Covid Hijacks the Holidays: Evaluating Your Risk Tolerance

Just about the time we thought it was safe to enjoy the holidays, omicron has popped up to spoil our fun. We kicked off the holidays just a few weeks ago with money in our pockets and high expectations. We prepped for in-person parties and planned trips to exotic locales. We looked forward to simply sharing the holidays with those we love. But Covid’s a cunning adversary. Within a matter of days, this new variant has sabotaged the holiday plans of millions of people around the globe.

Home alone again for the holidays

A colleague and her husband looked forward to taking their two young sons to South Africa, where her husband grew up. Africa is where omicron first surfaced, and their flights have been canceled. One 72-year old woman hadn’t seen her grandchildren in nearly three years. Her holiday plans included a trip to Denver to visit her unvaccinated son and his family. But with infections spiking, she and her husband will be home alone again this year.

As Covid sweeps the country: Is the booster the new vaccine passport?

Broadway shows are being canceled and the Metropolitan Opera will require proof of booster shots. Its new rule  for staff and audience members takes effect in January—will this become the new vaccine passport?

Major corporations are delaying the return to the workplace—employees will continue working virtually for the foreseeable future. Apple delayed its return to the office “to a date yet to be determined.” It also temporarily shut stores in Annapolis, Md., Miami and Ottawa in response to a rise in coronavirus cases.

To go or not to go: Think of your life in terms of value exchanges

According to psychologist Arathi Sethumadhavan in APA Monitor on Psychology, “human beings, when given the time, are always doing a value exchange, weighing the benefits of what they’re getting vs what they’re giving up.” One of my colleagues thinks of this as tiny banking transactions. We’re always running either a debit or credit balance with our family and friends. Use this same principle to evaluate your Covid risk for the holidays: Weigh the benefits of how badly you want to go somewhere or see someone vs the severity of the risk.

Evaluating your risk tolerance

Ask yourself a few questions to think through whether an event is worth attending:  

• Are you fully vaccinated and boosted? If so, it’s much safer to gather with others, even with omicron circulating around us. Do you also have a strong immune system, rarely getting colds and flu?
• Do you have underlying health conditions?If so, consult your doctor about how to approach holiday gatherings.
• Do you know whether the people you’re gathering with are vaccinated? If you don’t know their status, especially when it comes to younger children, consider precautions like masking indoors or being in an outdoor environment.
• How big is the gathering you want to attend and what is the setting? Determine what size gathering feels comfortable and whether you are open to indoor gatherings.

Guideway’s Living Trust package

As you get caught up on vaccines that will help you and your family stay healthy through the coming months, this is also a great time to create or update your Trust. With families gathered for the holidays, it’s also the perfect time to encourage aging family members to create a Living Trust.

We’re proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment with Guideway today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Is It Time to Redefine “Fully Vaccinated”?

Nearly two years of Covid, and the emerging variants indicate that it’s not going away anytime soon. We’ve adapted our business models and facilities to create safe environments. At Guideway, the uncertainty of this pandemic has resulted in an increase in people creating or updating their Living Trusts. A Trust is especially important for those with young children. If something happens to you, who will care for your children? Without a Trust, the court appoints a guardian for your kids. By creating a Trust, you can name a guardian and be assured that your family will inherit your assets as you have planned. In the meantime, getting a booster shot is the best way to protect yourself against Covid.

The CDC is now recommending booster shots for everyone over 18

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that everyone 18 and older get a Covid booster shot. This messaging is more urgent than that of just a few months ago when the recommendation was for those 50 and older. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, is now unequivocal in advising the public to “get boosted now.”

According to CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, “As science evolves, we will look at whether we need to update our definition of ‘fully vaccinated.’ The definition hasn’t changed. That’s after your second dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, after your single dose of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”

Even with vaccinations, immunity wanes

Two state governors are taking the booster seriously.

• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont. “In my view, if you were vaccinated more than six months ago, you’re not fully vaccinated,” said Lamont on Nov. 18 during a press briefing. He was encouraging everyone to get boosted—even before the federal government authorized extra shots for everyone.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had a similar response in mid-November, saying she defined “fully vaccinated” as receiving three shots of the mRNA type. She also opened up booster eligibility to all of her state residents before the CDC and Food and Drug Administration did.

Infections with the omicron variant have been reported in at least five states. Omicron is distinguished by at least 50 mutations, some of which appear to be associated with increased transmissibility. The World Health Organization dubbed it a “variant of concern” on Nov. 26.

The social implications of changing vaccination status

An increasing number of venues require proof of vaccination for entrance. New York City’s Key to NYCrequires that people 12 and older show identification and proof they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for access to indoor dining, fitness and entertainment venues. France’s Pass Sanitaire is required for access to all cultural venues, restaurants and bars. Passengers of long-distance trains, buses and domestic airlines need this pass. Think of all of the workplaces that have vaccine mandates—the Department of Defense, Goldman Sachs, MacDonalds, Cisco, American Express, Facebook, Ford, etc. It’s a growing list.

One doctor doesn’t quantify “fully vaccinated”

Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences thinks more suitable terminology would be to call someone “adequately” vaccinated against covid rather than “fully” vaccinated, since it’s possible that more boosters could be needed in the future — making “full vaccination” a matter of semantics and a moving target.

Businesses don’t appear to be checking for boosters at this time, but that could change. There may be a time when patrons present a two-shot vaccine passport, only to be turned away as inadequately protected.

