HILLSBORO, Mo. — Normally, the commuter lot in Hillsboro is a place for people to meet to share a ride to work, but on Monday, they met to share a message to the county to lift its stay at home order.
"The main goal is to wake up the politicians — who happen to work for us, by the way — and let them know, 'Open this up; this is crazy. We have people losing businesses and jobs,'" said organizer Dave Day.
"This shutdown should've never have happened, the reaction is way worse than the original problem," said Jennifer Bird.
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She and dozens of others brought their opinion to lift the stay-at-home order to Jefferson County leaders.
"What about all the people who are asymptomatic and doctors are worried about them spreading it to others?" 5 On Your Side's Brandon Merano asked Bird.
"Well, what about that with the common cold and influenza A and influenza B and all the other viruses? The list goes on and on," Bird replied.
Doctors both nationally and locally have said lifting restrictions too early could lead to a second wave of cases. Dr. Alex Garza of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force said the second wave could be worse than the first.
“The challenge is — as I’ve said multiple times — is opening too fast, too soon. The reasons for that are pretty clear and we’ve examples of this in the past, where if you move to open up the shelter in place and social distancing rules too fast you can actually create a second wave, which can be worse than the first wave,” Dr. Garza said during the task force briefing Monday.
Bird believes the impact on the economy outweighs practicing social distancing guidelines laid out by elected officials, even though she knows people close to her infected by the virus.
"I know one person personally and then I know two others who are relatives of close associates," added Bird.
Whether you believe in social distancing guidelines or not, you won't change Dave Day's belief on how to handle COVID-19.
"If you have problems, stay home. Otherwise, let's get out here and be Americans again. The sun is beautiful right now and people should be outside enjoying themselves, so that's pretty much it," said Day.
He said another protest is planned Tuesday in Jefferson City, where thousands of people are expected to show up.
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