The first COVID-19 vaccines are here. Supply from the Federal Government is extremely limited. Additional New Yorkers will become eligible as the vaccine supply increases.While the vaccinationprocess is underway, everyNew Yorkershouldwear a mask, social distanceand avoid small and large gatherings.
Over seven million New Yorkers are noweligiblefor the vaccine. Eligible groups include doctors, nurses and health care workers, people age 65 and over, first responders, teachers, public transit workers, grocery store workers and public safety workers.
Beginning February 15, New Yorkers with certaincomorbidities and underlyingconditionswill be eligible to receivethe vaccine.
Vaccines are available at pharmacies, hospitals and through local health departments statewide please contact your provider of choice to schedule your vaccine appointment.You can use this website for scheduling a first-dose appointment at a New York State-run site only. Todetermine eligibility and schedule a first-dose appointment at one of these sites, use theAm I Eligible app.Remember: Both vaccines require two doses for effectiveness. Your second-dose appointment will be scheduled automatically at the time you receive your first vaccine dose.Appointments are not transferrable.
COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker
Step 1:Determine eligibility and schedule an appointment.TheAm I Eligible appis the quickest way to see if you're eligible and make an appointment. You can also call the New York State COVID-19 Vaccination Hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829). Once you have successfully scheduled an appointment, you will receive a confirmation email that contains a barcode. You will need to bring this to your appointment.
Step 2:Complete the Vaccine Form.Once you have a confirmed appointment, you must complete theNew York State COVID-19 Vaccine Form. This form shouldbe filled outonline and you will receive a submission ID indicating completion. You will need to bring the submission ID to your appointment.If you cannot submit theform online, itwill be availableat the vaccination sites.
Step 3:Bring proof of eligibility to your appointment.Depending onyoureligibility category, proof can include an employee ID card, a letter from an employer or affiliated organization, a pay stub, a driver's license, passport,or any legal proof of your date of birth and residency. At the time of your appointment, you'll be asked a series of clinical questions to ensure readiness for a vaccine. You will be asked for insurance information BUT the vaccine is free and there will never be a charge to you. This information is for administrative use only.
Step 4: Your second dose appointment will be scheduledautomaticallywhenyou receive your first vaccine dose.Your second appointment will be scheduled for the same time and at the same location, three weeks following your first dose. You will receive a cardonsitewith the date and time indicatedand a confirmation email will follow a few days later.Please keep in mind when scheduling your first appointment that your second appointment will occur at the same time of day.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Four new deaths were reported in Sundays update from the South Dakota Department of Health as 140 new cases of coronavirus were announced.
The South Dakota Department of Health reported four new deaths due to COVID-19 in Sundays update. The death toll is now at 1,863. The new deaths listed include 1 man and 3 women in the following age ranges: 70-79 (2) and 80+ (2).
According to the latest update, 140 new total coronavirus cases were announced bringing the states total case count to 111,304, up from Saturday (111,165).
While the difference in the total case count reported 111,304 and 111,165 equals 139, when you add the PCR, or newly confirmed, cases (107) and antigen, or new probable, cases (33), there were 140 new cases.
Total recovered cases are now at 107,475, up from Saturday (107,309).
Active cases are now at 1,966, down from Saturday (1,997).
Current hospitalizations are at 90, down from Saturday (95). Total hospitalizations are at 6,524.
Total persons negative is now at 306,471, up from Saturday (306,170).
There were 441 new persons tested reported on Sunday. Sundays new person-tested positivity rate is 31.7%.
The latest seven-day all test positivity rate reported by the DOH is 7.9%. The DOH calculates that based on the results of the PCR test results but doesnt release total numbers for how many PCR tests are done daily. The latest one-day PCR test positivity rate is 8.3%.
As of Sunday, 87,267 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 97,574 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered to 122,625 total persons.
