One thing to keep in mind is that IF they were planning on a lockdown, and planning to use the active-duty military to enforce it, this would be trivially easy to identify, as it’s not a quick or stealthy thing to move thousands of troops out of a military base to anywhere.
Same for mobilizing the National Guard- that’s going to be obvious as well.
What, exactly, would a “lockdown” even mean? Closure of certain categories of businesses (and if so, what categories)? Closing freeways? Airports? Nobody allowed out of their home? And how would any of this be enforced-- Are the police going to be allowed out? The military? Will some activity be deemed “essential”, and who determines that? Depending on how you interpret “lockdown”, it could mean anything from “what we have right now” to “immediately nuke every city that’s had a suspected case”.
The Bay Area counties are issuing a “shelter in place” order until April 7th, or as conditions dictate. We’re allowed to go to work or the store and apparently dog walking and hiking are okay too.
The reason why this crackdown is happening is because the government is trying to prevent further spreading of this cancerous virus.
Stop thinking that this is a joke, this is not a joke at all.
Wut??!! :eek:
Cancerous? I don’t think so.
My sister and a bunch of friends are there. Yes, LA is under lockdown.
The governor is shutting down all restaurants (except for take-out or delivery) at midnight tonight. We were going to go out for Mexican food tonight, since it will be a while before we can go again. The owner said they shut down today. Unfortunately, margaritas are not on the take-out menu. 
He’s just working out the logistics of housing all the troops in his properties so he can be paid for it.
Same things are shut down in New York State.
But it NOT a lockdown.
I’m just using the word they are using.
[del]Top. Men.[/del] Credible. Sources.
When the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami hit, my wife’s friend’s husband (at the time, now they are divorced) was working as a high-level official in the Ministry of Transportation and he still didn’t know shit about any of the planning by the Prime Minister’s office or other ministries.
He would be one level below those who would possibly know, although it’s a good chance that most of the people at that level would not know, either. People keep secret things secret for a reason.
Beer always goes to my waist.
The city is not locked down. UCLA is going to online classes until at least the fall quarter (from my friend the UCLA professor.) But the stores are open but empty of lots of stuff.
NJ now has an 8pm curfew and I believe similar places told to close, restaurants can offer take out and delivery only. Our municipality in NJ announced the same thing a couple of days before the state did (though curfew time was 10pm). That is not a ‘lock down’ which is where everyone is advised or required to say inside all the time except to visit essential places like grocery stores, pharmacies and medical facilities, and all businesses closed except those.
Maybe it will get to the true lockdown stage in the US or parts of it. But it doesn’t seem like the general approach is to have the federal govt newly override a lot of traditionally state and local prerogatives which this kind of thing has been generally been. Also it’s not the kind of thing where every place actually has to have the exact same policy. If some areas were doing nothing and others locking down we could raise our eyebrows. If one place is doing everything but lockdown and another place is doing lockdown, that could be because local conditions are actually different.
I think the public is pretty rapidly getting past the point of criticizing ‘overreaction’, and politicians of all stripes getting past being afraid they’ll be accused of it. Now, sometime down the road when the economic cost has accumulated people might start grumbling.
I’m not sure about going to ordinary work, it seems to be worded that you can only go to work that is in some way “necessary.” We got a note from our County Supervisor in my district that listed the kinds of business that is considered “necessary” –
• Healthcare operations, including home health workers;
• Essential Infrastructure, including construction of housing and operation of public transportation and utilities;
• Grocery stores, farmers’ markets, food banks, convenience stores;
• Businesses that provide necessities of life for economically disadvantaged individuals and shelter facilities;
• Pharmacies, health care supply stores, and health care facilities;
• Gas stations and auto repair facilities;
• Banks;
• Garbage collection;
• Hardware stores, plumbers, electricians, and other service providers necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences and other essential businesses;
• Educational institutions, for the purposes of facilitating distance learning;
• Laundromats, dry cleaners, and laundry service providers;
• Businesses that ship or deliver groceries, food, and goods directly to residences;
• Childcare facilities providing services that enable essential employees to go to work;
• Roles required for any Essential Business to “maintain basic operations,” which include security, payroll, and similar activities.
I’m so glad that the contractors I already have scheduled will be able to come and work on the absolutely critical infrastructure changes that I’m making.
Which reminds me of this Dilbert comic:
How long was Wuhan locked down? Modeling is showing that to be effective, lockdown has to be 2-3 months, and even that just slows it down.
Is there any real mechanism for the federal government to order such?
From my understanding this type of quarantine is handled at the state or substate/local government.
The New Jersey “curfew” is a recommendation by the governor. It is not an order and can not be enforced. The closing of restaurants and bars is an order.
