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Organizer of North Carolina group protesting quarantine rules sidelined with coronavirus

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An organizer of a North Carolina group calling on the state to ease its coronavirus restrictions was unable to attend two rallies because she tested positive for the disease, a report said.

Audrey Whitlock, who administers the Facebook page of ReOpen NC, was under quarantine for two weeks ending Sunday after testing positive for coronavirus, according to news station WFAE.

“I remained in isolation/self-quarantine at my home per the direction of my county health department. I have not attended any events for ReOpen NC,” Whitlock told the outlet.

While the organizer was in isolation, the group held two rallies in Raleigh, the state capital, demanding North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speed up plans to lift the stay-at-home order, which is in effect until May 8.





At last week’s demonstration, more than 100 mainly unmasked protesters crammed together in defiance of social distancing guidelines, the report said.

The group is scheduled to hold its third rally Tuesday outside Raleigh’s Legislative Building.

Whitlock first revealed her coronavirus diagnosis in a private post to the group’s Facebook page on Sunday.

“As an asymptomatic COVID19 positive patient (quarantine ends 4/26),” Whitlock wrote in the message obtained by the Raleigh News and Observer. “Another concern I have is the treatment of COVID patients as it relates to other communicable diseases. I have been forced to quarantine in my home for 2 weeks.”





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