“The Wrap” is a new feature from the Herald editorial team that offers our take on the news of the week. Let us know what you think by emailing editor@cmcherald.com.
July 6-12:
Rising Cases Among Young People
Uncertainty rules, even with pockets of good news. The focus on the growing threat moved from the homes for the aged to the parties of the young as the pandemic spreads among those considered the least vulnerable to serious complications.
If we count the out-of-county cases that were mushrooming in some beach communities July 6, there weren’t a cumulative 788 cases, but rather 924. By the end of the week, that number moved past 1,000 to 1,039 as efforts increase to control it.
The good news was that contact tracing was identifying the potentially infected individuals and the capacity existed to test them.
The bad news is the numbers keep soaring in specific hotspot communities. By the end of the week, Sea Isle City had 59 non-resident active cases, while Avalon had 49. Even quiet Stone Harbor, a community that had made it through three months of contagion with one local case, now has 17 non-resident active cases. Avalon took the step of closing its beaches in the late evening and overnight in an effort to discourage large gatherings of young people who were not practicing the recommended protocols.
Mayors were dispatched to talk with establishments that sold liquor in an effort to increase compliance.
The growing infection rate caused Gov. Phil Murphy to hit the “pause button,” limiting the almost daily listing of new freedoms and reopenings. A rising virus transmission rate caused the state to lose its top spot in the COVID Act Now model, dropping from green, meaning on-target to contain COVID-19, to yellow, designating controlled disease spread.
County officials began debating a mask mandate in public when Murphy preempted them with one of his own. The infection rate ticked down again and the state won its green status with COVID Act Now.
Moving past the focus on the elderly as the most at risk for serious COVID-19 complications, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli announced that New Jersey had the second highest concentration of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children.
Persichilli also reported a spike in overdose deaths, which may be tied to the isolation and fear associated with the pandemic.
Reopenings Press Ahead Amid Controversies
The reopening process continued to press ahead, with mixed results. The pandemic has not stopped large numbers of people from visiting the shore. Cape May extended the hours for legal public consumption to midnight, a move that was met with applause and derision among city residents.
The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission reopened with the same level of confusion and chaos that characterized the state Department of Labor at the initial onslaught of unemployment claims.
The county library system decided to stick with curbside pickup rather than rush the opening of branches to in-person visits.
Movie theater owners, subject to a complete shutdown of their businesses, took their grievances to federal court, suing Murphy and the state.
While some complain that getting people off unemployment and into county seasonal jobs is increasingly difficult, the controversial federal unemployment booster is scheduled to end in two weeks. Just as that happens, the state Department of Labor announced that unemployment filings for the week ending July 9 were up 70% over the week prior and represent the largest increase in filings in eight weeks.
Stuck in Stage 2 for longer than many thought we would be, the reopened economy can only carry a limited burden.
The real victim here could be the economy, as the spike in cases among young people could slow the removal of restrictions that still constrain economic activity.
Economy: Rebound and Worry
While visitor spending may be bolstering some parts of the local economy and giving a helping hand to municipal budgets, eviction filings are proceeding, unemployment refuses to lessen significantly, and the governor reached a deal with the Senate for massive borrowing, as a big part of the solution to the 2021 budget.
Some might argue that this is like giving a new set of credit cards to a government that has already maxed out the ones it has.
Furlough legislation was also passed in Trenton, but it is unlikely that it will have much more than a short-term impact.
The big unknowns that have been pushed to October include state aid to municipalities, school funding, and pension payments.
Municipalities are left to make decisions on expensive projects with storm clouds on the horizon and not much reliable information in hand.
In Cape May, a controversial $15 million bond ordinance for the construction of a public safety building appears headed to the voters in November. Stone Harbor is moving ahead with an expensive stormwater pump station and drainage plan, while neighboring Avalon is taking another hard look at a similar $9.5 million project in its flood-prone north end.
And…
The week saw shore communities hit with Tropical Storm Fay. The important issue of ocean acidification gets lost amid the COVID noise. The public is warned about the potential of bacteria in the water as temperatures soar.
The positive public response to Zoom governing body meetings in one borough, Stone Harbor, has officials looking for ways to create an effective hybrid model that will allow live synchronous interaction for a distant public while also permitting in-person council meetings.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
