> why is non-essential services taking a vacation for a few months at the expense of everyone else supposed to be a major event with long-lasting consequences?

> why is non-essential services taking a vacation for a few months at the expense of everyone else supposed to be a major event with long-lasting consequences? That government response is there to help slow the spread of COVID-19 which then results in the saving of many tens of thousand of lives. If the government didn't step in to help, people are then forced to go to out to work which then helps to spread the virus.