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When it comes to responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has been one of the nation’s strictest, most vocal leaders. That’s why when he announced Wednesday that the state could potentially lift its stay-at-home order beginning next week, it marked a sign of optimism to those growing impatient for a return to normal.

“It is thanks to all of you and your incredible sacrifices that we are making great progress,” Hogan said. “We are flattening the curve and we are preparing to launch our reopening plan.”

Before the state does just that, however, Hogan announced that beginning on Thursday, Maryland would lift restrictions on a slew of outdoor activities including golfing, fishing, tennis, hunting and boating, among other things. The easement announcement was met with welcoming, open arms by some.

“I kinda/sorta am” excited, said Gail Mann, who works in the heart of downtown Frederick, Maryland, at Radcliffe Realty.

Having spent nearly two months practicing strict social distancing guidelines, she acknowledged that she’ll be taking “baby steps” toward getting back to life the way it was.

And she’s not the only one. Residents in five states this week discussed how they feel not only about their states’ decisions related to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, but also what it’s been like to be cooped up inside their homes for weeks on end.

Pennsylvania

Gov. Tom Wolf plans to reopen the state through a three-phase system, which labels counties as red, yellow or green.

In the red phase, where case numbers and risk are still considered high, social distancing and business and school closures are being maintained. In the yellow phase, some of those restrictions have relaxed, with limits on large gatherings. The green phase, meanwhile, would lift the stay-at-home order and reopen most businesses, allowing the state to return to a “new normal,” according to the governor’s website.

Across Washington County, Pennsylvania, feelings about the state reopening have been mixed. While many want to get back to work, residents want to do so safely.

Bob Willard, of Washington County, said that as a casino worker, he’s exposed to crowds in his work environment.

“We’re probably more worried about it than most,” he said. “But if people wear masks, I don’t see why we couldn’t open back up.”

Kathy and Clyde Haught, of Washington, are glad that outdoor recreation has been encouraged during the pandemic, as the retired couple has been spending nice spring days in Washington Park. But when it comes to businesses opening back up, Kathy said she believes “a lot of places just aren’t ready.”

Clyde said he’d like to see the number of new COVID-19 cases drop before the state reopens.

“There are people who need to go back to work to feed their families, but we have to do it safely,” Kathy said.

West Virginia

The Mountain State entered the second week of its “West Virginia Strong: The Comeback” plan, as small businesses with 10 or fewer employees, barbershops and hair salons, restaurants with outdoor dining and more allowed to reopen starting this past week. Gov. Jim Justice’s stay-at-home order transitioned to a “safer-at-home” directive, under which people are strongly encouraged to stay home except for essential activities, but they are no longer required to do so.

Parkersburg resident Steve Nichols said he’s pleased with how Justice has handled the situation, gradually allowing businesses to reopen, with precautions remaining, based on the state’s COVID-19 numbers.

“If it spikes, then they’ve got to kind of recalibrate it,” Nichols said.

Nichols said he’s been shopping but is in no hurry to go back to restaurants.

“I’m probably going to wait a while” to let them figure out the process, he said.

Since Justice announced the comeback plan in late April, Parkersburg Police Chief Joe Martin said he’s noticed “a definite increase in daytime traffic.” When the statewide stay-at-home order was issued in March, daytime traffic decreased to evening levels, he said, while “our evening traffic was more like nighttime traffic.”

Vienna resident Cheyanne Moyers took her almost-2-year-old daughter, Everleigh, to Parkersburg City Park Thursday while her car was being worked on, the first such venture they’ve made out in more than a month.

“It’s been very hard, sitting at home all day, not doing my normal life routines,” said Moyers, a retail supervisor who has been furloughed from her job. “I just wish that the world would open back up.”

Moyers said this feels like a good time for the process to start.

“If people use their common sense, then I think that everything would be all right,” she said.

Ohio

Megan McDonald, a small business owner in Milan, Ohio, said she is ready for the state to move forward.

“I feel like (progress is) very slow,” she said. “I’m ready to just know where we’re going. It seems like there’s a change every single day and it’s like whiplash. We hear one thing and we think we’re going this route and then we hear something else and it’s going a different route. With owning a business, it’s a lot of whiplash, a lot of back and forth in my opinion.”

She said she and her family talk often about everything getting “back to normal,” but she is starting to realize that there will be a different normal.

“I think that we’re entering a new normal — one where masks are going to be required,” she said. “I think that moving forward, it’s going to be a long time before we can have our full capacity of people in here, or anywhere.

