Jump-starting the economy fraught with peril


If there’s one thing we can all agree upon it’s the need to reopen the economy and get back to work. The pandemic lockdown has left our local cities in dire need of help.

The Camarillo- based Economic Development Collaborative predicts April unemployment in Ventura County could reach as high as 30%. A study by USC says the picture in Los Angeles County is even worse, with less than half the residents reporting they still have jobs.

A third report issued by the Cal Lutheran University Center for Economic Research and Forecasting states: “Job losses under (the current) scenario dwarf anything experienced since the Great Depression.”

But knowing how and when to reopen the economy—and do it safely—isn’t easy. There are pitfalls everywhere.

A Fri., April 24 Drive for Freedom rally at the Ventura County Government Center is being billed as a patriotic and nonpolitical gathering of motorists in support of reopening the local economy. Across the nation, citizens of all persuasions are itching to kick the virus.

The local debate took a strange twist last week when a pair of Conejo Valley clergy leaders demanded Ventura County rescind portions of its stay-at-home order on the grounds that First Amendment religious freedoms are being violated. The county responded with a rather bizarre new order that relaxed certain public gatherings and permitted the assembly of multiple cars for outdoor plays, concerts and, yes, faith-based gatherings. But no more than five people of the same family are allowed inside a vehicle (with the windows rolled up), and no leaving the car to go to the bathroom, please. Shakespeare in a station wagon, anyone? Communion in a cup holder?

Of course everyone wants to get back to work, but which non-essential businesses should be allowed to resume and which ones should not? Is a dry cleaners (essential) any more or less important than a hair salon (nonessential)?

Getting back to normal won’t be easy. Customers will hesitate to patronize certain venues such as crowded restaurants and movie theaters if they don’t feel safe there. Get used to the fact that face masks will be common attire for many months to come.

Clearly, any recovery will need to take place in phases, but the longer the restrictions remain, the more frustrated people will become. COVID tracing, testing, treatment and immunization hurdles have yet to be resolved. Healthcare workers are weary of a second wave of cases, and the reopening the economy must strike a balance between what’s important to public health and what must be done to give people their lives back.

“Is the cure worse than the disease,” as one letter to the editor today suggests? Is a shuttered economy hurting more than it’s helping? Nobody knows for sure, but one thing we do know is that it will be important to use extreme caution in the days ahead.