According to the South Dakota Department of Health, 32,653 people have received the second dose of the Moderna vaccine, 29,563 people have completed the Pfizer vaccine series.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of February 21, 2021, there have been 2,115,332 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 129,616 total cases and 2,261 total deaths.
DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 69-year old female from Logan County, a 73-year old male from Cabell County, a 75-year old male from Kanawha County, a 71-year old female from Monongalia County, a 75-year old male from Monongalia County, a 74-year old male from Hancock County, and a 77-year old male from Logan County.
As we share this sad news, we pause to remember each West Virginian lost, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. Our deepest condolences are extended to these families.
CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (1,169), Berkeley (9,570), Boone (1,546), Braxton (769), Brooke (1,993), Cabell (7,683), Calhoun (221), Clay (370), Doddridge (464), Fayette (2,605), Gilmer (702), Grant (1,048), Greenbrier (2,374), Hampshire (1,498), Hancock (2,572), Hardy (1,259), Harrison (4,802), Jackson (1,642), Jefferson (3,575), Kanawha (11,857), Lewis (1,016), Lincoln (1,207), Logan (2,653), Marion (3,611), Marshall (2,975), Mason (1,756), McDowell (1,337), Mercer (4,154), Mineral (2,573), Mingo (2,093), Monongalia (7,778), Monroe (931), Morgan (919), Nicholas (1,160), Ohio (3,593), Pendleton (617), Pleasants (796), Pocahontas (581), Preston (2,505), Putnam (4,132), Raleigh (4,588), Randolph (2,362), Ritchie (607), Roane (489), Summers (696), Taylor (1,073), Tucker (495), Tyler (609), Upshur (1,652), Wayne (2,578), Webster (292), Wetzel (1,064), Wirt (344), Wood (6,944), Wyoming (1,717).
Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested.
Exposure Notifications are now available on Android and Apple devices in Utah.
It's a form of digital contact tracing that uses Bluetooth to broadcast a random set of numbers, or tokens, to nearby smartphones that are also signed up to the service.
To make sure the tokens cant be used to identify you or your location, Google and Apple say they change every 10 to 20 minutes.
George McEwan, the IT Director at the Utah Department of Health said, "Think about it like a digital raffle where your phone is handing out tickets to everyone you meet and youre keeping half and theyre keeping half."
If someone tests positive for COVID-19, they enter a pin code into Exposure Notifications, which is sent to them by the Utah Department of Health.
Any smartphones that exchanged tokens within the last 14 days will get a notification that they may have been exposed to COVID-19, without revealing the positive person's identity.
McEwan said, "It works off of signal strength, so it's looking for a distance of 6 feet and 15 minutes of consecutive time spent in that range."
How to add Exposure Notifications to your phone:
On an Apple device
On an Android device
The only data the Utah Department of Health can see is how many COVID positive pin codes they have issued, and how many of them have been used.
All of the Exposure Notification matching happens on your device and the system does not share your identity with other users, Apple, or Google.
Public health authorities may ask you for additional information, such as a phone number, to contact you with additional guidance.
Exposure Notifications is completely separate from the Healthy Together app that Utah rolled out near the beginning of the pandemic.
McEwan said, "The Healthy Together app was designed to interact with the user to provide them with test results, allow them to do symptom checking, to provide a health passport, so that requires a one-to-one relationship where the app is aware of who the user is. The Google/Apple exposure notifications rely specifically on anonymity. It has no management of the user back and forth in terms of what you would see from the Healthy Together app."
Jenny Johnson, the Public Information Officer at the Utah Department of Health said, "Unfortunately the Healthy Together app didnt quite work the way that I think the state had thought it might. People were very hesitant because it did use both Bluetooth and location services in your phone."
Unlike the earliest version of Utah's Healthy Together App, Exposure Notifications does not track your GPS location.
Exposure Notifications can work across the country too.
"If you are in Utah and you travel to another region where the service is active and you return to Utah and that person then notifies their health department they are positive and they mark their keys as positive, youll still know about it in Utah," said McEwan.
