Release Notes: COVID-19 U.S. State by State Infographic – July 17, 2020
Document Link: Pier Digital COVID-19 Info Project V21.pdf

On Monday, California reimposed several distancing restrictions, shutting down many businesses deemed non-essential across the state. Counties that see several days of increasing cases will be subject to additional shutdowns. The governor has also expressed willingness to make restrictions even stricter, should the need arise. This decision probably isn’t surprising, given the severity of their COVID situation. The next interesting development to watch for will be when other hard-hit states follow suit. If this is anything like the first wave, every day can make a huge difference.

During the initial arrival of COVID in the US, California was one of the first states to impose a stay-at-home order and go into lockdown. This order went into effect on March 19th. New York was also one of the quicker states to respond, ordering their lockdown on March 22nd. “Through the rest of March, and through April, we saw how the virus spread in both states, and that California’s numbers were comparatively more manageable than New York. Could just three days really have had such an impact?”

Some states have paused their reopenings. Depending on the state, this may or may not be enough. Some states have reimposed light restrictions while guidance at the municipality level continues to rapidly evolve with the number of new confirmed cases.

As we look to the future and forward guidance at the state level, Johns Hopkins University & Medicine’s Coronavirus Resource Center provides an online, interactive timeline of COVID-19 policies, cases, and deaths per state map. Dots on the timeline indicate key events in each state – closings (in red), openings (in green), and other policy changes and events (in grey). We strongly encourage bookmarking the site for the most accurate, up-to-date information about COVID-19 cases: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/state-timeline.