If you need a rescue, they may be extra slow due to COVID-19, and the response for others may be extra slow due to your actions.
At this time of the year, I'd argue that opening the main trail would reduce the odds of rescue, not increase it. Before the monsoon season and just after the snow has melted is one of the safest times to hike. There's plenty of daylight, generally survivable nighttime temps, and little risk of being hit by lightning. Based on past years' reports, this year's below-average snowfall, and the webcam images, it's pretty safe to say that the switchbacks are now open and that crampons and ice axes aren't required anywhere on the main trail. The main hazards now are:
- Not carrying enough food and/or water
- Getting lost between Mirror Lake and Trail Camp
- Altitude sickness and/or exhaustion
- Lingering snow/ice on the mountaineers route
If the main trail is open, you have a chance of obtaining food, water, and directions from other hikers on the trail. They may also be able to help you descend, and there'll be fewer unprepared people trying the MR since they'll have that easier main trail route to the summit. But if the main trail is closed, any rebels who decide to do it anyway would be SOL if they get lost, are too exhausted to descend, or run out of supplies, and those who decide to do things the legal way but are unprepared will likely need rescue on the MR.
In any event it’s opening this Friday.
I never expected the Portal Campground and the road to be open before the upper gate at Horseshoe Meadow Road, but it looks like that is indeed the case:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recmain/inyo/recreation"Roads closed: Whitney Portal Rd. opening June 19; Horseshoe Meadow road closed at upper gate."
"Whitney Portal Campground Closed to Visitor Opening June 19, 2020"
I don't know what the rationale is for leaving that upper gate closed; it's not a high-risk area or an area that's more crowded than Whitney Portal.
