Going into the weekend, all fifty states in the US have loosened at least one of their COVID-19 restrictions. The lockdown efforts went into effect in early-to-mid March at the earliest in some parts of the country. Other parts of the nation waited until as late as early April to enact lockdown efforts aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.
Now, after as long as two months in some areas, all states in the US have lifted at least some of their restrictions. In some states, this has meant even restaurants are being allowed to operate again. In other regions, this has meant only some parks and nonessential businesses opening.
These reopening efforts have largely gone against the advice of medical experts. Many epidemiologists fear that reopening the economy too soon will lead to a spike in new cases of COVID-19. It seems, largely, proponents of easing the restriction don’t deny this. Instead, politicians in favor of reopening have argued that the risks of reinfection don’t outweigh the reward of saving their local economies.
Some states, particularly in the Southeast, have begun moving to more “normal” activity. Georgia, for instance, was the first state to allow restaurants to resume indoor dining. Neighboring South Carolina has authorized outdoor dining, as well. Outdoor curtains separating dining tables could be seen earlier in the week in some South Carolinian cities.
In spite of these moves, some business owners seem hesitant to get back to normal. In recent polls, roughly two thirds of Americans said they were more concerned that states would open back up too quickly than too slowly.
Economists and some local politicians, however, seem to be weighing this against the cratering economy. States watching their treasuries rapidly empty are in a tough spot, looking to increase tax revenue however they can.
Part of what makes COVID so hard to plan around is the unknown nature of the virus. It’s still new enough that it’s quite difficult to say with certainty how it reacts to various circumstances. We don’t know how long antibodies keep people from getting re-infected. We don’t know if the virus will spread at the same rate during warmer months that it did in the winter.
Until a vaccine is made available to the public, medical experts fear lockdown efforts will be the most effective way to combat the virus. However, that vaccine could be months away. Even if it is the most sound call, medically, economists worry that such lengthy lockdowns would result in an economic collapse. The US finds itself between a rock and a hard place, with COVID-19 calling the shots.
