Local businesses feel effect of virus pandemic
Concerns over the spread of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, have already had a large effect on area businesses of all sizes, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said in a teleconference session Tuesday.
Ryan said businesses have already laid off staff, cut hours and have even closed as officials enact tighter social-distancing measures. These include Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mandate that barred sitin dining at restaurants and bars and restricted eateries to serving food via takeout and delivery after 8 p.m. Monday, March 16.
“Having been a business owner myself, that’s gut-wrenching and consuming,” Ryan said.
More than 500 participants took part in the teleconference led by Ryan, Ulster County Economic Development Director Lisa Berger and Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ward Todd.
Berger said many questions came from business owners wanting to know exactly what the latest requirements for restaurants, gyms and other businesses are. Ryan admitted the guidance county officials are getting from state and federal officials initially has been quite vague, but they expect to have more specific guidance within 24 to 48 hours.
One caller said she shuttered her hair salon because she can’t stay six to 10 feet back from her clients and her husband is battling stage two cancer.
Berger said they were flooded by hundreds of questions that ranged from social distancing to what sorts of low-cost loans businesses can apply for and what kind of financial resources there are countywide, statewide and nationally.
“The actions we display in the next few hours and days will have a dramatic impact on the future of the region,” Todd said.
Ryan said the decision late last week to close area schools for at least a two-week period and the state-level decision to restrict restaurants to take-out and delivery was not made lightly and were based on scientific data from around the world on how the virus spreads.
One caller inquired about what social distancing practices manufacturing businesses can undertake. Ryan said these types of businesses should consider ramping down production and even re
ducing the number of workers in a given space for at least the next month or two.
“It will save you have a devastating situation where your entire workforce is on quarantine,” Ryan said.
He added that strict social distancing methods have recently shown merit in China, where the virus first broke out. After about a month, he said, officials there have started to loosen up restrictions that were far more drastic than have been undertaken anywhere
in the U.S. to date.
“We’re thinking about a one-to two-month window,” Ryan said. “If we take the steps now, that will shorten that time period.”
When officials fielded a call from a staffer at Jewish Family Services about the safety of fingerprinting, Ryan urged them to suspend that service immediately.
If businesses take proactive steps the government won’t have to step in to direct and regulate, according to Ryan. He said tourism to the area has already declined due to the virus, even without complete shutdowns and movement
restrictions.
“This has already resulted in a massive reduction in bookings,” Ryan said. He also said he’s formulating a partnership between the county and the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce to encourage residents to support small businesses by buying gift certificates.
On Tuesday the county announced its Project Resilience effort in partnership with the United Way where individuals can give donations to help provide food to those in need, among other things, Ryan said. He also urged landlords to give their tenants
slack as economic conditions worsen, noting that four out of 10 households in Ulster County are living paycheck to paycheck.
Berger said Central Hudson and NYSEG have agreed to a 30-day moratorium on customer shutoffs. She said Central Hudson will also waive finance charges on accounts that go into arrears after the outbreak of the virus. She cautioned that finance charges will still apply to accounts that were in arrears before the outbreak.
For local coverage related to the coronavirus, go to bit. ly/DFCOVID19. For live updates, visit bit.ly/DFcovid19live.