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Cities and states have shut down their respective jurisdictions to varying degrees since the novel coronavirus struck the United States in March. There are no domestic travel restrictions implemented by federal government as of publishing. There are several countries, including China, Iran, most of Europe, and Brazil, that citizens are not allowed to travel to the USA barring strict exceptions. Individual states have implemented air travel restrictions based on local assessments.
It's difficult to keep track of updates related to coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic in the Bay Area and California at-large. The state shut down completely in April and remained that way for the entire month. The curve was flattening in May so Governor Gavin Newsom began moving the state into Stage 2 of his reopening plan. Guidelines were released by the state for individual industries to follow for reopening. Counties were given authority to determine that businesses could reopen and not.
Buses and trains are the lifeblood of most major cities across the globe, except for Los Angeles. And nobody can quite figure out why Los Angelenos shun public transit. A 2014 University of Minnesota study on public transportation ranked Los Angeles as the third-most accessible city in the country because of its rail and bus systems. But only about 1.1 million daily riders, or 8% of greater Los Angeles, used the system in January 2020, according to L.A. County Metro Transit Authority. Compare that to New York City, which is ranked #1 for accessibility. There are five million daily riders, or about 25% of the metro population.
An interesting post on Reddit summed up the experience of many workers just starting at a new company in the last two months. The first day was the most awkward eight hours of their lifetime. They would naturally reach out to shake someone's hand they were being introduced to, only to stop themselves in mid-motion. May is typically allergy season for everyone. They made sure to take two Claritin tablets before leaving for work, knowing that a sneeze or cough would draw unwanted attention. But when this new worker finished their day, they had a weird realization. They would not recognize any of their new coworkers outside of work because they've never been any of their faces behind the masks.
The U.S. job market is full of uncertainty due to COVID-19. Bureau of Labor Statistics data says that more than 20 million Americans were either laid off or let go from their jobs since March. A silver lining came in the form of a record 4.8 million jobs being added to the economy in June. Many of those jobs were people being called back from lay offs. July job numbers are expected to drop due to cities and states shutting down as coronavirus cases surge in the Bay Area, California, and across the country.
Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. The U.S. Small Business Association estimated that there were 30.7 million business with under 500 employees in the country in 2019. But businesses with fewer than 100 employees account for over 98% of all U.S. companies. Small businesses account for 64% of all new jobs created annually in the U.S. The coronavirus pandemic has unfortunately forced dramatic change on many of the foregoing statistics.
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