With the United states getting upwards of 100K Covid-19 cases daily, there is talk of complete lockdown for the states. Under the new Biden administration the economy could take a very different turn. In the beginning Joe Biden stated, “I would shut it down. I would listen to the scientists,” in regard to a lockdown. He was planning on a 4-6 week lockdown recovery plan, but has since then backed off on that idea when he realized small business would suffer dramatically from the loss of revenue. Now Biden wants to keep it the way it has been going under the Trump administration and leave it up to the governors; state by state for the time being, because there are certain hotspots that Covid-19 is spreading in. This idea is a much better angle of approaching the pandemic and would not burden the areas not as heavily affected by the disease.

Currently it’s up to state governors to decide what measures they’ll take to combat the spreading of the virus. New Mexico and Oregon implemented new restrictions that are similar to a lockdown. Most states implemented curfews, trying to keep people inside or at home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Jared Polis, Colorado’s governor has said that a lockdown is very unlikely in our state. Meanwhile, 26 metro mayors have complained about a lack of communication of data between them and Jared Polis. Some fear about Colorado’s record hospitalizations and infections since the beginning of the pandemic, and may push for a lockdown similar to what is seen in the other states. This would be necessary only if the hospitalization and infection numbers reach a certain amount. At that point, the benefits of a lockdown would outweigh the costs. 

 Joe Biden plans that when he takes office in January, there will be a coordinated effort in all states. First, with a mandatory mask policy nationwide, although more than 50 percent have statewide mask mandates, many state counties have local mask mandates, and almost everywhere it’s strongly encouraged. Similar to the lockdown, imposing a nationwide mask policy would also negatively affect states where Covid-19 has been the least present. It would be better to have the mask policy be decided upon by the state governors. Biden wants to double the mobile testing sites using rapid tests in each state, which may help to reduce the need for lockdowns in areas where people seldom test positive for Covid-19.