Stay-at-home orders in California should not be lifted or become lenient.
State officials should not reopen businesses and recreational spaces until there is accessible testing regardless of citizenship or health care status, comprehensive health care for essential workers, unconditional paid sick leave and extensive unemployment compensations.
The U.S. leads the world with the highest confirmed coronavirus death toll, according to the World Health Organization.
However, some states, mostly in the south and midwest, have already reopened or partially reopened businesses. But California should not follow the footsteps of these other states.
Hours before Texas reopened retail, outdoor recreation, dining and entertainment spaces on May 1, it saw the highest daily increase in COVID-19 deaths, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Texas also has the second-highest number of newly reported coronavirus cases after Illinois, according to The New York Times.
Reopening nonessential spaces in California is just asking for another wave of COVID-19 cases, which means more deaths and longer stay-at-home orders.
The lockdown is the only way to slow the spread and fully recover from the pandemic.
Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the pandemic, was on lockdown for 76 days, which was lifted when the country saw less than 100 new COVID-19 cases daily, according to the World Health Organization.
By comparison, California has been on lockdown for barely a month and a half and is seeing over 1,000 new coronavirus cases daily according to the California COVID-19 Statewide Update.
Instead of jumping at the opportunity to reopen the economy, we need to wait until the number of new cases decreases significantly and the number of people hospitalized because of COVID-19 stabilizes so we do not risk overcrowding hospitals.
If we reopen the economy too soon, the past month in quarantine will have been in vain. The purpose of the stay-at-home order is not to delay when people get the infection, but to decrease the number of people that become infected.
If the stay-at-home order even partially lifts right now, people will revert to their original routines and go out thinking that others will flatten the curve by staying at home, thereby increasing the number of deaths.
Some people may want to reopen businesses so those who can’t work from home and are not paid on a salary basis can have an income.
However, according to a survey conducted in 14 countries from April 16 to 19 by the Institut de Publique Sondage d'Opinion Secteur, a global market research company, high-income households are more likely to want the economy to reopen during the pandemic rather than low or middle-income households.
Economists have said that these high-income households correlate to reopening the economy with the recovery of their stocks.
However, the economy reopening does not guarantee that people will go out more and spend money on nonessential purchases.
If businesses and entertainment spaces reopen, COVID-19 will continue to spread in ways reflective of the inequalities in our society.
Poor and marginalized communities will be more likely to catch the virus, experience the worst impacts and face the most obstacles during recovery.
That’s why those that are working during the pandemic should get higher pay.
According to a May 1 NBC news article, fast food workers and grocery market employees are protesting against their working conditions, saying their wages are not reflective of the daily dangers they face. Some essential employees have had coworkers die from the virus.
One should not have to choose between their job and their health.
According to an article by the Center of Economic and Policy Research, people of color and women are overrepresented in many occupations on the frontline, and more than one third of workers in high-risk industries come from low-income families.
In other words, reopening nonessential businesses is simply feeding people of color, immigrants, low-income families and women to the capitalist machine so that Americans from high-income households can throw beach parties and make money from stocks.
This is the type of legalized racism, sexism and xenophobia that is so deeply embedded in our society that it makes its way to the surface, veiled by feeble-minded claims that stay-at-home orders are a violation of our “freedom” and “liberties.”
Because freedom relies on our ability to cooperate with the larger community, we will not gain freedom or financial security by half-assing federal aid and prematurely opening up the economy – putting more lives at risk.
Our financial recovery depends on our government’s ability to provide adequate financial aid so that essential workers are given appropriate pay, unconditional paid sick leave, and comprehensive health care.
