MEMPHIS, Tennessee —
In Wednesday’s Ransom Note: I just don't get it.
Why are our governors so slow to do what doctors say should have been weeks ago in response to the global coronavirus pandemic?
First of all, after being critical of Mississippi's Tate Reeves Tuesday, I have to give credit where credit is due. Wednesday, he finally issued a statewide mandatory shelter at home order. He did so convincingly and without reservation.
But then there's Arkansas. Governor Asa Hutchinson is refusing to do anything. Every night ABC News updates its map on governors who've issued “stay at home” orders, and there's Arkansas, proudly defiant, doing nothing.
Tennessee is colored in like Mississippi, but it's a little misleading. Because while Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has asked everyone to shelter at home, that's all it is, a request, not a mandate. He needs to take it to the next level as our infectious disease specialist warned, it's about to get very ugly. The earlier the response, the easier on all of us. What's taking so long?