Pandemic leads to tough times

Getting by in Lorain County is getting harder. Evidence of as much appeared in The Chronicle-Telegram time and again last week: • A week ago today we reported that the Lorain chapter of the Latin American Motorcycle Club hoped to distribute 2,000 free Thanksgiving meals this year, almost twice as many as it gave out last year, reflecting the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people's lives. • On Tuesday we reported that 30 percent more people had applied this year than last year to the Salvation Army in Elyria for Christmas help through the Not-Forgotten Box toy collection drive that it runs in partnership with The Chronicle. "That really tells us there's a lot more hurting people with COVID-19," Salvation Army Capt. Tracy Knappins said, "and we're all concerned about shutdowns again." • On Thursday we quoted Julie Chase-Morefield, president and CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank, as follows on the launch of its annual Holiday Cheer campaign to feed families: "I don't think there's ever been a year where this has been more important." Then on Friday this newspaper and other papers serving Lorain County reported that the county was on the verge of reaching the highest level of alert on the state's map charting the spread of the virus. Franklin County, home to Columbus, became the first in Ohio to reach purple-alert status, but Lorain County and two other counties were in danger of getting to the same level later this week. A purple alert comes with a warning from the state that residents should "only leave home for supplies and services." Such caution, justified as it is, nonetheless would depress the economy further. The pandemic's toll already is apparent in the county's rate of joblessness. In September, the latest month for which unemployment figures are available, 9.4 percent of Lorain County's workforce was jobless, more than twice the 3.8 percent share of a year earlier. Jobless rates this past September were higher still in the county's two biggest cities, Elyria, at 10.6 percent, and Lorain, at 13.1 percent. Ohio's rate for October, released Friday, was 5.6 percent, a drop from 8.3 percent in September but still above the previous October's 4.1 percent. October figures for the county and its major cities won't be available until later this week, but even if they show a decline from September's figures, they're likely to remain above last year's. Beyond that, the number of virus cases began to accelerate in the state only in mid-October and have skyrocketed in November, setting yet another record Friday. Lorain County also set a record. Efforts to slow the rise, such as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and his recommendations to consolidate trips away from home and skip social activities likely will slow economic activity. As The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, "The growth in the number of daily job postings in Midwestern states, where the virus is raging, is slowing sharply compared with October, according to data from the job site ZipRecruiter." Prospects for improvement before the end of the year are bleak, in part because U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin has decided against renewing some emergency lending programs for businesses, cities and states that the Federal Reserve had put in place during the pandemic; in part because government aid to the unemployed, relief for those with student loan debt and protection against eviction for renters will expire Dec. 31; and in part because Congress has failed to reach agreement on a new stimulus package. On Nov. 12, the office of U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati, put out a press release boasting that he'd appealed that day, for the 18th time on the Senate floor, for Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to respond to the health-care and economic crises coincident with the coronavirus. He described U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, as one of those "who were not interested in seeing a comprehensive package passed before the election. They thought it would be good politics." Whether Portman's repeated pleas are evidence of his tenacity or his ineffectiveness is unclear, but what's certain is that too many folks in Lorain County and elsewhere in the country are struggling to get by, through no fault of their own, and that their ranks will swell if politicians in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike, don't compromise and provide government aid that states, which must balance their budgets, can't afford. Portman, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, and U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville, and Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, all represent Lorain County and owe it to their constituents to make it happen. Andy Young is editor emeritus of The Chronicle-Telegram. Contact him at (440) 329-7111 or ayoung@chroniclet.com.