Currently, many US citizens are supposed to be receiving government relief payments. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has pointed out that a long term shutdown is not sustainable. Today, Trump released new guidelines regarding how individual state governments are to go about "Opening Up America Again." The plan to cease the US shutdown is divided into three stages.
State and federal governments will coordinate their efforts in Trump's plan. Stage one will include more social distancing. Stage two will allow "non essential" travel, but recommends that vulnerable people remain quarantined. Stage three will include unrestricted workplace employee staffing, but still recommends social distancing.
Trump gave state governors the permission to implement his guidelines how they see fit. Some governors including New York's Cuomo have decided to extend the shutdown in their states past Trump's recommendation. Others governors may decide to shorten the shutdown. States are required to record and compare testing results to ensure positive progress before ending the shutdown.
Over 22 million US citizens have filed unemployment claims intending to receive relief payments, putting the whole nation's regulated system under boiling pressure. Most people aren't sure how the US economy will recover from this shake up. Also, global deaths and new cases are on the rise. In the past week alone, the global new case count has gone up by a few hundred thousand.
There appears to be no end in sight for the COVID-19 disaster. While a long term shutdown of people's liberties is certainly not a great idea, the situation remains. How is the government planning to handle the viral threat after ending the shutdown? When people go back to their daily lives and put the crisis in the back of their minds, the virus will still be out there. It seems the safest bet is to think for yourself and not depend on government guidelines. Stay safe and thoughtful of the people around you. Individuals collectively have the power to reduce the scale of this disaster.
Download a PDF copy of the guidelines at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Guidelines-for-Opening-Up-America-Again.pdf.
