Welcome to Friday, March 20th, movers and shakers...

California has ordered its 40 million residents to stay at home in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“We need to bend the curve in the state of California,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said as he announced the "stay at home" order.

“Home isolation is not my preferred choice... but it is a necessary one... This is not a permanent state, this is a moment in time.”

Closed: Most retail shops, including indoor malls; most corporate offices; all dine-in restaurants, bars, and clubs; gyms and fitness studios. Public events and gatherings are also not allowed.

Open: Essential services. This includes pharmacies, grocery stores, takeout and delivery restaurants, and banks.

Find out what your state is doing (or not) here. Then join the conversation:

Should more states close bars and restaurants?

On the Radar

Grocery Clerks as Emergency Workers

Grocery clerks in Minnesota and Vermont are now considered emergency personnel, meaning all efforts must be made to provide them with free child care so they can do their jobs.

The directive from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) came as part of an order for “Care for Children of Families of Emergency Workers,” which directs closed schools to continue to provide care for children of emergency personnel who are “critical to the response of COVID-19.”

Should states classify grocery clerks as emergency workers during the coronavirus crisis?

Under the Radar

Defense Production Act

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order that enables the federal government to use authority under the Defense Production Act to facilitate increased production of medical resources such as ventilators and personal protective equipment if it becomes necessary.

Trump explained that he signed the order to give federal agencies the flexibility to use the Defense Production Act’s powers to increase inventories of critical medical supplies if needed, tweeting:

"I only signed the Defense Production Act to combat the Chinese Virus should we need to invoke it in a worst case scenario in the future. Hopefully there will be no need, but we are all in this TOGETHER!"

Do you support the use of the Defense Production Act to acquire medical supplies?