State, local governments invoke shelter-in-place policies amid coronavirus outbreak
38 states have issued “shelter-in-place” policies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
State and county governments across the country are starting to take action within their own communities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Several states have issued shelter-in-place policies, similar to something we might see during natural disasters like tornadoes or hurricanes. What these orders mean is that residents are strongly encouraged to stay in their homes and not leave unless it is absolutely necessary — things like getting groceries, visiting banks or going to pharmacies are acceptable, but most other activities are discouraged.
38 states have declared statewide stay-at-home orders, while seven other states — Wyoming, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, Missouri, Alabama and South Carolina — have shelter-in-place orders in some counties, but not across the whole state. Only five states — North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Arkansas — have no official order in place.
This means 297 million people across the country have been encouraged to stay inside their homes.
New York currently has the highest number of coronavirus cases, with 102,863 residents infected and nearly 3,000 coronavirus-related deaths, as of April 3. New Jersey, California, Michigan and Louisiana all have over 10,000 reported cases and over 300 deaths. Florida, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania follow close behind, each with over 8,000 reported cases.
15 states have postponed their upcoming primary elections. Six of those states moved the date to June 2, one of the last possible dates before the June 9 deadline set by the Democratic National Committee. Despite this deadline, Governor Andrew Cuomo postponed the New York’s election until June 23.
Cuomo also warned on Thursday that the state will run out of ventilators for sick patients within the next six days. He then signed an executive order on Friday saying that The National Guard may redistribute ventilators and personal protective equipment from hospitals to places in the state that have been hit the hardest by the virus.
New York State Senator Michael Gianaris introduced a bill that proposes a 90-day freeze on rents to relieve tenants and small businesses that are impacted by the stay-at-home policies. This comes after Cuomo declared a 90-day halt of evictions earlier this month, as well as a 90-day waive of mortgages for single and two-family homeowners. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has also advocated for rent freezes across the city.
With the amount of cases coming from New York, several states have ordered anyone incoming from there to quarantine themselves for at least two weeks. These states include Rhode Island, Texas, Florida, Maryland and South Carolina. In Texas, a $1,000 fine will be imposed on any traveler who does not abide by this order, while in Rhode Island, state troopers will stop drivers with New York license plates to get the driver’s contact information before they enter the state.
California has closed vehicle access to all 280 state parks due to coronavirus-related concerns. The graphic demonstrates the 38-at-home-orders, the recommendations to remain still and cities — regardless of state — with geared orders.
These are some of many measures being invoked to quell the novel coronavirus, which has penetrated 181 countries and regions; there are more than 1,094,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 59,000 deaths worldwide as of April 3, according to Johns Hopkins’ Center for Systems Science and Engineering live tracker. In the U.S., there have been over 274,000 recognized cases — the most of any country in the world — across all states; the death toll surpasses 7,100.
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