Anti-lockdown protest organizer reveals she was diagnosed with coronavirus

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The leader of a North Carolina group that has been protesting the state’s stay-at-home quarantine recently revealed in a Facebook post that has tested positive for COVID-19.

In her post from this Sunday, Audrey Whitlock, leader of the group ReOpen NC, said she was ending her two-week quarantine and described herself as an “asymptomatic COVID-19 positive patient.” Whitlock is one of the administrators of the organization’s Facebook page, ReOpen NC. The group has used the page to organize two protests in Raleigh in an attempt to pressure Governor Roy Cooper to lift the stay-at-home order, CBS17 reports.

In her post, which has apparently been removed, Whitlock complained about the restrictions, saying that being forced to quarantine is a violation of her First Amendment rights, as well as her 5th and 14th Amendment rights.

“The reality is that modern society has not been able to eradicate contagious viruses,” she wrote. “A typical public health quarantine would occur in a medical facility. I have been told not to participate in public or private accommodations as requested by the government, and therefore denied my First Amendment Right of freedom of religion.”

“It has been insinuated by others that if I go out, I could be arrested for denying a quarantine order,” she added. She claimed that such an arrest would violate the Americans With Disabilities Act.

ReOpen NC organizers say protests will be held every Tuesday until the restrictions are lifted. Cooper has since extended the quarantine until May 8.

The virus has claimed the lives of 306 people in North Carolina, the Department of Health and Human Services reports.

Megan Hamilton

Megan Hamilton has traveled extensively throughout the Southern United States, Mexico, and parts of Central America. A lifelong atheist, these travels have informed her political views. She currently lives in a remote location with a large herd of cats and four dogs.