Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the first statewide stay-at-home order in the United States on March 19, 15 days after he declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 1 Other states quickly followed suit, with all 50 of them issuing some guidelines on social distancing and working from home as well as discouraging all nonessential activity by April 20. Life in America remains on lockdown, but questions are mounting regarding when the pandemic will end, when consumers will finally be free to leave their homes and when the economy can be safely reopened.