It has been over a month since California issued a stay-at-home order in order to flatten the curve and slow the spread of the coronavirus. The governors of California, Oregon, and Washington recently met to discuss a joint plan for reopening their states. The timeline for this plan isn’t set in stone, but some people are encouraged by the fact that a plan is being discussed at all. However, experts warn against reopening businesses and public spaces too soon, as this could cause another spike in infections.

On Tuesday April 14, California Governor Gavin Newsom laid out all of the conditions that would have to be met before the stay-at-home orders could be lifted altogether. California would have to have:

• “The ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact tracing, isolating, and supporting those who are positive or exposed;
• The ability to prevent infection in people who are at risk for more severe COVID-19;
• The ability of the hospital and health systems to handle surges;
• The ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand;
• The ability for businesses, schools, and child care facilities to support physical distancing; and
• The ability to determine when to reinstitute certain measures, such as the stay-at-home orders, if necessary.” (cnbc.com)

It’s unclear when all of these conditions are expected to be met. Some people hope that this could happen as soon as the first week of May, but others are prepared to stay at home for much longer. The current stay-at-home order is set to expire on May 3 in the Bay Area and on May 15 in Los Angeles. We will see then whether the orders will be renewed or lifted.

Some states, however, are already beginning to reopen public places. Over the weekend, some areas in Florida opened access (still with some restrictions) to beaches, and many Floridians took advantage of this to spend time on the beach. Unfortunately, it appeared that social distancing recommendations were often not being followed. Of course people are eager to get out of the house and get “back to normal,” but it is important to remember that we are not out of the woods yet. Even when the shelter-at-home orders are lifted, experts recommend that social distancing measures should continue to be taken for a while longer. We want to continue to “flatten the curve”; the worst outcome would be to lift these measures all at once and cause a large outbreak of the virus, essentially negating all of the positive effects of the strict stay-at-home measures we have been living by.

On Friday April 10, small business owners were able to apply for loans from the Small Business Administration to help them continue operating while their income is impacted by COVID-19. The Paycheck Protection Program is one program to help provide loans to small business owners, and it has already run out of money. According to Forbes, “In less than two weeks, $349 billion has been claimed by around 1.6 million small business owners. While that may seem like a lot, 1.6 million is a mere 6% of America’s small businesses.” The program needs more funding to help the people who were unable to receive a loan this time around; fortunately, this is already being discussed in Congress.

These are difficult times for everyone. People are understandably stressed out and eager to return to life as normal. However, we must remember the ultimate goal of the social distancing and stay-at-home measures put in place: to protect our own health, and to protect the health of the people around us, especially the vulnerable. At Monterey Language Services we are doing our part by working from home, and only going out for essentials. We are proud to help how we can, and we encourage everyone else to do what they can to help us get through this together!