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Landlords have come under particular scrutiny in the last few months, especially with the coronavirus-induced shutdown of the economy.

Some White House advisors like Anthony Fauci have often acted as if they were in a position to dictate to states whether or not to mandate “social distancing.” But neither the president nor his advisors have ever demonstrated that they actually have the legal authority to set state and local policies on these matters.

Indeed, Donald Trump appeared to quite clearly defer to states on these matters since the COVID-19 panic began in March.

Until Monday.

My oldest turned seventeen last month. To commemorate the occasion, she and I watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I’d taken her to her first (allegedly) rated-R movie a couple years ago to see the quite good Baby Driver, but this was Tarantino.

This article focuses on Canada, but the analysis applies in every country to varying degrees, and in most countries to a very significant degree.

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President Trump is convening with governors to reopen the economy, which will likely mean some sort of compulsory face mask order. Now is the time to seriously consider scrapping the patents on masks such as the N95.

On Wednesday, April 1, the acting prime minister of Barbados, Hon. Santia Bradshaw, came on the local news station to announce a mandatory partial shutdown to combat COVID-19. She announced that starting April 3, all “nonessential” businesses would remain closed until midnight April 14.