Coronavirus Updates: Easing Lockdowns Makes Day-To-Day Choices More Complicated

Mary Spoto, general manager of Madison Chop House Grille, places a sign outside the restaurant as she and her staff prepare to shift from take out only to dine-in service Monday
in Madison, Georgia.

John Bazemore / Associated Press

Things were so much clearer when just about everything was locked down.

Now, with states lifting coronavirus restrictions piecemeal and by often arbitrary timetables, Americans are facing bewildering decisions about what they should and should not do to protect their health, their livelihoods and their neighbors.

Is it safe to join the crowds at the beach or eat at a restaurant? To visit the elderly parents you haven’t seen in nearly two months? To reopen a struggling business?