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Each day, and sometimes hourly, new restrictions are announced on public life in the continuing effort of authorities to slow the spread of COVID-19.
In the past two weeks, suggestions of a 14-day “national shutdown” or “national lockdown” have been reported as a strategy to combat the disease. Examples of such shutdowns have been seen in China, Italy and Spain. The concept is that if the propagation of COVID-19 can be dramatically reduced by isolating people, the medical establishment might have time to catch up with what most authorities are certain will be a massive strain on its capacity.
There is no playbook for such a measure.
“No one know what that would look like,” U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, said Friday. Johnson represents the Sixth Congressional District in Ohio, a big ragged arc of state territory running from north of Wheeling to Portsmouth generally along the Ohio River.
“Only one person has the authority to do that, and that person is the president. The law gives him pretty wide-ranging authority to make those decisions, and it would be irresponsible of me to say what the president might do,” Johnson said.
It’s been suggested that a shutdown would follow similar guidelines to what’s already happening in some U.S. cities that have a shelter-in-place order.
The city of San Francisco, for example, has issued a “stay at home” order covering everyone in the city except those deemed essential services. The order allows people to come out of their homes only to take walks or bike rides as long as they are not in groups, to get food, to care for a relative or friend, get medicine or medical care, or to go to an essential job such as those who are first responders, utility providers, plumbers or sanitation workers. Businesses remaining open include grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores and gas stations. The order for now is in effect until April 7.
However, an official lockdown could also reach the step of forbidding residents to leave homes without explicit permission. It could mean roadblocks and a shuttering of transportation systems, from trains to airports, according to foreignpolicy.com.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has announced new provisions to slow the spread of COVID-19 almost daily for the past week, including closure of some types of child care facilities as recently as Thursday. On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsome simply asked all Californians other than those providing essential services to stay home.
Johnson said Congress is attempting to look after people and businesses impacted by the restrictions.
“We’ve got to understand the devastating effects on the economy. I believe it will rebound very quickly, but we have to make sure businesses have something to come back to,” he said.
Employees and single proprietors, he added, already have 12 weeks of family medical leave under federal law, including sick leave if they have to care for someone, along with 14 days of paid leave if they are quarantined.
“The Senate is working on legislation to bolster the economy and protect workers and business, toward liquidity and availability of cash for businesses and individuals,” he said. “We’ve never been here before, and many, many things are being considered.”
Among those, he said, are encouraging financial institutions to temporarily convert mortgages and auto loans to interest only payments, to waive some of the lending regulations, “to get cash into people’s hands so they can meet their bills and buy the essentials.”
Johnson said legislation authorizing veterans who receive G.I. Bill funding for postsecondary education to take online courses also is in the works, along with regulatory adjustments to broaden access to telemedicine.
DeWine, at his daily press conference Friday afternoon, said what California has done is fundamentally no different than what he’s already asked Ohioans to do.
“Shelter-in-place is one of the terms, and many Ohioans already are doing that, and it’s the wisest and safest thing to do, and I suggest anybody who can do that should do it. Work from home if you can,” he said. “If I issued an order today, you’d have to have a whole list of people you’d need to exempt, and that’s not a black-and-white thing.”
Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks likened the possibility of a shutdown to a situation most local residents are familiar with.
“It would probably be like a Level 3 snow emergency,” he said. “When we declare a Level 3, which is very rare, some people will still have to be out. It’s not that people wouldn’t be able to go out and get groceries, it’s giving you the idea to stay home whenever you can. It wouldn’t be a complete shutdown. If they’re not drawing attention to themselves by doing something stupid, they’ll probably be OK.”
Authorities are now focused on controlling the rate of infection. If it’s left at the current rate, medical facilities will be overwhelmed, and the best way to control the infection rate is to limit physical contact among people.
“We’ve never been here, these are uncertain times, and we urge everyone to take it very seriously,” Johnson said. “Even after this is over, people will say we overreacted or under-reacted. We will never be able to measure what didn’t happen because of what we did or didn’t do, only the number of graves we dig. You don’t put a price on lives, we need to do whatever is needed to save lives.”
Michael Kelly can be contacted at mkelly@mariettatimes.com.
COVID-19 restrictions to date:
• Closure of bars and restaurant dining rooms, gyms, personal service businesses such as hair salons, spas, tattoo parlors and barber shops.
• Prohibition of gatherings of more than 50 people, with recommended guidelines of fewer than 10.
• Partial shutdown of child care facilities.
• Closing of public and private schools.
Source: Ohio Governor’s Office