America’s Leaders Can’t Agree on Reopening Protocols. Neither Can Families.

The question of how to live life under shifting coronavirus precautions is straining relations among friends and relatives; ‘Boys, you’re too close to Grandma.'

When shelter-in-place restrictions eased in May in Gurnee, Ill., Laura Davis’s immediate thought was: When are people coming over? The teacher’s mother and two sisters live within driving distance, she said, and her backyard can accommodate social distancing.

It turned out that wasn’t going to be easy.

Ms. Davis, 38, landed in an argument with her older sister over get-together terms. Her sister and mother have...