States are letting stay-at-home orders expire, regardless of virus metrics

Source: Politico | May 15, 2020 | Nolan D. McCaskill

The D.C. area is an outlier, with regional leaders agreeing to extend their lockdowns.

State and local leaders are facing critical decisions in their battle against the coronavirus over the coming days as they grapple with whether to extend expiring stay-at-home orders or try to assess how much their reopening strategies are fueling new infections.

Stay-at-home orders or business restrictions are set to expire between Friday and Monday (May 15 to May 18), in a dozen states, at the same time that other states surpass the two-week point since reopening, marking a critical checkpoint in the nation’s recovery.

But while just two states, Kentucky and North Dakota, have met the health criteria for reopening society that have been recommended by the White House, the majority of state leaders have now signaled they are ready to begin lifting restrictions. Public health experts have warned that the virus will continue to spread as more people begin leaving their homes, noting the difficulty of maintaining physical distancing in certain spaces as Americans return to their normal pre-pandemic activities.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, expressed concern during a virtual Senate hearing this week that some cities or states might begin reopening prematurely, allowing “little spikes” to “turn into outbreaks” because they lack the capability to respond “effectively and efficiently.”

“The consequences could be really serious,” he warned.

President Donald Trump, however, tweeted Thursday that “good numbers” were emerging from states that were reopening, declaring that “America is getting its life back!”

One of the outliers: Washington, D.C., and its suburbs. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Wednesday that the nation’s capital would extend its stay-at-home order through June 8. As it stands now, that would make the District one of the last jurisdictions in the nation to reopen.

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