Health Metrics Improve, Economy Hobbled

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COURT HOUSE – As the pandemic returns in many parts of the nation, Cape May County’s metrics continued to trend down. The rate of growth in case counts slowed perceptively, with a total of 18 new cases since June 9.
The week brought seven additional fatalities, calling attention to the fact that the virus is still with us, and that those over 65 are the most vulnerable to severe complications. The average age of the seven individuals who died this week was 78.
Although the public health numbers have shown dramatic improvement since peaks in April, Gov. Phil Murphy announced this week the grim reality that the number of fatalities in the state as a result of COVID-19 topped the number of New Jersey servicemen who died in World War II.
A 69-year-old horseman from Little Ferry, in Bergen County, died at Hackensack Medical Center March 11, becoming the first confirmed COVID-19 death in the state. In 102 days, the virus claimed as many state lives as did four years of total war.
The state officially entered Stage 2 of Murphy’s Road Back plan June 15, a multi-phased approach to reopening the New Jersey economy after three months of lockdown. Murphy announced he was lifting his stay-at-home order June 9.
Many business owners and local government leaders in the county expressed concerns that the reopening has not gone far enough, fast enough, to allow for a ramp-up to a tourist season that, last year, produced over $6 billion a year in revenue and $1.5 million a day in spun-off taxes. 
The big issue in many communities this week was how municipalities would adjust their liquor restrictions to the reality that remaining state restrictions promoted outdoor rather than indoor experiences. Several county beach towns eased their prohibitions on public consumption. Public reaction was mixed, as a debate on the issue in Cape May demonstrated.
As municipalities closed streets, adjusted public consumption rules, and moved to support limited outdoor retail, the question is will local businesses cobble together enough of the summer to survive the off-season?
Some county residents fear reopening too fast risks the hard-earned success of the past three months, success they credit to aggressive social distancing. For them, reopening invites a reversal, as the influx of summer visitors, many from areas that experienced much higher levels of infection, descend on the county’s resorts. Some pointed to a report from Bucks County, Pa., which asserted that 11 college-age individuals tested positive after they attended the same Memorial Day party in Cape May County.
At his briefing June 15, Murphy said that entering Stage 3 of his plan “is a question of weeks rather than months.”
In Trenton, bills are making their way through the legislature offering competing authorizations for state and local government borrowing on a potentially massive scale. Debt appears to be a big part of the solution to lost tax revenues, probably ensuring that the economic pain from the pandemic will be with the taxpayers for years to come.
At Murphy’s briefing one week ago, the stay-at-home sign was gone. The wording on the sign at his dais said “public health creates economic health.”
As Stage 2 begins, the economic health of the county will be closely watched.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.