re-open my
state or we will re-open it ourselves." The anger driving the protests was called "both real and manufactured", with conservative groups engaging in Astroturfing via centralized organization backed by anonymous donors.
President Trump originally issued guidelines for how to phase out
restrictions, saying that governors would decide how to reopen their
own states and suggesting a cautious three-phase approach. However, the next day he reacted to the protests against social restrictions by encouraging the protests. Governor Jay Inslee
(D-WA) accused the president of "fomenting domestic rebellion" and said
the president's call to ignore his own team's guidelines was
"schizophrenic".
Facebook
announced that it would block events and messages from anti-quarantine
protest groups "when gatherings do not follow the health parameters
established by the government and are therefore unlawful".
In California, Libertarian Party
chapters in Santa Clara and San Francisco counties condemned lockdown
measures in the state with a resolution stating in part that, "these
government impositions have already lasted for longer than could be
justified by the purpose for which they were allegedly necessary,
constituting a sort of "mission creep" that could potentially keep them
in place with no definite end, and with economic and social damage
continuing to accumulate and becoming more severe."
Cell phone data from digital-contact tracing software suggests that leaders and attendees at anti-lockdown protests in Colorado, Florida, Michigan and North Carolina were responsible for spreading COVID-19 "far and wide" and that merely attending rallies represents a "high risk of infection."
Oceania
Australia
On Anzac Day (26 April) Australia's first anti-lockdown protests mimicking the ones in the US and Germany occurred in the rural town of Trafalgar, Victoria.
On Mother's Day (9 May) around 100 to 300 protesters picketed against the lockdown and vaccinations outside Victoria's Parliament House in Melbourne. Protesters defied social-distancing restrictions and violent scenes ensued.
South America
Brazil
On 18 March, Brazilians in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro protested Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the pandemic by banging pots and pans on their balconies and shouting "Bolsonaro out!"
On 19 April, Brazil's Armed Forces Day, Bolsonaro gathered with about 600 protesters in front of the Army's headquarters in Brasilia
to demand a "military intervention" into the handling of the
coronavirus situation. Smaller protests calling for governors to resign
occurred the previous day in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasilia.
Chile
On 18 March, riots took place at the communes of El Bosque, La Pintana, and other communes in Santiago Metropolitan Region. Rioters are denouncing the hunger
resulting from the partial and total lockdowns in the region. They
claim that the lockdowns have left them without work and means of
sustenance.
