Americans Are Slowly But Surely Ending Lockdowns Over Officials’s Objections, Location Data Shows
Americans are venturing out more to fast-food restaurants, gas stations and public places even as health experts and government officials demand extending economic lockdowns, location data show.
People are back to visiting gas stations and fast-food restaurants at pre-COVID-19 levels, according to location data collected by Foursquare, a local search-and-discovery app that helps users discover places near them to visit and eat. Foursquare noted the changes in how people are moving in a blog post Thursday showing that people are apparently feeling free to travel about.
Americans are changing their behavior even as governors and mayors across the country continue extending stay-at-home orders to prevent an uptick in coronavirus deaths.
Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, for one, extended her state’s lockdown until May 28 and increased her executive powers as protesters stormed Michigan’s state capitol amid a flurry of demonstrations.
Michigan has seen more than 4,000 people die from coronavirus, or COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan, China before going global, killing more than 160,000 people worldwide.
Meanwhile, people are getting used to the new situation and even bucking some guidelines, location data show. Gas stations are down only 6% nationally as of April 24, compared to 8-11% weeks prior, Foursquare noted.
Such visits to fuel stations have returned to normal in the Midwest and in rural areas, which have seen slower spread and fewer COVID-19-related deaths than coastal cities.
The uptick in gas station visits could be a good sign for the oil industry given that much of oil consumption is routed through air and vehicle travel, which both bottomed out over the past several weeks, forcing crude prices into the cellar. The airline and oil industry have seen their sales drop substantially as a result.
Americans are still avoiding restaurants and bars. Casual visits to eateries cratered around March 28-31, Foursquare noted in the blog before adding that traffic to larger restaurant chains has picked up recently.
Traffic to such restaurants increased slightly since mid-April, down 70% nationally as of April 24, compared to being down 73% in the weeks before that date, location data show.
Many Americans are still worried ending lockdowns could result in catastrophe. An NBC News poll published in April found that Roughly 60% of voters say they are more concerned that nixing lockdowns would lead to more deaths than they are that the restrictions will hurt the U.S. economy.
Despite the polling, some U.S. states are gradually reopening their economies. Georgia, Texas and Tennessee, for instance, are preparing to ease stay-at-home orders and bucking health officials who argue continued lockdowns must continue.
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Went out to my local Waffle House. (apple Valley Augusta Ga)
Yep ! everything is just about back to near normal.
Now if the cook would only learn to cook extra crispy Hash browns w/o making them puddle of oil on the plate.
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But, the IHOP over here on (US-2%) Peach Ord Rd. is now 100 % better than it use to be.
I am willing to live with this swap….
IHOP has better, Hotter Coffee and Ice Tea that tastes like Ice Tea and not COF-TEA.
This China virus “pandemic” and associated lock down is the single biggest scam perpetrated upon the people of the world.
There is no scientific data or model (anywhere) to justify quarantining healthy people. Think of the idiocy of locking healthy people in ? You quarantine sick (and treat them) to prevent the spread of a disease. Even more telling is that approximately 80% will never be affected by this virus….80%. So, if 80% will always be unaffected, they best way to protect against the spread and build immunity is to actually have them become ‘infected’. This is why Sweden’s numbers are right in the middle of all the country’s of the world (much better than most of their surrounding countries, but definitely no worse) and they didn’t tank their economy. Sweden (along with South Dakota) did not impose any draconian lock down measures, just common sense best practices (which people should always observe).
And of the other 20% who do contract, show signs and become ill, but the vast majority recover.
Another sign which points to the bogus plan currently implemented; why are Home Depot, WalMart, etc. open (but not a church parking lot)?? Does the virus know you are at home depot and leave you alone (sarcasm)? How is it, I can park in Lowes parking lot, walk into the store, stay as long as I like and with other individuals whom I know nothing about (where they’ve been, are they ill, etc.)?
I am personally amazed that businesses are implementing restrictive and drastic protocols to operate, yet I can jump in my car, go to the gas station / convenience store, pump gas, go inside and purchase items, drive around etc., BUT we are in lockdown / stay at home orders to protect us from WHAT ??
New York state just determined and released the numbers; 66% of those infected had obeyed the ‘stay at home order’ and had not ventured out or integrated into the population….66%. That on its face demonstrates the fallacy of all the unnecessary and unwarranted ‘government mandated’ lock downs.
The only thing that has been demonstrated by this event; is the mini-tyrants that exist within the government of the United States of America. All the Governors, Mayors and other equally small-minded individuals who are attempting to rule as dictators through absolute power and authority (which they actually are not endowed with).
I thought we lived in a society where never would one single person ever be able to apply the law in the dictates of their own mind. That most legislative bodies have not railed against this dictatorial behavior (the Michigan Legislature the one lone example of resistance) is indicative that most do not understand the laws of our Republic.
Time to push back and push back hard.