Health authorities hope this will help more people know if they have been exposed to COVID-19, so they can get tested and treated sooner, rather than later.
"Thats the beauty of the tech is that it does narrow it down to the very probable individuals who could have exposed you to COVID, not everyone who was in a room," said McEwan.
Exposure Notifications rely on as many people opting into the service in order to be as effective as possible.
Johnson said, "Theres been some modeling in other states, which shows even a small adoption by a population of this technology can help augment existing public health contact tracing efforts, which can lower hospitalizations and even deaths in the pandemic."
You can also turn off Exposure Notifications at any time if you feel it's something that's not right for you.
"I think there will always be a segment of the population that is much more willing to engage in something like this and of course theres going to be a group that isnt going to do this," said Johnson.
You can find more information about Exposure Notifications on Utah's Coronavirus website or Google's explainer page.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 25. Ive received the first dose of the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine! I am feeling great and back in the office, hard at work for the people of Idaho, Little said in a tweet.
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) Rarely has the term cautiously optimistic been more fitting than when Idaho leaders talk about the states coronavirus cases in 2021.
From local public health experts to the governor, the people responsible for Idahos COVID-19 pandemic battle see a light at the end of the tunnel.
All of Idahos COVID-19 numbers are looking better than they have in months.
The daily cases for Idaho are a fraction of their fall peak dropping from a high of 2,298 on Dec. 9 down to 314 on Friday, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfares statistics. Hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 have stubbornly remained above 140 people a day, but theyre now at levels unseen since late September. The same is true of people needing ICU care for coronavirus complications about a third the ICU admissions Idaho hospitals were reporting in December.
Were delighted, Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in an interview Friday.
People have just got to continue to be careful, he said. Right now, were in a race to get the vaccine into as many arms as possible.
BUT WHY ARE IDAHOS CORONAVIRUS CASES FALLING?
The Statesman talked with public health experts and Little about what theyre hearing and their theories about whats causing the situation to get better in Idaho and across the country. They said its probably a mix of a few factors.
They also stressed that, while its worth celebrating, its not a cue to throw away your mask and hang out in packed bars.
There are wild cards in the future. Students and teachers are going back to face-to-face classrooms with full classes. A public health board on Friday lifted the mask mandate for Ada County. (Boises mask mandate remains.) And this week, one of the most concerning variants of the coronavirus was confirmed in the Treasure Valley, while two other variants were found in Boise-area wastewater.
People think we are in the home stretch cases down, hospitalizations down, vaccines rolling out, state coronavirus working group member Dr. David Pate said on Twitter. They have no idea what is coming, and now our school boards and (Central District Healths board) are reinforcing those beliefs by their actions. I am trying to sound the alarm, but apparently no one is within earshot.
ARE PEOPLE GETTING BETTER AT COVID-19 PROTOCOLS?
Idaho has seen two major surges of COVID-19. The worst kicked off in October and peaked in early December. Public health officials begged people not to travel or host large gatherings for the Christmas and New Years holidays, fearing the worst.
But a third surge never materialized. The opposite happened. Cases went down.
Everybody from the CDC to almost all the experts have not gotten everything right, because theres a myriad of things involved in the pandemic, Little said. Obviously one of them is behavior. Part of that, we believe, is awareness we did through ONE Idaho (COVID-19 prevention campaign), but we also think as time went on, (more Idahoans) knew someone who was really sick or who died from COVID-19.
Two public health experts think that might be part of the calculus that put Idahos case counts on a downward slope. But how much? Theyre not sure.
Weve been living with COVID for about a year now, said Kimberly Link, communicable disease control manager for Central District Health in Boise. There are more permanent changes in how were interacting with one another, both in our homes and in public, that are safe practices. Masking and physical distancing have become part of the way we live, and that is going to impact the way the illness is transmitted.
Little said Idahoans have sacrificed during the pandemic staying home, postponing trips, not visiting loved ones, losing a business or their job because of the economic toll of COVID-19. Thousands of Idahoans also lost loved ones to COVID-19.
