Thinking out of the box in the new normal

New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus infection in the United States, is now preparing to gradually restart under a set of conditions outlined by its governor after the May 15 lockdown order expires. The business sector will play an important role.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked businesses to think out of the box and reimagine a new New York where a different set of rules will define the new normal for work resumption, even while the state continues to remain vigilant against a resurgence of the infection.

There were no specific rules on how business would operate under the new normal environment as Cuomo asked businesses to outline their proposals for work resumption as long as workers’ health safety would be ensured and new infections mitigated.

Meetings with business leaders have been ongoing for some time now, according to Cuomo, and issues like worker mobility are being discussed to prevent the spread of the virus from other states or counties.

Assuming the infection rate continues to drop until May 15, Cuomo sees construction and manufacturing businesses in the upstate regions, where infection rates are lower, to start to reopen under new work guidelines. An assessment will follow two weeks later to monitor if there is any re-escalation of infection.

Economic cost

The State of New York is home to about 20 million people, with two-thirds residing in New York City. The state has registered more 300,000 cases with over 22,000 deaths, and the daily rates continue to be high. Yesterday, it was still over 5,000, although the previous day, it was more than 10,000.

Still, the state is preparing to resume business activities that would have less impact on triggering a resurgence of the infection to curb economic losses. The latest estimate on economic losses now stands at P243 billion. This represents about 14 percent of the state’s gross domestic product.

The damage brought about by the virus is seen to have a much greater impact than the 2008 financial crisis or the Sept. 11 terror attack, and recovery is expected to take a much longer time. The state is one of the biggest sources of revenues for the US federal government.

Business initiatives

What New York is doing gives us an important lesson as our government prepares to reopen after the latest extended date of May 15 for selected regions in the country. Under the latest guidelines, the quarantine is in force in some of the country’s major economic hubs, including Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Cebu, and Davao.

And yet, nationwide, our infection rate is so much lower than New York’s. The Philippines has 69 per one million people, while the State of New York alone stands at 14,985 per one million.

Last week, Philippine business leaders warned of the disastrous effects that a second lockdown extension would leave on the economy, aside from the staggering additional cost for the government in extending social benefits to people affected by the quarantine.

The warning, apparently, was not heeded after another extension was announced. Now on its seventh week, the quarantine is forcing a number of businesses to experiment and innovate without necessarily running afoul of national and local government restrictions.

The first noticeable initiatives came from the food service sector, initially from wet market vendors and later from small groceries utilizing social media networks like Facebook to reach out to customers.

Recently, there has been a rise in delivery services by restaurants and fast food chains, initially starting with a handful of branches, and gradually expanding to more within Metro Manila. This meant also an exponential rise in the number of delivery services through motorbikes.

More importantly, this tells us that more people are returning to work. Businesses have reportedly put up their own systems to ensure that health safety measures are prioritized in the work place. These include reshuffling of personnel so that those working in a branch reside within the vicinity. Some even offer weeklong accommodations to discourage workers from commuting (presumably, by foot).

Bigger companies can take a page from how smaller businesses are handling the restriction, but without comprising health concerns. The sooner they are able to openly discuss with the proper government agencies their plans, the easier it will be for the lockdown to ease.

The government currently is too concerned about controlling the virus spread and providing relief to affected families. More concrete advice from the affected business sectors will definitely be appreciated. Let’s think out of the box, because this is part of what the “new normal” requires.

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