"what mandatory order?" I said the one that every news outlet is reporting as "mandatory," to which she rolled her eyes and said it's not mandatory and never uses that word and indeed only reiterates everything the Governor said and the only actual change was having the gathering type businesses close, i.e. salons, tattoo parlors, etc., most of which had already closed anyway. She sent me a copy of the 11 page document and nowhere did it use the word mandatory, and under the section about what is the penalty for not following the order it says "Residents and businesses are URGED to comply with this Order and every effort will be made to educate people to achieve compliance." So we're urged, not required...seems like a pretty clear delineation between being required and, well, URGED to do something.

It does talk about a code of Utah law addressing penalties, but then they follow that up with specifically saying "However, PLEASE NOTE (their emphasis, not mine), the intent of this order is NOT to penalize; the intent is to convey how serious COVID-19 is to public health and be clear about what's at stake."

So why has literally EVERY single headline I've seen about this used the word "mandatory" when it only URGES us to comply?