People whose sacrifices prevented more deaths and helped to slow the spread of the virus are part of the reason we are where we are with better control of outbreaks, Little said.
COVID-19 has hit Idaho in waves since the first case was announced March 13, 2020. Fall brought the states worst surge, with hospitals and clinics around the state overwhelmed by sick employees and hospitalized patients. New infections took a steep slide in December. There was a much milder-than-anticipated post-holiday spike in January, followed by a steady decline.
LESS TESTING = FEWER CASES?
Dr. Sky Blue, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist in the Treasure Valley, says some people have floated this theory. It doesnt hold up.
A lower positivity rate means a communitys infection rate is low enough that it can catch many of its infections by testing people. When cases are raging out of control, the positivity rate goes up because there are so many people catching and spreading the virus, the health care workers and laboratories that do the tests cant keep up with demand.
The percent of Idaho COVID-19 tests coming back positive now is inching close to 5% the upper limit recommended by the World Health Organization. Three months ago, Idahos positivity rate was nearly 20%.
Essentially, were reaching that point where the amount of testing thats being done is adequate to the amount of illness in the community, because the amount of illness in the community went down, Link said.
WHAT ABOUT VACCINES? DO THEY DESERVE CREDIT?
Yes, but it will be weeks or months before Idaho sees the full effect of vaccines in controlling the spread of the coronavirus.
Many public health experts see vaccination as the clearest path to something approaching herd immunity from the COVID-19 virus.
People start to build immunity against COVID-19 after their first dose of the vaccine. But getting 90% or better protection requires a second dose three or four weeks later (for the current vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer), plus a few weeks for the body to build up immune cells.
Idahos first vaccinated frontline health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff have only reached that point in the past few weeks. As more people get vaccines, the herd will grow.
A recent decline in outbreaks at long-term care facilities in Idaho underscores that timing, Link said.
Thats one area where the vaccine has definitely had an impact, she said. If we see 70% to 80% of those residents being vaccinated, that can keep vulnerable Idahoans from getting infected and, in some cases, dying.
More vaccines are on the way. The federal government is accelerating its vaccine rollout, shipping out more vials to Idaho and to retail pharmacies including Idaho Walmart and Albertsons stores.
Those factors plus reclaiming doses that were sitting unused in a special federal program has given Idaho a boost. The state ranked 18th in the U.S. for administering its vaccines, the states Coronavirus Vaccine Advisory Committee chairperson said on Friday.
Little is optimistic about vaccines. He said a hospital leader in Cascade just reported vaccinating 500 people a number equal to almost 5% of the population of the entire county in one day.
IS THE CORONAVIRUS CHANGING?
Little said his public health team has always told him, Viruses do what viruses do, and that they change.
Those changes are a normal part of the evolution of a virus. It mutates as it makes copies of itself inside a persons body.
Some mutations can make the virus more infectious as scientists believe happened with a few variants of concern, such as the B.1.1.7 variant first discovered in England.
Little said those variants are under the worlds microscope now, but we think maybe the existing coronavirus (that has dominated in Idaho) may be getting less infectious, he said.
IS IT SEASONAL? THE FLU COMES AND GOES, RIGHT?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Weve seen these waves or spikes in illness happen, Link said. There is some nature of coming and going and what ultimately causes it is, I think, a little bit speculated about, but its not uncommon.
But epidemiologists have their doubts about COVID-19 easing up because its going out of season. Thats because the other classic seasonal virus influenza usually arrives in Idaho in the fall. And it usually peaks right about now.
DID THE VIRUS RUN OUT OF IDAHOANS TO INFECT?
The Magic Valley could be one case study for what makes a virus surge and retreat.
Twin Falls saw a massive surge in October. The regional hospital got so overwhelmed, it had to send patients to the Treasure Valley. That lasted for weeks.
Local officials declined to clamp down on activity while the virus spread. They voted down mask mandates.
