'We're living in wild times': NJ businesses throttled by omicron as workers catch COVID

New Year's Eve should have been busy at Union Market and Gallery in Tuckerton, but after two employees called in saying they had tested positive for COVID-19, co-owner Dani Corso decided to close for the day.

The employees' cases turned out to be mild and contained. But Corso couldn't take the chance. What would happen if she opened and other employees or customers caught the virus?

"Every day we come into it with a fresh slate," she said, "and it's hard."

The Jersey Shore economy is taking two steps back as another wave of COVID washes over the region. Hospitals and nursing homes are bracing for a third of their staff to be out sick at any moment. Companies that planned to move back to the office are staying remote. And restaurant owners, already struggling to find help, are falling ill themselves.

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The chaotic scene is unfolding as the region enters the next stage of the pandemic — one in which the newest strain of the disease isn't virulent enough to shut down Main Street as it did in March and April of 2020, but still can disrupt daily life.

In the next month or two, "places that rely on foot traffic are going to have less people," said Robert Scott, an economist at Monmouth University in West Long Branch.

Union Market and Gallery is just one of hundreds of small businesses caught in the middle of the crush of COVID cases. They are a weary group.

'I just pray for people to be safe'

Yogi Exelbirt, the owner of Krib's Bagel and Bakery in Hazlet, bought the store just months before the pandemic swept through New Jersey, changing the rules of the game.

She staggered the shifts for employees so they can practice social distancing. She eliminated deliveries. She cut back her hours. She sanitized with abandon. She followed a suggestion to light candles, figuring it couldn't hurt, even if it did nothing to slow down the virus.

It has been a difficult year. Exelbirt's husband, Mike, died last fall; she's not sure what role COVID had. And she caught COVID, recovering after she received a monoclonal antibody infusion, she said.

With a new variant spreading fast, she tells her staff to stay home if they feel sick.

"I just pray for people to be safe," Exelbirt, 69, said. "Only to be safe."

The outbreak threatens to sidetrack a New Jersey economy that had been picking up momentum.

The state during the outset of the pandemic lost jobs at twice the rate of the nation. But its economy during the third quarter of 2021 grew 3.7%, the fourth fastest nationwide. And it was routinely adding a massive 20,000 jobs a month, according to government data.

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Still, New Jersey's job market is well short of where it was before the pandemic. By November, the state had regained 76% of the jobs that it lost, while the nation had regained 83% of the jobs it lost, data shows.

The omicron variant adds a hurdle. Health experts say the strain appears to be more contagious but less virulent than previous strains.

Monmouth County COVID-19 vaccine tracker:65% of people fully vaccinated

Ocean County COVID-19 vaccine tracker:53% of people fully vaccinated

New Jersey on Tuesday reported as many as 30,000 confirmed and suspected cases  — not including at home tests. And the state topped 5,000 hospitalizations, with 70% of those patients unvaccinated, according to Gov. Phil Murphy's administration.

Still, hospitals are seeing fewer deaths. While hospitalizations are 40% higher than they were last year at this time, the number of patients in intensive care is 3% higher than last year, according to state data.

The rampant spread of the virus forced the Shore to delay its usual routine of getting back to work after the holidays.

Some schools closed or resumed virtually due to staff shortages. The Murphy administration began to call in federal reinforcements to fill in for a shortage of health care workers who called out sick. And white-collar workers set up their computers at home; OceanFirst Financial Corp. said it offered administrative employees in Toms River and Red Bank the chance to work from home for the first two weeks of the year.

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'Much better at handling it'

Business owners weren't pleased, but some said they have learned the idea of all hands on deck. For example, Playa Bowls, a Belmar-based restaurant with 134 locations in 18 states and Puerto Rico, has been moving employees among nearby stores to bolster staffing, co-owner Abby Taylor said.

"Right now, obviously, this strain I feel like is very contagious, but I just think we’re so much better at handling it than we were last year at this point that it doesn’t seem as crazy for some reason," Taylor said. "But, I think everyone is running into that."

What happens if you have just one store?

Tom Dunphy opened Mutiny BBQ Co. in Asbury Park on Dec. 4, only to close three weeks later after an employee tested positive for the virus.

Dunphy, who had two doses but had yet to get a booster shot, came down with the illness, too, getting so sick at one point that he considered going to the hospital. He said he began feeling better after his doctor prescribed a steroid.

The restaurant is expected to reopen this week.

"It seems like everybody I know got it," he said. "It was a scary thing. I do not take it lightly now, and I’m telling everyone I know if you can avoid catching it, do so. It’s not a cold."

Omicron is a reminder that the economy is tied to the pandemic. The outbreak threatens to deplete the workforce, keep consumers at home, and add more knots to the supply chain, observers said.

Unlike the first go-around, there has been little talk on the state or national level of financial aid for businesses, leaving industry groups to urge their members to get vaccinated.

Omicron "is a significant problem to the health and welfare of our citizens, but it also is a significant problem to the health and welfare of the economy," said Thomas Bracken, president and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

"The ultimate key is to get people vaccinated, to get people who have been vaccinated to get boosters and to wear masks," he said.

One hopeful sign: Omicron is expected to peak in mid-January, after which consumers could feel emboldened to relieve their stress, go to restaurants, head back to the office, travel and spend money.

"As the spring starts unfolding, the weather starts to get a little bit nicer, you know, hopefully we get back to something more normal," Monmouth University's Scott said. "So if there was a time for people to kind of huddle up and sort of stay on the sidelines, right now probably isn't a terrible time."

At Union Market and Gallery, though, there wasn't a lot of time to consider the bigger picture.

The employees sidelined with COVID were feeling better, but Corso and her team was contending with other problems, from delivery delays to a snowstorm that kept the business closed on Monday and Tuesday.

"We're living in wild times right now,” she said.

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.