“I think there’s always going to be a limit for a really long time going forward,” she then added, referring to capacity in restaurants and other businesses.

While keeping up with running her own business, McDonald’s day to day life hasn’t changed drastically, but even so, she has been trying to stay away from the news.

“I just want to keep my head down and do what I can for the community,” she said. “I think that (politicians) all have a job to do, whether I agree with it or not. I think that they’re doing their job. If they tell me to wear a mask, I’m going to wear a mask. It just is what it is. I just keep my head down.”

Kansas

On the main street of Lawrence, Kansas, Thursday afternoon, Karina Critten walked down Massachusetts Street with a friend from out of town.

“I’m definitely ready for things to open back up,” she said.

She’s concerned about the fate of the many locally owned restaurants and stores on Massachusetts Street, and said she hopes landlords will be merciful on rent.

Critten said she thought Douglas County, Kansas has done a good job of being cautious, but also noted that she expects the virus will eventually infect most of the population. She suggested that she would like to see hand sanitizer dispensers outside all businesses.

Despite Kansas beginning phase one of its reopening plan this past Monday, many businesses in Lawrence remained closed as of Friday.

Douglas County’s health department, meanwhile, took a more stringent stance on reopening. While the state’s stay-at-home order was lifted and dine-in restaurants were able to open back up — with strict social distancing guidelines — Douglas County ordered dine-in restaurants to remain closed through May 17.

Yen Tran, also on Massachusetts Street Thursday afternoon, said she’s “totally fine staying home.” She wants the state to take a slower approach to opening back up, and feels like COVID-19 cases are still on the rise.

As of Thursday, the county had 56 positive cases, and a member of the local hospital’s pandemic response team said the county was in the middle of a “plateau” of cases, which he anticipates could trail off next week.

Michigan

In Alpena, Mich., some residents support Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s extension of the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order, which she announced on Thursday, extending the restrictions until May 28, while others are tired of staying cooped up and think it’s time to lift the mandate.

Under Whitmer’s order, some sectors are now open, including construction and manufacturing, but the general public is urged to stay home unless they need to leave the house for grocery items or to go to work as an essential worker.

Lynn Edmonds said the stay-home order has done what it is supposed to do, which is control and limit the spread of the coronavirus.

“I do think overall, things have been handled well,” Edmonds said as she walked her dog on Thursday afternoon. “I do think some people are naive, as far as risky behavior, but it doesn’t really affect me because I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Still, she said she doesn’t feel comfortable going to stores right now and she tries to avoid it if she can. The hardest part about the quarantine period has been not seeing family, she added. She has siblings in the healthcare field and her mother is over 60, so they have not been interacting in person to ensure everyone’s safety.

Her main concern is how to transition back into normalcy. Another fear for her is that the virus may come back in the colder months.

“They’re predicting three waves of it,” Edmonds said. “We’ve got people relatively safe at this point in our county, but how long can we do that for?”

Alysha Rogers watched her young daughter and cousins playing with sidewalk chalk as she talked about the stay-at-home restrictions on Thursday. She agreed that the restrictions have been working, but she thinks it’s time to open back up, and she was not pleased with the governor extending the order past Memorial Day.

“Numbers aren’t really rising like they used to, and I work at the hospital, so it’s just now hitting here, but I feel like the majority of the numbers are at least confined,” Rogers noted, referring to the nursing homes being hit hardest. “It’s not like everybody went to Walmart and now, random miscellaneous people are infected.”

Rogers assumed Whitmer would extend the order, but she said she worries about the kids being stuck at home with nothing to do. She also worries about the toll that is taking on their mental health.

“I’m not surprised she extended the order, just because she just keeps extending it,” Rogers said. “I think I’m just now getting used to it. But there’s only so much that kids can do before they start to get bored.”

Rogers, hanging out barefoot in the front yard, said now that the weather is improving, people are ready to get back into the activities they have been missing.

“It’s getting rough, and I think it’s really affecting a lot of people’s mental health,” Rogers said, adding of the order, “I mean, I’m against it, but there’s nothing that I can do about it.”

Laura Smith said she understands the idea behind the orders but she doesn’t think the restrictions are completely effective. One of the precautions she questions is wearing a mask. She said although people are wearing the cloth masks, they touch them with their hands all the time and go in and out of stores and public places, and so in her mind, people probably don’t wash them enough for them to be effective.

Ogden staff writers Katie Anderson, Evan Bevins, LynAnne Vucovich, Lauren Fox and Darby Hinkley contributed to this report