Someone Drove A Remote Control Coronavirus Around Anti-Lockdown Protesters In Wisconsin

A creative mastermind designed a remote-controlled virus model and drove it around anti-lockdown protesters at a large demonstration in Wisconsin. 

Despite government advice for people across the globe to stay at home and help curb the spread of the virus – a move that is undoubtedly saving lives – for some reason there are some people who refuse to abide by the rules.

Last Friday, April 24, a few thousand people gathered in Madison, Wisconsin, to protest stay-at-home orders and condemn Gov. Tony Evers for extending the order until May 26. Similar protests have taken place across the US, though Friday’s marked one of the nation’s largest to date.

The event was dubbed by some as the ‘let’s share COVID-19 rally’, and in an effort to hit back at the protesters one person got to work creating a remote controlled version of the virus with a round, grey mound and telltale red spikes protruding from it, known as the Covidbot.

After they’d attached the virus to its wheels and made sure it worked as planned, the prankster set about driving it around the protest, apparently even chasing a few of those who had gathered in the area.

Footage from the event shows the remote-controlled virus whizzing around as the person controlling it stood at a safe distance from the crowd, wearing a mask:

As it made its way through protesters in Madison, the fast device would have served as a great example of how the virus can impact numerous people in a crowd, making the danger of the situation clear for all to see.

It’s unclear who made the little device, though footage shared on YouTube by the user Oblivion Art shows it in action on an empty street, presumably ahead of the protest.

Symptoms of the virus can take up to two weeks to develop and can be spread from person to person, meaning there’s every chance someone at the protest could have been a carrier and risked spreading it to at least some of the thousands of people at the event.

Apparently, that threat didn’t seem to bother many of the protesters though, as few in the crowd wore protective face masks and people stood shoulder-to-shoulder in an attempt to make their voices heard.

Police were at the event and stayed at least six feet from protesters to avoid catching or spreading the virus, but they did not enforce the social distancing rules on the crowd.

The creator of the remote-controlled virus model has been praised on social media for their clever response to the protesters, with one person on YouTube suggesting the creator should make the device spray hand sanitiser towards those fighting the stay-at-home orders.