The name of the game in America today is precaution over panic; readiness over rampage. We have a silent and stealthy killer here among us, who preys on the weak and exploits our humanity to spread.
This is COVID-19, and we must take the threat seriously. The more effort we put in now, the quicker the results will come…it’s just that simple.
In San Francisco, the government appears to be taking no chances, and angering some freedom advocates in the process.
Six Bay Area counties announced a “shelter in place” order for all residents on Monday — the strictest measure of its kind yet in the continental United States — directing everyone to stay inside their homes and away from others as much as possible for the next three weeks as public health officials desperately try to curb the rapid spread of coronavirus across the region.
The directive begins at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and involves San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties — a combined population of more than 6.7 million. It is to stay in place until at least April 7. Three other Bay Area counties — Sonoma, Solano and Napa — were not immediately included.
The order falls just short of a full lockdown, which would forbid people from leaving their homes without explicit permission. The order (read in its entirety at tinyurl.com/waddyqv) calls for county and city sheriffs or police chiefs to “ensure compliance,” and local authorities said they would not “rush to enforce” the directives as residents adjusted to understand what activities are no longer allowed.
Online trolls and conspiracy theorists were pointing to San Francisco’s decision as some sort of omen of tyranny to come, as though they were Pavlov’s dog…only in this case, Pavlov is Infowars’ host Alex Jones and, instead of salivating, these keyboard crusaders just made ad nauseam arguments about “martial law”.
