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Photo by Dax Melmer / Windsor Star

“Viruses are always a threat,” Thomson said. “We deal with viruses all the time.”

Regarding frontline health care workers who have seen thousands of COVID-19 patients over the past seven weeks — including 763 dead in Ontario and 3,085 dead in Michigan, at last count — Thomson was not impressed.

“Kudos to our healthcare workers, but this is what they signed up for. This is what they’ve been doing since the day they started working,” said Thomson, adding that she used to be a registered nurse.

“Maybe there’s some more protocols in place.”

Some of the demonstrators wore yellow jackets — a reference to the niche right-wing “Yellow Vest” movement in Canada in late 2018 that criticized the Justin Trudeau government on issues ranging from immigration to the carbon tax.

Friday’s protest in Windsor had an event page on Facebook earlier in the week, started by “Yellow Vest” organizers. But the page was deleted on Wednesday.

Facebook Inc. recently announced that the platform will remove posts and groups promoting protests that don’t follow public health directives.

Thomson expressed skepticism of “the media” on COVID-19, claiming that news outlets have fanned “fear and hysteria” of the disease.

She held up the Swedish government’s response as ideal: Unlike neighbouring countries Finland and Norway, Sweden has not imposed a lockdown. Schools, restaurants, and even gyms remain open in Sweden.

Sweden’s death count from COVID-19 was at 2,152 on Friday — more than 10 times the death counts of Finland and Norway.

“They had some spikes in long-term care homes, but that’s to be expected,” Thomson argued.

However, Thomson did not argue that all measures are unnecessary: In the same breath, she said Sweden’s public has been trusted to “be intelligent” and “do some social distancing.”

Ontario’s emergency orders are currently set to remain in place until May 12. Premier Doug Ford has said details on the plan to lift restrictions and reopen the economy will be shared soon.

Meanwhile on Friday, a very different kind of demonstration took place in front of Amica Riverside — one of the Windsor long-term care homes where a COVID-19 outbreak has occurred.

A parade of vehicles honked support for the facility’s residents and workers.

Staff members held up signs reading “Stay home, Save lives” and “We are in this together.”