The second wave of COVID pandemic continues to take a toll on the city as the governor puts forth a plan of how the upcoming vaccine will be doled out. At the same time, Black small businesses are feeling the impact the pandemic is having.
Things appear to be looking up in some of the COVID-19 hotpots in Brooklyn and Queens. As of Monday, the statewide positivity rate was 1.21%. In Brooklyn’s red zone this week the positivity rate was 4.6, which is down from the over 5% infection rate reported earlier this month. In Queens, the infection rate is at 2.5%, down from 3.7%.
“Positivity for the entire state with the red zone oversample, 1.2. … I think the context is important so people know what 1% means or what 2% means, which means New York has one of the lowest positivity rates in the nation,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “Why are we doing well? Because we’re very aggressive about it and when we see a flare-up or a hot spot we jump all over it, as you know because you are subject to our aggressive action.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press briefing this week that while infection rates are going down it hasn’t been easy. Social gatherings in hot spots have been blamed for COVID-19 spreading in the “micro cluster” zip codes in the city.
Last Saturday, Oct. 17, New York City deputy sheriffs broke up an over 200-attendee gathering at the Queens Luxe Banquet Hall in Ozone Park, Queens. Four employees were charged for having the illegal gathering.
The state ordered the halt to a wedding where a reported 10,000 guests were supposed to attend in Brooklyn. The wedding was scheduled to take place at a Hasidic Jewish synagogue for the grandson of the grand rebbe (rabbi) of Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar. The area is known as one of the city’s COVID hot spots.
“This next week or two will be crucial to make sure we consolidate our progress and retain the progress we had previously, because remember through so much of the summer in New York City was the envy of the country,” de Blasio said. “We can be that again very soon if we all do the work we need to do.”
This week, Cuomo released plans on how a COVID-19 vaccine would be administered to New York residents. Drug companies have announced that a vaccine could be available by November or December.
The vaccine would be administered in five phases with essential health care workers receiving the vaccine first followed by first responders, teachers and essential workers. Individuals over 65 and high-risk individuals under 65 would receive the vaccine in Phase 3, all other essential workers in Phase 4 and healthy adults and children would receive the vaccine last.
“We are coming up with a plan on many presumptions. We don’t know how many doses we’re going to get. We don’t know what vaccine we’re going to get,” Cuomo said. “We don’t know when we’re going to get it. The state will have a statewide vaccination plan. We will do it in concert with the federal government. The federal government is in charge of producing the actual vaccine and distributing the vaccines.”
Meanwhile, Black small businesses continue to suffer as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York says that Black-owned firms have been almost twice as likely to shutter as firms overall during the pandemic. Black businesses are also more likely to be facing larger direct and indirect effects of the pandemic.
States that re-opened earlier showed some pickup in Black-owned businesses in May and June, but many of those gains are now being paused or reversed as the number of COVID cases has begun to rise again.
Black businessowner Dwana Smallwood runs a performing arts center in Brooklyn she opened six years ago; it served 1,100 children before the pandemic. Smallwood said COVID-19 has shut her business down. She has had to shift to online classes due to the social distancing restrictions.
“We cannot sustain the facility because we don’t have the enrollment because we have to go virtual,” Smallwood said. “I’ve had to lay off all the teachers, all the staff except one. Our building is still there. We are still paying rent. It’s been an ordeal because even though they say you can open at 25% capacity, that’s not going to sustain you to pay the rent.”
Smallwood added that small businesses like hers aren’t just paying rent but other bills as well like insurance, security, internet and phone. She received the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that helped her get through the spring semester when she closed.
“We keep trying and apply for grants and loans and things like that but we’ve never had debt and now we have debt because we have this loan from the government, which I find extremely insulting that even before you finish using the last loan, they send you a bill. It’s like no one really cares. I feel like they are making money from our hardships.”
Smallwood is currently doing a fundraiser for the performing arts center to pay the bills and keep her doors open with a goal of $1 million.
