When Santa Catalina Island all but locked its gates last month it was a blessing and a curse for the approximately 4,000 people who live there.
As the debate continues about lifting stay-at-home orders, states are slowly allowing businesses to reopen.AVALON, Calif. -- When the gates to California's “island of romance” were all but locked to lovers and pretty much everybody else last month it may have saved the 4,000 residents from a coronavirus outbreak but it destroyed an economy based almost solely on tourism.
Cotter, whose husband has been furloughed from operating the tram that carries people to Catalina’s picturesque “Airport in the Sky,” said that although the peace and quiet has sometimes been pleasant most locals long for the days when people jammed the streets, crowded restaurants and made it difficult to find a place to pitch a towel on the beach.
Cruise ships deposit as many as 2,000 people a week for brief stopovers while the Catalina Express ferries thousands more each day from mainland ports, including many who stay at hotels. “We're used to seeing the same people every year,” she added, noting that during her 10 years on the island many of them have become friends as well.
Most people with COVID-19 experience symptoms such as fever and cough for up to three weeks. Older adults and people with existingDespite the devastating economic hit, Marshall and other officials say they don't want to open the island too soon and risk a spike in infections. Overall, residents say pretty much everyone seems to be following the orders, wearing masks in public, social distancing and staying inside.
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