ARTICLE
It is hard listening to the world news, the national, state and local news where the #1 issue is COVID-19 — the play, wash and repeat news cycle every day for 10 months. It is like listening to the #1 single from 1972 — Singer Don McLean memorialized Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and Big Bopper Richardson in the No. 1 hit “American Pie,” which refers to February 3, 1959, as “the day the music died.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgXkQUCCXtI The Pandemic continues to hit hard across our country where every day we read about another record number of cases; more than 300,00 deaths in the United States and local families suffering before our eyes. It is hard to not imagine that we are in a time warp bubble. But come to think of it — being in a bubble is exactly the right phrase. In a recent review of the data from John Hopkins, the number of infections is staggering: You can look at the global data here: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/ 72,773,321 Global confirmed infections 1,641,578 Global Deaths 16,769,765 U.S. Confirm 304,841 U.S. deaths On Wednesday, we were notified that Santa Cruz County is now below the 15% threshold for available Intensive Care Units (ICU). This places our county in the most restrictive category set by the state. The restriction will likely be enforced at midnight Thursday. Here is a look at the Santa Cruz County Health COVID—19 dashboard; https://www.santacruzhealth.org/HSAHome/HSADivisions/PublicHealth/CommunicableDiseaseControl/CoronavirusHome.aspx If you squint your eyes and look closely, there appears to be a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel now that the Pfizer vaccine is making its way into the arms of our front-line essential workers and our most vulnerable people. A Food and Drug Administration review of Moderna's (MRNA, -5.1%) COVID vaccine confirmed its high efficacy rate, setting the stage for a potential approval soon. Yes, this is much needed good news and a ‘shot in the arm’ (pardon the pun) that brings us hope. It could not be better summarized than in this statement: “Never before have governments, industry, academia, and nonprofits thrown more money, muscle, and brains at the same infectious disease in such short order,” wrote Jon Cohen in Monday’s issue of the journal Science. The logistics of getting the vaccine from the factory, to ground carriers and then airplanes and back to ground carrier — in boxes held at 94 degrees below Fahrenheit. The climbing stock market's churn around all-time highs continued Tuesday with a solid day of gains. This is a ray of sunshine which signals a potential make-or-break moment for a federal COVID stimulus that may be a day or two away. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, congressional GOP leaders and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to a Tuesday 4 p.m. meeting to discuss a potential rescue package, as well as a spending bill that both chambers must pass by Friday to avoid a government shutdown. Meanwhile, the Dow jumped 1.1% with some help from Apple (AAPL, +5.0%), which boomed on the back of a Nikkei report, citing unnamed sources, saying the company would ramp up iPhone manufacturing by 30% during the first half of 2021. But the stars of the day were the Nasdaq (+1.3% to 12,595) and Russell 2000 (+2.4% to 1,959), both of which eclipsed their prior highs. Speaking of climbing — we are just beginning our ascent out of this deep, unforgiving and death-numbing global pandemic. At this very moment we do not know if we have actually hit the very bottom of the deep pandemic hole. My concern, like so many people is the continued defiance that wearing a mask and following social distancing practices are a necessity. Yet, as long as we have uncertainty about how long and to what degree the shelter in place order — a virtual shut down of businesses for three or more weeks —may be the last nail in the coffin for many small businesses. Yesterday, I received an alarming comment from a distressed business owner, a long time Santa Cruz County resident, who is at his wits end trying to survive. He points out that he is forgoing health care coverage for his family to help keep his employees working, restructuring his mortgage to the point now having to sell his home and use his life’s savings to hold on to his businesses. It is difficult to read these sobering comments. But they are real. So many emotions run wild in my mind as we gain our senses, push back stress and seek ways to bring calm and the power of positive thinking to the forefront. We must let Main Street America heel from this yearlong battle. Over the past year, our county has been challenged in ways few could have planned for, or even imagined. From our public health, to our economy, to our politics, the road to recovery starts with healing a divided citizenry. The business community can and must rally our county around a series of solutions to overcome the pandemic and drive a widespread economic recovery. We can and we must move forward together. I have high hope that the results of the November 3 local cities and county election will bring new leaders to the forefront. In the coming weeks, as we enter 2021, your Chamber of Commerce will break bread with our elected officials, host meetings and more meetings (zoom style for now) to talk about our future downtown and our county-wide infrastructure (energy, housing, transportation and water). We will re-light the candle of hope, throw 2020 to the winds of the past and forge a path that is a vision of change for the better. It will not be easy — it will be hard. Every time you hear naysayers tell you we don’t need more affordable housing in our county; we don’t need a new mixed-use library project; we don’t need a growing student population; we don’t need tech jobs for those graduating college students; our current infrastructure is fine, our water supply is ample; and revitalizing the natural beauty of the San Lorenzo River and bridging the downtown to the Monterey Bay is not necessary. We need to stand together and tell these naysayers you got it wrong. We have vision and a better pathway for our future. Yes, we are in the middle of a global pandemic but the dim light will grow brighter, however, Santa Cruz County leaders and residents believe that we can and will make it through these challenging times.
