I thought the shutdown measures were actually prudent to do initially, when we knew less about this virus, but they really should have been done on a county-by-county basis, unless 3/4* of counties were affected — THEN shut the state down.
*2/3 in DE and RI, which have only 3 counties apiece.
My husband talked to a lot of people this week, the majority will not be opening or will be sticking with drive thru/curbside only. The state will allow restaurants to open dining rooms Monday but the distancing rules are almost impossible. Most people he talked to feel better staying with the status quo. His business has been about 75% right now, so that’s not too bad. His employees are wearing face shields in addition to masks now.
“I thought the shutdown measures were actually prudent to do initially, when we knew less about this virus, but they really should have been done on a county-by-county basis, unless 3/4* of counties were affected — THEN shut the state down.”
Then people would be saying “why my county?” It would be all the same problems but in a more complicated environment. And most people are not reasonable or responsible all the time.
Shutting the whole state - in any case where there is significant infection - is much less of a nightmare.
Clearing the field reduces the chaos. It allows a more orderly restart.