“An incoming Oregon GOP county commissioner is getting roasted for her Thanksgiving defiance of new coronavirus safety measures announced by Gov. Kate Brown. Tootie Smith, the incoming chair of the Clackamas Board of County Commissioners, brazenly boasted she was defying Brown’s partial lockdown order, imposed last week, that limits social gatherings to six people. Violators face fines and even jail time. “My family will celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with as many family and friends as I can find. Gov Brown is WRONG to order otherwise,” Smith wrote on Facebook. Brown, a Democrat, imposed new coronavirus restrictions as Oregon topped 1,000 cases in a day twice this month. The state has now surpassed 56,000 COVID-19 cases and 760 deaths. The virus, now raging out of control with record hospitalizations in much of the U.S., has killed 245,000 Americans and infected 11 million. Commenters on social media called Smith’s disobedience “selfish” and “reckless.” New York City Council member Joe Borelli got similar reaction when he tweeted he would disobey New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s limit of 10 people for home gatherings. “I’ll be having more than 10 ppl at my house on Thanksgiving. My address is public record. Some family will come from (gasp!) New Jersey,” wrote Borelli, a Republican. “Kids will see their grandparents, cousins will play in the yard.” (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = ‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v3.2’; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’)); Everyone deserves accurate information about COVID-19. Support journalism without a paywall — and keep it free for everyone — by becoming a HuffPost member today. A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus Here’s the latest science on COVID antibodies. How does the coronavirus spread differently than the flu? What does the new CDC definition of a COVID-19 “close contact” mean for you? Is it safe to see grandparents for the holidays? Therapists predict how this year will shape our mental health.
