Source: Tim Perdue. Flickr.com. — Source: *Tim Perdue. Flickr.com.*

UNITED STATES - Many Americans look on in horror and disappointment as lock-down protesters take to the streets of California, North Carolina, Michigan, and Ohio. These, mostly, right-wing Americans march to end the lockdown enforced to combat the current Corona Virus epidemic. Their platform is simple. They believe that the lockdown infringes on their rights to work, congregate at church, hair and nail salons, and schools.

This “cabin fever” as President Trump put it, has many politicians and health-care professionals scared, and angry. Many doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers took to the streets to counter these anti-quarantine protests, by donning their scrubs and white coats to confront protesters and on some occasions bar them from continuing their march.

To some Americans, these protests seem like a phenomenon occurring only in their countries. This could not be further from the truth. Though international quarantine protests have not been covered by the media in the US; they are becoming more and more prevalent.

Anti-quarantine protesters have popped up in Canada, France, and Germany. These international protesters have similar oppositions to their American counterparts. They too feel that the counter-measures taken to flatten the curve are putting their countries’ economies at risk. The protesters do not focus on the need to quarantine to save lives by slowing the virus and giving healthcare officials the time and resources necessary to combat the disease. Instead, they take to the streets to fight for small business owners, and their jobs and in some instances their need for a haircut.

Some of the protesters’ claims do focus on saving human lives. Their fight for victims of domestic abuse, for example, can be said to focus on the well-being of others. However, Though the rise in domestic violence is more than devastating the number of lives that would be endangered if the quarantine was to end at this moment in time far exceeds the number of lives endangered by continuing it.

Protests in Canada have so far, been peaceful. This cannot be said for some of the European protests. Protests in Paris have escalated to full scale riots. The lockdown has really intensified France’s economic inequalities. The violence has been amplified in the past week as the protests gain traction and find their way into Parisian suburbs. Conflicts with police have escalated, trash cans and cars have been set on fire and just last week an elementary school was set on fire.

On the Polish-German border, hundreds of people protested against a Covid-19 lockdown last Friday night. Poland closed its borders for a mandatory two weeks due to the Corona Virus outbreak. Approximately 300 citizens that live in Poland but work in Germany are protesting their inability to leave their homes to go back to work. German citizens joined them in the protests though the two groups were separated by a fence to prevent people from crossing the border.

Approximately 20,000 Poles work in Germany and around 10,500 of them cross the Polish-German Border daily. Protesters are afraid that their jobs will not be waiting for them when the quarantine is finally lifted.

The Corona Virus crisis has brought virtually the entire world to its knees and it’s easy to believe that Americans are the only people reacting adversely to the quarantine efforts. It’s important to note however that these sentiments are felt worldwide. Many feel trapped in their homes, with no money, having just lost their jobs. They have no idea what the future holds. What we must keep in mind is that these measures ensure the safety of most people. While some are protesting that the quarantine may be worst than the disease, we must remember that, as Governor Andrew Cuomo stated, “the disease is death”.