"Should the government have the power to decide if a business can be open or not during a pandemic?"
I don't think that the government should have the power to decide if a business can be open or not during a pandemic. In my opinion, it is very restrictive to businesses in our country. The owner of the business should have the right to determine whether or not they are open, but the government should have no right in determining that for that business. At that point, it becomes a mandate/regulation, and I don't think this mandate would be beneficial. Like I mentioned before, it should be up to the owner's discretion to keep the business open or closed. If the government were to mandate businesses too close, then more people wouldn't want to create a business because the government would just close it down. There would be a lack of entrepreneurial improvement. This would lead to a poor economy. Each business has had their own rules of what they require for COVID safety. Most businesses require masks for everyone or just for the unvaccinated. Some still implement social distancing. The point is, is that businesses can still operate in COVID with their own restrictions. They don't need the government to decide for them to stay open or closed. I understand at the beginning of the pandemic, that the government advised businesses too close, but if the government tried to do that now, I would be surprised. The only reason I would be surprised is because businesses have adapted to the pandemic and they know what measures to take in order to be safe, so it doesn't make sense for the government to force a business to close.
