The White House and all prominent public health officials have urged people across the country to stay at home as much as possible to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Nonetheless, governors of five states have yet to issue lockdown orders for their residents, and six states have issued only partial measures.
The vast majority of states have officially ordered most residents to stay indoors, except for essential workers or in specific circumstances. In hardest-hit New York, for example, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered residents to stay at home and all nonessential businesses to close.
But the governors in Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota have resisted issuing statewide stay-at-home orders as of Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s not about staying home. It’s about avoiding contact,” North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, said recently when asked why he has not given that order.
