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OBX Spring Outbreak 2020: Keep Sight of the Horizon
Following increasingly stringent recommendations by the CDC and The White House, local Emergency Management teams have imposed travel restrictions,and closed dine-in facilities such as bars and restaurants. But as many residents breathe a sigh of relief, scores of others — panicked by the indefinite postponement of the tourist season — are searching for answers to new questions. Now is the time to remain calm. North Carolina’s Governor, Roy Cooper hosted a press conference in recent hours to alleviate financial concerns by promising to waive restrictions on obtaining unemployment insurance, while also speaking to small business owners who will undoubtedly depend upon stimulus packages to rebound from an economic disaster of unprecedented scale.
New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, in a Tuesday afternoon press conference compared the global coronavirus pandemic’s health impacts to The Spanish Flu Outbreak of 1918, and the economic impacts of travel bans and business shutdowns to The Great Depression.
New York City is a long way from Nags Head, but the comparisons being drawn in New York are just as valid here on the barrier islands. With these comparisons comes a new host of fear and uncertainty. Now is the time to take a step back, and look at this developing crisis from a big picture perspective.
