Should the government enforce a “stay-at-home” order to combat the coronavirus?

A “stay-at-home order” is an order from an authority to restrict movements of a population as a strategy for suppressing an epidemic or pandemic. Residents are ordered to stay home except for essential tasks or going to work in essential businesses. The order was widely used by governments after the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In January 2020 the Chinese government used the order to restrict the residents of Wuhan from traveling to outside of the city. In the following months governments including those of Italy, Spain, France, Denmark and the United Sta…  tes also issued similar orders. In the United States there is no clear authority for either the federal government or state governments to issue a “lockdown” between the states. The U.S. constitution gives states the power to regulate behavior and enforce order within their territory. There is no clear authority for the federal government or state government to impose such a lockdown.