“In a matter of days, millions of Americans have been asked to do what might have been unthinkable only a month ago: Don’t go to work, don’t go to school, don’t leave the house at all, unless you have to.
The directives to keep people at home to stunt the spread of the coronavirus began in California, and have quickly been adopted across the country. By Tuesday, more than half the states and the Navajo Nation had told their residents to stay at home as much as possible, with many cities and counties joining in.
This means at least 270 million people in at least 33 states, 89 counties, 29 cities, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are being urged to stay home.
People can generally still leave their homes for necessities — to go to the grocery store, to go to the doctor and to get fresh air. Still, the changes so fundamentally alter American life that some states, like Texas, have been hesitant to adopt them. In other states, leaders described the decision as agonizing but necessary. “We are at war,” Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio said.
The result is a patchwork of local and state directives that use a variety of terms, like “shelter in place,” or “safer at home.” The stunning effect is the same: About eight in 10 United States residents are or will soon be under instructions to stay at home.”
Read the full article and the state-by-state guide at NYTimes.com.