And then, in mid-November, something changed. Cases fell. Hospital beds opened up. The positivity rate got better.
Was it because people heeded the call for personal responsibility, donning masks and keeping their distance?
If youve ever walked through anywhere in Canyon County or Twin Falls, you know thats not true, Blue said.
What he and others suspect noting that all of this is speculation is an odd kind of isolated herd immunity.
We have some folks who have been so diligent with masking and isolation, theyre probably not being exposed, Blue said. That group has self-selected out of the herd.
Then you have the others who wouldnt put a mask on if their life depended on it, he said. That group is COVID-19s free ticket into the herd.
For the past year, those groups havent been mixing like they would before the pandemic, Blue said.
While the first group stays home, the virus spreads through the second group. Most people in the second group recover with some immunity. Eventually, the virus runs out of new bodies to infect.
So you dont see that taking off quite like the wildfire it was for a while, Blue said.
But those who havent been infected cannot stay home forever. And those who recovered from COVID-19 wont be immune forever.
Idaho cannot reach a true herd immunity without many more people dying and being hospitalized.
Thats why Blue and others hope Idahoans will take the vaccine.
Blue believes the virus will become endemic, bouncing around forever like the flu. Vaccines and post-infection immunity would likely make the disease less severe as time goes on, he said.
CAN IDAHOANS RELAX ABOUT COVID-19 NOW?
This question prompted a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone during interviews.
While the board that governs her agency voted Friday to lift Ada Countys mask mandate, Link said the importance of the public health guidance to keep wearing masks has not changed.
Masking and physical distancing, I really do truly think that those are going to be above anything else the things that really get us through all of this, she said. Those are the first things that came on board, and they should be the last to go.
If the virus starts to spread uncontrollably again, it could go from 500 cases in Ada County this week to 2,000 cases a week in March, she noted. Thats what happened in previous surges.
Her advice to everyone? Be careful.
I think that anytime somebody is going out outside of their home and spending time with people they dont live with, masking and physical distancing need to be a cornerstone, she said.
Last month, Sen. Klobuchar sent a letter to the CEO's of Twitter, Google, You Tube and Facebook, asking them to regulate the spread of misinformation.
MINNEAPOLIS "I keep urging Minnesotan's to see the light at the end of the tunnel, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar during a press conference Sunday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Sen. Klobuchar was joined by officials at Allina Health to highlight the need to combat misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine.
If you start to talk to people, you will hear some of this stuff theyve been exposed to online, said Sen. Klobuchar. We're here today to say these vaccines are safe."
Last month, Sen. Klobuchar sent a letter to the CEO's of Twitter, Google, YouTube and Facebook asking them to regulate the spread of misleading information about the COVID-19 vaccine online.
We urged them to step up their efforts, especially at the beginning of the vaccine it was pretty bad, said Sen. Klobuchar.
In the letter, she also asked the companies to provide updates on new policies and partnerships with public health organizations to protect users.
We look for the science, and we trust the science, she said.
But while Sen. Klobuchar says fighting misinformation online is a priority, doctors are working on an effective vaccination plan to reach communities most at risk.
We try to identify barriers ahead of time, and we are tracking our data, said Dr. Kevin Best with Allina Health. We've rearranged where we have some of our clinics in response to that data."
We know that the number of people getting the vaccine in the minority communities is significantly lower, and we need to improve that, said Sen. Klobuchar. Its a combination of information and accessibility.
"At some point we have to figure that the health professionals are taking the vaccine, maybe it's a good idea for us to do the same thing."
BISMARCK The North Dakota Department of Health reported 45 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, Feb. 21, bringing the number of active cases down to 725.
It should be noted, however, that only 2,116 tests were conducted when the daily average is 4,838.
The state also reported one death on Sunday. The state has recorded fewer than five deaths a day for over three weeks, with zero reported on most days. However, North Dakota currently ranks 11th in the country for death rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Neighboring South Dakota is eighth. At one point, North Dakota ranked first on the list.
