On the one hand you want to say, somebody had to go first. But actually somebody did go first, and it was was Washington state, the east coast acted like it couldn't happen to them, and everyone but California waited for NYC to be overrun.
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Washington had a head start because their university lab broke federal protocol to do tests, which was good because it turned out to be spreading in the community. Cuomo and DeBlasio shrugged and said "eh, what's 1-3% got to do with me"
New York waited knowing the rest of the states, with some exceptions, would follow theur lead on lockdown protocols. There was huge pressure to keep not just New York but the whole country open.