Coronavirus and freedom

Acity and state wrestling with an exploding contagion and concerned that family groups may be a bit too close for comfort in parks and on sidewalks now contemplates whether government should take stronger measures to stop an already clamped down population from availing itself of these public spaces. In London, for example, many parks are shuttering.

Firmed-up guidelines to promote better spacing of family groups make sense, as could closing of some city streets to car traffic to give pedestrians more room to roam. But we urge extreme caution before authorities do more to restrict people’s access to common spaces.

Social distancing is imperative. Limit contact outside one’s family, with even more stringent restrictions with respect to especially vulnerable populations.

But at the moment, the prime driver of the spike in confirmed cases (while statewide fatality rates per those known cases hovers around 0.65%) is a sharp upsurge in testing, as well as the delayed clampdown on mass gatherings and more, which began 10 days ago or less. These are likely to slow the spread of the virus, even though effects have yet to show up in numbers that keep rising due to pent-up positive tests.

People shouldn’t hang out in close proximity, even outside. Kids should stay off playground equipment. But in a congested city staring at a many-week or many-month clampdown, their ability to make use of the outdoors, while keeping their distance, is vital to mental health, with no evidence it creates serious risks to public health.