US national lockdown part 1
If Trump had Locked America Down: an Alternate 2020
It was a cold, cloudy day in Washington DC. Joe Biden, a seasoned statesman and politician, had taken the inaugural stage. As Chief Justice John Roberts recited the Oath, Biden nervously affirmed his resolve to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and serve America, unlike his predecessor. The dark, turbulent final year of his predecessor loomed in his mind, one that no American would ever forget. Biden finished his swearing in and with that, the Justice pronounced “So help you God, Congratulations Mr. President.” Biden turned to his front and looked at a lawn empty of spectators in front of him, one that was fenced off and guarded by troops. He winced his pain as he turned his leg; it had been hit by gunfire during the January 6th Massacre. He sighed; this was the first Inauguration without spectators in history, one that would mark a difficult term of office for him. He began his speech thus,”Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans.
This is America’s day.
This is democracy’s day.
A day of history and hope.
Of renewal and resolve.
Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.”
He let his mind run through a recap of what happened in 2020, a year that had tested, had challenged the world and had been a time of misery and darkness. He knew this speech would set the stage for an administration of normalcy and renewal, and he was determined to make that a reality.
2020 had started on a tense note with the execution of the Iranian leader Qasem Soleimani in Iraq. The attack had led to an Iranian counterattack on a US base in Iraq with 110 servicemen wounded and an enraged Trump imposing new sanctions on the weakened country. Iran then shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet that was mistaken for a cruise missile, further adding to a tense situation. While tensions went back to normal, President Trump was acquitted on a party line vote over a scandal involving Ukraine, further strengthening the desire of Democrats to defeat him. Venice saw flood and Australia saw hellish wildfires, priming people for what would be a morbid, tragic year marked by the pandemic.
The Covid-19 virus was discovered in the closing days of 2019, but it would take 3 weeks until China acknowledged the virus and took action against it. An entire province was locked down and China faced a wave of travel bans and global attention. The action seemed to have worked to curtail the outbreak; February saw a mass decline in infections and similar clusters did not surge chaotically in the rest of the world. The last week of February, however, saw a huge surge in Northern Italy and Iran, prompting the beginnings of a global shutdown. There was debate over what to do; the scientific consensus was to mitigate any outbreak as it was felt the virus spread too fast to be contained through screening, travel bans or testing and tracing. The influence of China seemed to change all this; the entry of Italy into lockdown on March 10th prompted a wave of such measures taken throughout the entire planet over the next two weeks. Businesses were shuttered, people were advised or forced to stay at home, travel-domestic and international- was halted, and events were cancelled. Within the US, California was the first state to lockdown on March 19th. Day after day, more states entered the lockdown. The crisis in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut prompted a change in the President’s thinking, as well as the lockdown imposed in the UK on March 24th. The President had ruled out nationwide measures early in the month, feeling that the pandemic would be something to muddle through and endure.
But he sat down one day with the coronavirus task force and discussed the escalating situation, with thousands expected to die in New York and ventilators to run short. Dr. Anthony Fauci urged the President to consider a nationwide lockdown(officially stay-at-home order) and measures to prevent the disease from spreading out of the tri-state area to the rest of the country. As well as relieving shortages of medical supplies like PPE and ventilators. The rest of the task force seemed to be split on the former but not on the latter. Trump grudgingly agreed to a modest increase in supplies and equipment to the tri-state area, but he felt a huge need for a nationwide lockdown. He was alarmed and fearful like so many other world leaders, and he was determined to avoid the worst case scenario. After some back and forth, the task force agreed to a nationwide lockdown.
On March 28th, President Trump took the stand and at a press conference announced his executive order regarding the virus. He said “We’re shutting everything down, don’t worry, we’re gonna shut it down.” He announced the suspension of all air travel and rail travel, and a ban on nonessential interstate travel, as well as a closure of nonessential businesses to be enforced by a federal-state partnership. He also announced a total quarantine of the tri-state area, with residents not allowed out of their homes unless lacking shelter or needing to buy food and medical care(only allowed once a week). He also announced checkpoints at state border crossings on interstate highways, which would restrict or turn away travellers. The measures would last until May 1st, with Trump saying that we need to get the virus down low, very low. He also promised a huge surge of testing capacity and funds to accelerate vaccine research and deployment. With all this, the US lockdown had now begun.