Salisbury Daily Times
Ocean City officials and business owners expect a sense of normal to return to the beach this season as more Americans get vaccinated against COVID-19 and restrictions from the pandemic continue to be eased.
Fully vaccinated Americans are no longer required to wear masks in most settings, and Ocean City businesses won’t face any state COVID-19 restrictions heading into this tourism season, a far cry from what Ocean City establishments contended with this time last year.
There will still be some issues in Ocean City this summer, including a massive labor shortage. Businesses in town are struggling to find workers, and J-1 visa holders, who are commonly used to fill seasonal jobs, aren’t expected to return in large numbers this summer.
Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been plummeting for weeks. The state s rate of fully vaccinated individuals is almost at 50 percent. And later this month, restaurants and retailers throughout New Jersey will be allowed to fully reopen with social distancing precautions.
And that could translate into a summer of record profits at the Jersey Shore, according to Ben Rose, director of marketing for The Greater Wildwood Tourism Authority.
But South Jersey beach-town businesses are worried the worker shortage seen elsewhere will pop up on the boardwalks, too.
With the Memorial Day Weekend opening of the summer season just weeks away, almost every Ocean City Boardwalk business is facing a staffing shortage, said Chuck Bangle, a co-owner of Manco & Manco Pizza. The story is the same along the Wildwood Boardwalk, Stone Harbor s vibrant main drag, 96th Street, and all the way up and down the coast, according to officials and business owners.
March 14, 2018 Kelda Woods was crushed by a bale of hay weighing more than a tonne, putting an end to her career, working with horses. Twelve years on, she is preparing to be the first adaptive rower to cross the Atlantic Ocean. From Tenerife to Antigua, Kelda will dedicate each day to a young person with disabilities, to show them thatÃÂ .
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