Cass, Burleigh and Ward counties continue to report the highest number of cases in the state. Cass County added six cases, while Burleigh County, which includes Bismarck, reported five new cases. Ward County recorded 13 additional cases, and Grand Forks County saw four cases on Sunday.
Neighboring Morton and Stark counties now have 33 and 38 active cases, respectively. Williston's Williams County recorded 37 total cases.
Every county except Billings, Slope, Oliver, Grant, Logan, McIntosh, Eddy, Griggs and Cavalier have at least one active case at the moment.
Cass County has the highest number of deaths, with 195. Ward County trails close behind with 186 deaths, Burleigh County with 185 and Morton County with 94.
Slope and Billings counties have had zero COVID-19 deaths.
A total of 97,114 North Dakotans have recovered from COVID-19 and 52.77% have been tested.
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Organizers at the Old West End church expected 200 people to get the shot, a majority of them being persons of color.
TOLEDO, Ohio COVID-19 vaccinations continue in Lucas County.
Ohio is still in phase 1B of the rollout and nearly 14 percent of Lucas County residents have been vaccinated against the virus.
People who are 65 and older as well as people with certain medical conditions are eligible for vaccinations as part of phase 1B.
On Sunday, a local church hosted a vaccination site for the community, to help increase the number of people who have been vaccinated.
"I'm feeling pretty good. I'm excited about getting the vaccination" said Earlean Belcher, who got the COVID-19 vaccine.
Around 200 people were expected to get their first shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the First Church of God in the Old West End.
It was an effort put on by the church, the V Project, ProMedica and the Toledo Lucas County Health Department.
Church leaders say this is the second clinic they have held and it was open to anyone who is eligible and wants the vaccine.
"It's basically everyone. It's our church family but it's also our community. We've opened it up. We'd want everyone that would like to get vaccinated to come and let's help them," said Church Administrator, Juanita Greene.
Almost everyone getting their shot at the event was a person of color, said Greene.
But that's the goal. She says the church is part of the community and they want to assist in vaccinating minorities.
Those getting their shot say it's the right thing to do.
"I understand there are a lot of folks that, based on people feeling like they were used as guinea pigs in the past, that they didn't want to do that, " said Ramona Collins, who got her COVID-19 shot at the event. "But, I think after a while when they see that nobody is suffering anymore maybe they'll do it".
History has created a stigma behind vaccinations for people of color.
Earlean Belcher, who is also getting the shot, says she wants to change that and help lead the way.
"Basically, I wanted to be a leader because I am a leader. I'm an elder and I wanted to take the stigma of fear out of the vaccination," said Belcher.
The First Church of God will be holding another vaccination clinic on Sunday, Feb. 28.
Those eligible and wanting to sign up for the vaccine can call the church to make an appointment. Their number is (419) 255-0097.
Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged Sunday that state and local health officials have stumbled in distributing the COVID-19 vaccine equitably among Latino and Black communities in California.
Speaking at a mobile vaccination clinic in Inglewood, Newsom said the state needs to do more and do better to provide outreach and set up vaccine sites directly in the communities that have been hardest hit by the virus.
Were not doing enough. We need to do significantly more programs like this, he said. Weve got to get people back to work. Weve got to get people back into church. And weve got to get people back into school.
Of the 7.3 million doses administered in California, 2.9% have gone to Black residents, 16% to Latinos, and 13% to Asian Americans, compared to 32.7% to white people,according to state data.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.
Today we visited Ramona Gardens in Boyle Heights where @fema set up a mobile vaccination site.
This is in a community disproportionately impacted by #COVID19, for some folks who may not have access to transportation or internet.
CAs vaccine distribution will be made equitable. pic.twitter.com/hN5VcSyEZh
As airlines slashed flights and furloughs appeared inevitable in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Mike Catania sensed there would be little need for a service that helped airline crews find short-term housing.
So, Catania and his fellow owners shut down Padloop in early March, even though the nearly year-old company had just broken even.
