Some states start to open up at the same time California may be locked up for months.

image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Some states are already loosening some of the shutdown restrictions.

The ‘indicators’ announced by California, Oregon, and Washington indicate it may be months before any parts of the economy are allowed to revive.

Washington state and Texas show the stark contrast in approached.

(This discussion will be posted at several of my blogs.)

4/19/20 – USA Today – US reopening: What states are relaxing social distancing restrictions and moving away from lockdowns? – Several states have already dialed back parts of the lockdown. Others have announced dates to do so. A summary of the small steps:

• Now – Florida, Minnesota, Vermont
• April 24 – Texas Montana
• May 1 – Ohio, Idaho, North Dakota

Californians will stay in lockdown for a very long time

4/14/20 – Office of the governor – Governor Newsom Outlines Six Critical Indicators the State will Consider Before Modifying the Stay-at-Home Order and Other COVID-19 Interventions

Governor Newsom announced six indicators that will allow him to modify the stay-at-home orders. Quoting them, the indicators are:

• The ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact tracing, isolating, and supporting those who are positive or exposed;
• The ability to prevent infection in people who are at risk for more severe COVID-19;
• The ability of the hospital and health systems to handle surges;
• The ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand;
• The ability for businesses, schools, and child care facilities to support physical distancing; and
• The ability to determine when to reinstitute certain measures, such as the stay-at-home orders, if necessary.

Let me paraphrase those. As I do, consider whether, based on the criteria above, it will be possible at any point in the next year or so for him to allow us to come out of our homes:

• Technology is in place to test, monitor, and track every resident of the state along with ability of quarantining anyone who is ill or has been exposed.
• At-risk people will continue to be confined.
• Hospitals have the capacity to handle the high end of any forecast model of sickness.
• A vaccine exists and presumable is in widespread use.
• All public facilities will implement social distancing, which means restaurants, offices, schools, and day-cares operating at fractional capacity.
• Monitoring ability and capacity to reinstitute shutdown at will.

With those indicators, how long will it be before we can come out of our homes? Six months? A year? Longer?

From the governor’s indicators, looks like we are going to be shut down until the vaccine is in widespread use.

Contrasts in approach

4/17/20 – PJ Media – Battle Lines Drawn: Texas Ops for Liberty, While Washington State Makes Liberty Illegal –This article summarizes multiple other articles visible from the 17th.

In Washington state hunting, camping, and using a motor boat on a river or lake are all prohibited. In another hard to comprehend restriction, construction of private facilities is prohibited while construction of government facilities is considered essential. Presumably that means construction crews are safe while they build a government facility but not safe if they’re working on a private residence.

If you don’t believe the article, feel free to browse the lengthy Washington State Coronavirus Response (COVID-19) webpage. In the state’s document you can find all those restrictions mentioned. In addition private campgrounds are allowed to operate to the extent they support long-term residents.

The governor of Texas has now started to slowly allow the economy of the state to resume functioning. It will be done in multiple stages.

In contrast, the governor of Washington intends to keep the state in lockdown a long time. Previous article summarized the pact formed by California, Oregon, and Washington states. In comments by each of the governors, they highlighted it will probably be months, not weeks before restrictions begin to be released. Comments in that article are consistent with multiple other articles; this citation pulls multiple comments together in one link.