It is hard listening to the world news, the national, state and local news where the #1 issue is COVID-19 — the play, wash and repeat news cycle every day for 10 months. It is like listening to the #1 single from 1972 — Singer Don McLean memorialized Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and Big Bopper Richardson in the No. 1 hit “American Pie,” which refers to February 3, 1959, as “the day the music died.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgXkQUCCXtI
The Pandemic continues to hit hard across our country where every day we read about another record number of cases; more than 300,00 deaths in the United States and local families suffering before our eyes. It is hard to not imagine that we are in a time warp bubble. But come to think of it — being in a bubble is exactly the right phrase.
In a recent review of the data from John Hopkins, the number of infections is staggering: You can look at the global data here: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/
72,773,321 Global confirmed infections 1,641,578 Global Deaths 16,769,765 U.S. Confirm 304,841 U.S. deaths On Wednesday, we were notified that Santa Cruz County is now below the 15% threshold for available Intensive Care Units (ICU). This places our county in the most restrictive category set by the state. The restriction will likely be enforced at midnight Thursday. Here is a look at the Santa Cruz County Health COVID—19 dashboard; https://www.santacruzhealth.org/HSAHome/HSADivisions/PublicHealth/CommunicableDiseaseControl/CoronavirusHome.aspx
If you squint your eyes and look closely, there appears to be a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel now that the Pfizer vaccine is making its way into the arms of our front-line essential workers and our most vulnerable people. A Food and Drug Administration review of Moderna's (MRNA, -5.1%) COVID vaccine confirmed its high efficacy rate, setting the stage for a potential approval soon. Yes, this is much needed good news and a ‘shot in the arm’ (pardon the pun) that brings us hope. It could not be better summarized than in this statement:
“Never before have governments, industry, academia, and nonprofits thrown more money, muscle, and brains at the same infectious disease in such short order,” wrote Jon Cohen in Monday’s issue of the journal Science. The logistics of getting the vaccine from the factory, to ground carriers and then airplanes and back to ground carrier — in boxes held at 94 degrees below Fahrenheit.
The climbing stock market's churn around all-time highs continued Tuesday with a solid day of gains. This is a ray of sunshine which signals a potential make-or-break moment for a federal COVID stimulus that may be a day or two away. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, congressional GOP leaders and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to a Tuesday 4 p.m. meeting to discuss a potential rescue package, as well as a spending bill that both chambers must pass by Friday to avoid a government shutdown.
Meanwhile, the Dow jumped 1.1% with some help from Apple (AAPL, +5.0%), which boomed on the back of a Nikkei report, citing unnamed sources, saying the company would ramp up iPhone manufacturing by 30% during the first half of 2021. But the stars of the day were the Nasdaq (+1.3% to 12,595) and Russell 2000 (+2.4% to 1,959), both of which eclipsed their prior highs.
Speaking of climbing — we are just beginning our ascent out of this deep, unforgiving and death-numbing global pandemic. At this very moment we do not know if we have actually hit the very bottom of the deep pandemic hole. My concern, like so many people is the continued defiance that wearing a mask and following social distancing practices are a necessity. Yet, as long as we have uncertainty about how long and to what degree the shelter in place order — a virtual shut down of businesses for three or more weeks —may be the last nail in the coffin for many small businesses.
Yesterday, I received an alarming comment from a distressed business owner, a long time Santa Cruz County resident, who is at his wits end trying to survive. He points out that he is forgoing health care coverage for his family to help keep his employees working, restructuring his mortgage to the point now having to sell his home and use his life’s savings to hold on to his businesses. It is difficult to read these sobering comments. But they are real.
So many emotions run wild in my mind as we gain our senses, push back stress and seek ways to bring calm and the power of positive thinking to the forefront. We must let Main Street America heel from this yearlong battle. Over the past year, our county has been challenged in ways few could have planned for, or even imagined. From our public health, to our economy, to our politics, the road to recovery starts with healing a divided citizenry. The business community can and must rally our county around a series of solutions to overcome the pandemic and drive a widespread economic recovery. We can and we must move forward together.
I have high hope that the results of the November 3 local cities and county election will bring new leaders to the forefront. In the coming weeks, as we enter 2021, your Chamber of Commerce will break bread with our elected officials, host meetings and more meetings (zoom style for now) to talk about our future downtown and our county-wide infrastructure (energy, housing, transportation and water). We will re-light the candle of hope, throw 2020 to the winds of the past and forge a path that is a vision of change for the better. It will not be easy — it will be hard. Every time you hear naysayers tell you we don’t need more affordable housing in our county; we don’t need a new mixed-use library project; we don’t need a growing student population; we don’t need tech jobs for those graduating college students; our current infrastructure is fine, our water supply is ample; and revitalizing the natural beauty of the San Lorenzo River and bridging the downtown to the Monterey Bay is not necessary. We need to stand together and tell these naysayers you got it wrong. We have vision and a better pathway for our future. Yes, we are in the middle of a global pandemic but the dim light will grow brighter, however, Santa Cruz County leaders and residents believe that we can and will make it through these challenging times.