Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Deigo Union-Tribune
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By Dominick Hiddo
This week starts the further re-opening of many more cities, states and their respective businesses around the world, as we all prepare to deal with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Contrarily, many other cities, states, and countries are extending their lockdowns to ensure that they come out of this pandemic in the healthiest and safest way possible: for the sake of the people and the economy. The reality is that there will be no set formula for reengaging and reintegrating society back to a perfect state of normalcy. The reason being is that this situation has affected everyone differently, leaving some worse off than others. But, as we start to slowly get back to our new normal, we will notice that some businesses will continue to thrive and get back on track as if they never missed a beat. The unfortunate part of this situation is that there may be a slew of businesses that will not make it through this pandemic. With many people thinking about saving their money, balancing budgets, and figuring out their employment situation due to furloughs and layoffs, anything beyond the essentials may not be top of mind. As a result, the business that would have relied on this excessive nature of our consumer behavior may falter. So how do we balance this situation? How do we help our communities that were once bustling streets of shopping and engagement from becoming depressive ghost towns?