From an economic standpoint, it is not an easy thing to have everyone stay home. While the old proverb that money does not buy happiness is true, in our society money is necessary to pay for housing, food, clothing, etc. And when people stay home, money becomes less available through an economic spiral - less people out spending money, means less people making money, which means less people working, which means less money to spend. This is undoubtedly a problem, because we need to stay home to flatten the curve.
Unfortunately there are people, including a few of our leaders, who are seemingly willing to prioritize the economy over people’s lives. There seems to be an increasing attitude of “So what if several thousand people, maybe even hundreds of thousands, die? We need to get back to work ASAP!” While a good economy is important, it is meant to serve humanity not for humanity to serve it (to paraphrase something Jesus once said).
As followers of Christ we are called to prioritize human life, because God values it enough that He was willing to die for it/us. And while we all have the need for money, Jesus reminds us that “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). May we have our priorities straight and be willing to make the necessary sacrifices for our brothers and sisters!