Stay-at-home order

A stay-at-home order, safer-at-home order, a movement control order (more common in Southeast Asia) or lockdown restrictions (in the United Kingdom), also known by loosely using the terms (self-) quarantine, (self-) isolation, or lockdown is an order from a government authority to restrict movements of a population as a mass quarantine strategy for suppressing, or mitigating, an epidemic, or pandemic, by ordering residents to stay home except for essential tasks or to work in essential businesses. The medical distinction between such an order and quarantine is that quarantine is usually understood to involve isolating only selected people who are considered to be possibly infectious, rather than the entire population of an area (though many colloquially refer to stay-at-home orders as quarantine.) In many cases, outdoor activities are allowed. Non-essential businesses are either closed or adapted to working from home. In some regions, it has been implemented as a round-the-clock curfew or called a shelter-in-place order but it is not to be confused with a shelter-in-place situation. Similar measures have been used around the world, and, both officially and colloquially, different names have been used to refer to them, often only very loosely linked to the term's actual medical meaning. Examples include confinement, (self-) isolation, (self-) quarantine, lockdown or ‘strict social distancing measures’. Stay-at-home orders have colloquially (and sometimes officially) been referred to as quarantine or lockdown - but some officials have a concern that the word lockdown may send a wrong message for people to incorrectly think that it includes door-to-door searching for infected people to be forced into quarantines similar to the Hubei lockdown. Terminology: The term lockdown was used by the media and the World Health Organization (WHO) to describe the action taken in January 2020 by the government of China to restrict movements of people in order to control the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan When Italian authorities imposed a strict quarantine order in the northern part of the country, the media also used the term lockdown, which was used for Spain and France, as well as other countries around the world. Although it is not a technical term in public health or laws, the media continued to use lockdown to describe the actions taken by these governments. As the lockdowns were expanded to other countries, there was a shift in the definitions. Measures are less restrictive and other terms emerged in attempts to differentiate from the most restrictive measure in China. When the authorities in San Francisco Bay Area in the United States issued an order in March 2020 for residents to stay home to control the outbreak of COVID-19, they called it a shelter-in-place order. People were not familiar with it as the term shelter in place had been used in other emergency situations such as an active shooter which would require seeking a safe place to hide within the same building that the person already occupies until the situation is resolved. This caused confusion to the residents under the order on what exactly they are supposed to do. When Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state-wide order for California, United States, which would supersede the Bay Area's order on March 19, he used the term stay-at-home order instead. Other US states started using the new term when they announced their statewide order. In a press conference, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York criticized anyone using the term shelter-in-place for his stay-at-home order as it would invoke panic due to its association with active shooting situations or nuclear wars. Lockdowns in North America: In the United States and Canada, the term lockdown has been widely used in emergency preparedness. A lockdown procedure requires immediate actions in hiding and locking all doors. Additional actions may be taken such as turning off lights and staying away from windows. Students in all grade levels around the country participate in lockdown drills on a regular basis. The word lockdown can also be associated with martial law to mean that people cannot leave their homes. In an attempt to avoid confusion, Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago made a comment about the stay-at-home order of Illinois by trying to differentiate it from a lockdown or a martial law. When states and counties across the United States issued an order to have residents to remain home, they either called it shelter-in-place order or stay-at-home order. It has been clarified that these orders are not lockdowns because residents are allowed to go in and out of their homes in limited circumstances. Some jurisdictions have determined that there is a legal or practical distinction between the terms "stay-at-home" and "shelter-in-place". Orders- Powers: In the United States, the United States constitutional law gives a police power to the states. State governments can use this power within their own state. However, there is no clear authority for either the federal government or state governments to impose such a lockdown between states. In term of legality of an order, the government must be able to prove that the order advances a "compelling government interest" and the actions are narrow to specifically achieve that goal and they are not unnecessary broad. Scopes: The scope of the lockdowns or stay-at-home orders can vary. There is no universal definition of what is deemed essential. Some orders allow residents to come out for outdoor activities. When residents come out of the house, the social distancing rules are typically applied. Some examples of essential services are banks, gas stations, grocery stores, medical offices, pharmacies, and restaurants (without dining in). In more restrictive measures in some locations, they require residents to carry paperwork (i.e., appropriate proof of qualifications) in order to go out and perform essential tasks (i.e., supply chain infrastructure, food delivery, healthcare, law enforcement, etc.). Effectiveness: Public officials have been ambivalent about China's lockdown to combat COVID-19, first criticizing it as unethical and ineffective, and then later praising it. Some officials insist that public trust is required for the orders to be effective; otherwise, the orders may be evaded. COVID-19 pandemic: Numerous stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar restrictions were enforced globally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries and territories around the world have enforced lockdowns of varying degrees. Some include total movement control while others have enforced restrictions based on time. Mostly, only essential businesses are allowed to remain open. Schools, universities and colleges have closed either on a nationwide or local basis in 80 countries, affecting approximately 61.6 per cent of the world's student population. The 2020 Singapore circuit breaker measures is an example of a lockdown due to COVID-19. On 12 June 2020, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 79.5% of US adults surveyed during 5–12 May supported stay-at-home orders and nonessential business closures as government-mandated COVID-19 mitigation strategies.