EVEN THE ATLANTIC HAS NOTICED: The Logic of Pandemic Restrictions Is Falling Apart: This is why you can eat in a restaurant but can’t have Thanksgiving.
It isn’t just New York; in states across the country, local officials have urged caution and fastidiousness. But those words can seem tenuously connected, at best, to the types of safety measures they’ve put in place. In Rhode Island, for example, residents are prohibited from gathering with even one person outside their household, even in the open air of a public park. But inside a restaurant? Well, 25 people is fine. Hire a caterer? You’re legally cleared to have up to 75 outdoors. The governor’s executive order merely notes: “The lower attendance at such events, the lower the risk.” (The Rhode Island governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.)
Yes, there’s a lot of absurd TDS in this piece, but some reality has managed to force its way in, though the author seems to have no understanding whatsoever of business or economics.
Also in The Atlantic, from May, Quarantine Fatigue Is Real: And Shaming People Won’t Help.