Why Do Some US States Refuse To Issue Stay-at-Home Orders?

Despite the rising numbers of the COVID-19 cases, the United States of America is yet to see a national lockdown. Why? Well, the reasons are many—the lack of a large number of cases, social responsibility, acting upon the orders of the state officials and the like. The U.S. currently stands at 240,000 cases and 6000 deaths—the highest in the world.

While it remains uncertain as to whether the president has the right to supersede the governor’s authority in the area, he has been entrusted with adequate power to strengthen federal guidelines that advise citizens to stay at home and practice social distancing.

Unlike the presidents of countries like Spain, Italy, France, and Britain, Donald Trump can’t exercise authoritative powers to impose a national lockdown. What needs to be noted is that the U.S. functions on a very decentralized system. Moreover, states like Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota don’t have a large number of cases tested positive.

One of the other reasons is that some states in the United States call for shelter-in-place orders, while others function around stay-at-home orders. Since some states allow a relatively free movement; states like Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming allow its residents to follow a relatively free movement.

In states like Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Missouri, flouting the “stay home” order equals to a criminal offense. “I know this will be hard, but it will be temporary,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as per a media report. “If we all come together, get serious, and do our part by staying home, we can stay safe and save lives,” Whitmer added.

The order largely refers to the restricting movement of residents except in the case of emergencies. The rule entails a ban of the gathering of more than 10 people, and the running of non-essential businesses.

Several states differ in terms of uniformity, but the imposed restrictions are very unlikely to be lifted anytime soon until things settle. Hinting at the rules getting intense in the weeks to come, New York governor Andrew Cuomo suggesting the rolling of a “New York on PAUSE” plan—referring to a stringent “ban on all non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason,” as per a media report.