The numbers alone are staggering in measuring the depth of the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic in Rhode Island.
In a state of roughly 1 million residents, more than 100,000 have filed for unemployment insurance due to the pandemic. Another 10,900 workers who don’t typically qualify for unemployment benefits filed on the first day a new government program was opened to help them.
And the question on everyone’s mind is, when will all those people get back to work? Right now, despite the governor’s best efforts, the answer appears to be a moving target that won’t come into focus until the state is on the downside of the curve in the new coronavirus’s local spread.
On March 28, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said she hoped it would be “in weeks not months, [that] we get back to the business of reopening our economy.”
The governor has also said, however, that when businesses do return to more-normal operations, it won’t be all at once. And she recently added that another factor in the timeline for the economy reopening is how quickly the state can continue to ramp up testing for the virus and tracing of those who have come into contact with someone who’s been infected.
One significant factor still in the favor of local businesses is the state’s so far successful effort to keep many at least partially open, by allowing delivery and pickup services and individual appointments with customers.
It may not seem like enough now, but it’s maintaining the economy’s heartbeat – and likely keeping many businesses from closing their doors for good.