Catania started looking at how life was changing amid the pandemic and came up with the idea for his next business: Locaris, a website to help apartment renters connect with prospective neighbors to get the scoop on buildings and landlords. Because the pandemic limited peoples ability to meet in person, Locaris enabled renters to get the lowdown on a building safely.
I tried to focus on, what is COVID a catalyst for? What trends is it bringing to market a couple of years ahead of schedule? says Catania, who lives in Henderson, Nevada. Locaris launched in June and quickly found success.
As owners are forced to shut businesses, theyve had to figure out what to do next. For entrepreneurs like Catania, the answer has been anticipating the next trend and creating a company to take advantage of it. Some owners have started businesses similar to those they lost, or companies that fill a different role in the same industry. Others have gone to work for someone else, while perhaps holding onto hopes of eventually reviving the businesses they shuttered.
Its not known how many small businesses have failed in the pandemic, but different estimates all show devastation. Based on a projection last spring by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the number is likely well into the hundreds of thousands. Data from the work scheduling software company UKG shows that about one in six small businesses have closed their doors since the pandemic began. And the National Restaurant Association, a trade group, said 17% of U.S. restaurants, or more than 110,000, had permanently shut by Dec. 1; its likely that many were small or mid-sized businesses.
Alex Willen of San Diego was preparing to open a dog boarding business when the pandemic hit; he was about to sign papers for a Small Business Administration loan to cover construction costs when his bank said it was putting new business loans on hold. Willen sensed the virus outbreak wouldnt end quickly, which meant dog owners wouldnt be traveling and many would keep working at home, eliminating the need for his services.
By May, the loan money was available, but Willen decided to give up rather than open the business and not have revenue for months, maybe longer.
It was looking like COVID was not going away by November or December, and those are huge months for dog boarding, says Willen.
Willen soon decided to restart a business hed shelved in favor of boarding: dog treats. Willen didnt have to start at square one because he had already done some preliminary marketing and package design for the business.
Willen bakes for his two dogs, Cooper and Maple which gave him the idea for Coopers Treats. He sells the treats on his website and Amazon.
Its looking like a real business, he says.
Kathryn Valentine closed her consulting business last summer because she had lost her child-care options. Valentines nanny quit to take care of her own children, and daycare centers were closed. With a baby and a toddler, the Atlanta-based mother couldnt work the 9-to-5 schedule followed by the apparel companies that were her clients. She had to come up with another line of work and quickly.
She already was an expert in training women in negotiating, a skill necessary for career success. Valentine had researched the subject in business school, so she founded Worthmore Negotiations and began lining up corporate clients.
About once a week Ill have a commitment during the day, but otherwise all my work gets done after 7 p.m., she says. But Valentine hopes to revive her consulting business once the pandemic is over and she has child-care again. Her hope is to keep both businesses.
A series of lockdowns in Britain forced Steve West to close his acupuncture practice. With no money coming in, he returned to digital marketing, work that helped him get through a slowdown in his practice during the Great Recession. Hes not sure when, or if, hell return to acupuncture, given peoples uncertainty about close contact.
Hes also concerned that when life returns to normal, some clients will decide theyve done just fine without acupuncture. Meanwhile, companies are in continual need of digital marketing, which helps them get more visibility in internet searches.
This is the time to focus on this (digital marketing), and maybe come back to acupuncture in the future, says West, who lives in Haywards Heath, in the south of Britain.
Kriti Sachdeva has a new job, with an agency that does e-commerce consulting. She had to shut her business that organized fairs and markets in Britain and other European countries; she had just five days notice that she had to cancel a fair in London last March, and five more events in the following months also were scraped.
In April, Sachdeva realized she needed to get a job. I knew this was going to take a long time and I knew I couldnt do nothing, she says.
She landed her position in June. She loves the work and sees herself doing it long-term, but also wonders about someday possibly organizing fairs on the side.
I think about it every day, she says.
