After the pandemic, that number is expected to decline to 40%, according to the study.
The SANDAG Transportation, Regional Planning, and Borders committees met virtually Friday to discuss the results of the report, led by SANDAG staff and True North Research. It surveyed employees and businesses throughout the region to gain a better understanding of how the pandemic has altered remote work practices and policies, and expectations for the post-pandemic period.
The report found remote work policies and practices changed dramatically in response to the pandemic and also found changes were not equal across different industries, occupations or by employee demographics.
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It’s nowhere near as serious as the pandemic’s toll in hospitalizations and deaths, but the cumulative effect of COVID-19 on restaurants has ripped jobs and central eating and meeting places from numerous communities. While many managed to hang on with takeout and, when it was allowed, outdoor dining, many others did not. The San Diego Association of Governments estimated that San Diego-area restaurants lost as much as 77 percent of their business in the first few weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s March 19, 2020, shutdown order.
Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood on a bone-dry lakebed in Northern California and announced the state is experiencing drought conditions again. Thus far, the most severe conditions are in specific northern watersheds such as the Russian and Klamath river basins. In the San Diego region, investments in diversifying water sources, conserving and recycling have enhanced resiliency to drought conditions.
Why should San Diegans care about dry conditions?
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As more and more people are getting one of the available COVID-19 vaccines, a term that might be coming to mind is herd immunity. But can a community like La Jolla, which has a vaccination rate upward of 70 percent, achieve its own herd immunity?
According to the World Health Organization, herd immunity, also known as population immunity, is “the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection.”
WHO states that it “supports achieving herd immunity through vaccination, not by allowing a disease to spread through any segment of the population, as this would result in unnecessary cases and deaths.”
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The county Board of Supervisors will consider waiving restaurant permit fees Wednesday in an effort to help struggling eateries recover from pandemic closures and restrictions.
“In the last year, San Diego County restaurants have suffered greatly,” said Supervisor Jim Desmond, who proposed the fee waiver. “We’ve all seen permanently out-of-business signs on many of the favorite restaurants in San Diego County.”
With about 8,000 locations employing 126,000 workers, the restaurant sector was hard hit by mandatory closures and health restrictions on indoor dining, Desmond said.
Business at San Diego restaurants dropped by 60 to 77 percent during the pandemic closures in April 2020 and remained below pre-pandemic levels as of January, according to a board of supervisors letter, citing figures from the San Diego Association of Governments.