Looking forward to gradual reboot of commerce

There are some encouraging results emerging from recent projections on Montana’s coronavirus outbreak. According to data that is available, the state and Flathead County appear to have hit a plateau and the number of new cases is on a downward trajectory. Montana’s curve appears to be flattening.

While this certainly is a signal that better days are ahead, we’d be remiss to overlook the economic fallout that is just beginning.

The statistics released this week from the Montana Department of Labor are nothing short of staggering:

• Prior to COVID-19, incoming unemployment claims and reactivations in the state averaged 557 per week. Between March 15 through and April 3, the weekly average of incoming claims and reactivations had skyrocketed to 17,640.

• Before March 15, the department averaged 8,122 weekly payment requests. Since then, the payment requests have increased to 22,037 per week.

Nationally, at least 22 million Americans have lost their job in the last month.

Locally, hundreds of families are facing an uncertain future after Kalispell Regional Healthcare — the area’s largest employer — enacted furloughs and pay cuts. Many other companies have had to take similar measures.

Businesses across all sectors, both big and small, are suffering — unsure how they can regain their footing. One study from the Whitefish Convention and Visitor Bureau suggests that the tourist-dependent town is losing over $700,000 a day while businesses are closed during the stay-at-home order.

Fortunately, the bipartisan CARES Act is helping many local employers and workers through this downturn. Montana was awarded $350 billion though the Paycheck Protection Program, which is aimed at keeping local businesses open and their workers employed. The latest numbers show that more than 13,400 loans were approved for small businesses in the state. And a second surge of federal stimulus cash to the tune of $250 billion is currently being discussed in the halls of Congress.

Meanwhile, our state and community leaders are planning for a “responsible” reopening of the economy once Gov. Bullock lifts the stay-at-home order that’s been in place for more than three weeks.

Kalispell Chamber President Joe Unter-reiner expects a slow reboot of the economy, with some businesses opening before others. He anticipates businesses where fewer people gather in certain spaces will be the first to return to normalcy, while “certain things where people congregate will be phased later in the cycle.”

This basically mirrors President Trump’s three-phase plan that was released Thursday, which calls for a slow return to full commerce.

The University of Washington, whose computer models have frequently been cited by health officials at White House briefings, predicted Friday that Vermont, West Virginia, Montana and Hawaii could open as early as May 4 if they restrict large gatherings, test widely and quarantine the contacts of people who test positive.

We’re hopeful this comes to fruition — we’ve earned it.

For the most part, our communities have been diligent in following federal and state guidelines about social distancing. We’ve avoided mass gatherings and unnecessary trips into town, worked from home when possible, and become religious about hand-washing.

Because of this group effort to stymie the virus, we’ve kept the county’s total confirmed cases to less than 40. Statewide, we’ve only had eight deaths. That’s a direct result of taking this virus seriously, and acting accordingly.

Now, we’re looking forward to a “responsible” reboot of commerce, and an eventual return to normalcy — whatever that might look like in 2020.