Who is participating in the convoy groups?
There are several groups from all over the country participating in the protest, with a few primary convoys including the “People’s Convoy,” who have traveled across the country from California and are expected to arrive Saturday.
The group, which has nearly 300,000 Facebook followers, will include truckers as well as others such as doctors, teachers, and pilots.
Another group, who named themselves the “American Freedom Convoy” and includes members mostly from the Midwest, is also headed to Washington, DC and will arrive around March 7.
It is unclear how many people or trucks will be participating in the convoys.
What do the protesters want?
There is one common demand coming from the participating convoys: end Covid-19 mandates, including mask and vaccine requirements.
“The average American worker needs to be able to end-run the economic hardships of the last two years, and get back to the business of making bread,” the People’s Convoy’s said in a news release.
“To that end, it’s time for elected officials to work with the blue-collar and white-collar workers of America and restore accountability and liberty by lifting all mandates and ending the state of emergency — as COVID is well-in-hand now, and Americans need to get back to work in a free and unrestricted manner.”
Covid-19 rules are being lifted as case numbers drop
As the number of new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations slowly falls, cities and states are loosening vaccine and mask requirements.
Covid-19 hospitalizations are lower than they’ve been for most of the past year, with the US is now averaging 55,701 new Covid-19 cases per day, according to Johns Hopkins University, a 26% drop since last week and the lowest cases have been since late July.
There are 41,014 people currently hospitalized with Covid-19, a 23% drop from last week. Current hospitalizations are now about a quarter of what they were at the peak in mid-January and lower than they’ve been for most of the past year.
Because of the drop in Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, mask mandates and vaccine passport rules have been dropping around the country in the past days and week, as local officials have shifted their rules in line with falling Covid numbers.
Most recently in New York, the state has lifted most mask mandates and requirements to show proof of vaccination for indoor activities.
A growing number of states — the majority with Democratic governors — have announced in recent weeks they would lift their indoor or school mask mandates, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Rhode Island.
