It seems now that Trump is out it's time to reopen for business regardless of the fact that the Covid-19 situation is worse than ever.
https://apnews.com/article/sacramento-california-coronavirus-pandemic-gavin-newsom-38bb44ea7cb39eab9f6f6c621daeaf10"At the start of last week, no regions appeared unlikely to have the stay-at-home order lifted soon because their capacity was well below 15%. But within a day, the state announced it was lifting the order for the 13-county Greater Sacramento area.
Suddenly, outdoor dining and worship services were OK again, hair and nail salons and other businesses could reopen, and retailers could have more shoppers inside.
Local officials and businesses were caught off guard. State officials did not describe their reasoning other than to say it was based on a projection for ICU capacity.
“It was a good surprise, but we just didn’t see it coming,” California Restaurant Association president and CEO Jot Condie said. “We just don’t know what happens behind the curtain. It’s created logistical difficulties for the industry,” which scrambled to rehire staff and order food.
State health officials relied on a complex formula to project that while the region’s intensive care capacity was below 10%, it would climb above 15% within four weeks. On Thursday, it was 8%, roughly the same as when the order was lifted.
“What happened to the 15%? What was that all about?” asked Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and infectious-diseases control expert at University of California, San Francisco. “I was surprised. I assume they know something I don’t know.”
State officials projected future capacity using a combination of models.
“At the moment the projections are not being shared publicly,” Department of Public Health spokeswoman Ali Bay said in an email."
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-chicago-lightfoot-wants-restaurants-open-pritzker-20210114-mh6chxizsfgnbkwkypf6iyk6mi-story.html"Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday she wants the city’s bars and restaurants to reopen for indoor service “as soon as possible” and plans to discuss the issue with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, despite the fact that the city hasn’t met the state’s requirements for lifting the restrictions.
“I am very, very focused on getting our restaurants reopened. If we look at the various criteria that the state has set, we are meeting most if not all of those. So that’s a conversation that I will have with the governor,” Lightfoot said at a news conference about the city’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution sites. “But I want to get our restaurants and our bars reopened as quickly as possible.”
In fact, the city has not yet reached the metrics set by Pritzker’s administration.
On Thursday, Chicago’s test positivity stood at 10%, according to city statistics. Under the current pandemic rules, the city would have to have a positivity rate of 6.5% or less for three straight days in order for restaurants and bars to reopen."
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So it's starting to look like a large part of shutting down the economy was political after all. Or maybe the timing is just a coincidence.