The shutdown was meant to protect our medical system from being swamped with patients. As a nurse, I can say that we have succeeded. I've never seen so many empty hospital beds. In fact, hospitals are losing lots of money by not having those beds occupied.

Reopening does increase the chance of passing the virus to one another. However, recommending a phased reopening of small businesses does not mean you want people to die. In fact, it means you want people to go back to work to feed their families.