On Monday, March 16th, the cruise ships stopped docking in the US Virgin Islands. In spite of the hordes of people coming off ships to shop in St. Thomas, there was only one reported case of coronavirus. We walked the streets of a nearly empty city for whom 80% of businesses depend on tourists. You can still see them recovering from the hurricanes - Irma & Maria - that nearly devastated the US Virgin Islands in 2017.
I had seen a quote from the Chamber of Commerce in the local paper so when we happened to see the door ajar while wandering, it seemed a perfect opportunity to meet a fellow chamber compatriot. Sonia has been with the St. Thomas St. John Chamber for over 20 years and runs the office by herself. The Board governs under a President that operates out of Miami (talk about remote work) and she manages the day-to-day operations. In a few short minutes, it was clear they do the same things we do - after 5 mingles, work to build the network - and advocate on behalf of business.
On that day, reported cases in North America were so low - the potential impact was hard to imagine. The spread in Italy was making it a bit more real but it still seemed far away. Up to that point, I'd been isolated with a few friends on a boat in the British Virgin Islands - which are largely uninhabited - so we felt very safe from exposure. But then, it became about getting home. Once we crossed the border just after midnight on Thursday, March 19th - it became very real. The government was initiating strict closure measures, non-essential businesses were shut down and information was being updated daily if not hourly. With all the announcements from the last week, it feels as though this is a watch and wait holding pattern now - hoping the number of diagnosed cases will start to drop now that March breakers are home and have been in quarantine for the first week - and the effects of social distancing start to flatten the curve.
Over the next few weeks, we will continue to listen to your needs, pass on information and provide details of the relief and recovery missions designed to help you get through these next months. A series of resources with links to websites far more capable than we at keeping on top of the latest news follows...
We do keep track of the releases and we have started a list of businesses that continue to serve customers in whatever modified format is compliant with the current directives.
