These 6 states have no shelter-in-place orders

Touro University Nevada medical school Dean Dr. Wolfgang Gilliar (C) talks with Touro medical students Claire Chen (L) and Allison Moran (R) as they wait to conduct medical screenings as people line up to enter a temporary homeless shelter set up in a parking lot at Cashman Center on March 28, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada was closed this week after a homeless man who used their services tested positive for the coronavirus, leaving about 500 people with no overnight shelter. The city of Las Vegas, Clark County and local homeless providers plan to operate the shelter through April 3rd when it is anticipated that the Catholic Charities facility will be back open. The city is also reserving the building spaces at Cashman Center in case of an overflow of hospital patients. less Touro University Nevada medical school Dean Dr. Wolfgang Gilliar (C) talks with Touro medical students Claire Chen (L) and Allison Moran (R) as they wait to conduct medical screenings as people line up to enter ... more Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close These 6 states have no shelter-in-place orders 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

Nearly all of the United States is currently under full or partial shelter-in-place orders to slow the coronavirus pandemic, leaving just six states as the lone hold-outs.

As of Monday afternoon, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Arkansas have no mandatory shelter-in-place directives at the city or state level.

Some nonessential businesses have been told to close, however. For example, Las Vegas' famed casinos were ordered by Governor Steve Sisolak to close until April 16.

Utah, Wyoming, Alaska, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Maine have partial lockdown orders; individual cities have declared shelter-in-place mandates but the state as a whole has not. You can see a more granular state-by-state breakdown here.

Every state in the U.S. has confirmed COVID-19 cases and all but Hawaii and Wyoming have reported at least one death.

MORE: How bad will the next few weeks be for California as coronavirus cases surge?

Many health experts argue that the key to slowing down COVID-19's worldwide spread is limiting social contact before the virus takes hold in the community.

"There’s no virtue in waiting," Yale professor of epidemiology Gregg Gonsalves told The Guardian. "Social distancing and business closures are meant to be a preventative. They’re not to be seen as something you do when it gets really bad – it’s to keep it from getting really bad."

On March 19, California became the first state in the nation to declare a statewide shelter in place. Twenty-eight other states followed suit. The New York Times estimates at least 248 million people in the U.S. are currently under some kind of shelter-in-place order.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey told reporters on a conference call she was not declaring a statewide lockdown (although the state's largest city, Birmingham, has done so). "Y’all, we are not Louisiana, we are not New York state, we are not California," Ivey said.

"I think we have to be responsible, we are Iowans," Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds echoed recently. "I shouldn't have to issue an order to say that you need to be responsible and stay home if you're sick."

On Monday, President Donald Trump extended his social distancing guidelines through April 30. Though not mandatory, the guidelines ask that Americans stay at home as much as possible and avoid gatherings of 10 or more people.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story stated that eight states had shelter-in-place orders. On Monday afternoon, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced he is mandating shelter-in-place for the state. Jackson in Wyoming has also now implemented mandatory shelter-in-place.

Katie Dowd is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: katie.dowd@sfgate.com.