A thoughtful gift for your family this holiday: Create or update your Living Trust.

As you prepare your home for winter and get caught up on vaccines that will help you and your family stay healthy through the coming months, this is also a great time to create or update your Living Trust. With families gathered for the holidays, it’s also the perfect time to encourage aging family members to create their Living Trusts.

We’re proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment with Guideway today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

 

Covid Survivors Belatedly Update Their Living Trust

Tom and Gina came into our Oakland office to update their Living Trust—something they regretted not doing years before. Both Tom and Gina are Covid survivors. An RN at Kaiser, Gina became sick in the early days of the pandemic, and Tom soon became infected as well. Both were in their 50s, healthy, with no preexisting conditions.

Tom was moderately affected and was hospitalized for a week; Gina spent a month in the hospital and nearly died. It was four months before she could return to work on even a part-time basis. Tom’s a teacher, and he was off work for several months. After more than a year, the couple is still struggling to regain their health and stamina. Neither is able to return to full-time employment, so the ordeal has had an economic impact as well as compromising their health. Tom and Gina want to make sure that if their health fails, their two adult sons will inherit their home and other assets. They’ve named their older son, Jerry, as their Power of Attorney.

RELATED CONTENT: Your Living Trust: Avoiding the Pitfalls

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine a future without Covid

This is especially true for those Long Covid, as they call the long-term effects of the disease that take many forms, including fatigue and brain fog that make it difficult to return to work and resume a normal life. Headaches are another chronic problem, along with muscle and joint pain, sleep problems, fever and dizziness. Some people are experiencing complications as serious as organ failure.

For those who work in the food and wine industries, loss of the ability to smell and taste is another serious consequence. In one account, a woman is studying to become a perfumer. Its practitioners need a discerning sense of smell. Covid is threatening the careers of professionals in these industries.

Deferred maintenance: Another way Covid has affected Americans’ health

Health providers are seeing the consequences of more than a year of pandemic-delayed preventive and care. Think about our regular appointments to have our teeth cleaned or for our yearly physicals. These wellness checks are cost-effective preventative medical care.

Delayed response attributed to fear of going to the hospital

Dr. Brian Rah, chair of the cardiology department at Montana’s Billings Clinic, was confused in the early days of the Covid pandemic. He couldn’t figure out why there was a sudden drop in heart patients. And some patients were arriving hours after first experiencing chest pains. Two patients, both of whom suffered greater heart damage by delaying care, provided what came to be typical answers.

• One said he was afraid of contracting Covid by going to the hospital.
• The other patient went to the emergency room in the morning, left after finding it too crowded, and then returned that night when he figured there would be fewer patients–and a lower risk of catching Covid.

Delayed treatment can result in death or long-term compromised health

“For a heart attack patient, the first hour is known as the golden hour,” Rah said. After that, the likelihood of death or a lifelong reduction in activities and health increases, he said. Dr. JP Valin, executive vice president and chief clinical officer at SCL Health of Colorado and Montana, said he is “kept awake at night” by delays in important medical tests. “People put off routine breast examinations, and there are going to be cancers that are not identified, potentially delaying intervention,” he said.

• Timely treatment of appendicitis symptoms. Valin is also concerned that patients aren’t seeking timely treatment when suffering appendicitis symptoms like abdominal pain, fever and nausea. A burst appendix generally involves more risk and a week’s hospitalization, instead of one day of treatment for those who get care quickly, he said.
• 80% drop in colonoscopies. Fola May, a gastroenterologist who is also quality director and a health equity researcher at UCLA Health, worries about the consequences of an 80% to 90% drop in colonoscopies during the first months of Covid.

New medical problems emerging from the pandemic, many stress-related

Along with exacerbating existing health problems, the Covid pandemic has also caused a host of new medical issues in patients. We will be coming out of the pandemic with teeth worn down from grinding, back problems from slouching at makeshift home-work stations and mental health problems from a combination of isolation and being too close to family.

Dr. Despina Markogiannakis, a dentist in Chevy Chase, Maryland, said patients don’t argue when she tells them they have been grinding or clenching their teeth and might require a root canal, dental implant or night guard.

“These are people stuck at home all day, feeling lonely and feeling a little depression. It is induced by the world we live in and all the changes in our lives,” said Markogiannakis.

• Tooth grinding. A recent American Dental Association survey found that more than 70% of member dentists reported an increase in patients grinding or clenching their teeth since Covid.
• Stress-related teeth conditions. More than 60% reported an increase in other stress-related conditions, such as chipped and cracked teeth.
• Depression and weight gain. Gerard Mosby, a Detroit pediatrician, finds his young patients are suffering more stress, depression and weight gain than before the pandemic. Confined in their homes, many are living in multigenerational homes or foster homes or have experienced Covid illnesses or death among family members.
• Eye strain from too much computer time. Optometrist Matthew Jones, who practices in Blytheville and Osceola, Arkansas, reports worsening eye conditions for patients, some of whom stopped taking drops during Covid for conditions like glaucoma. He’s also seeing much more eyestrain “because people are spending so much time in front of a computer screen” and recommends eyeglasses that filter out blue light to his patients.
• Pain makeshift workstations. Physical therapist Kaylee Smith, who runs a treatment studio in La Jolla, California, says she is seeing more injuries related to poor posture due to makeshift home workstations used during the pandemic.Patients are reporting more pain and injuries related to poor posture.

While we’d love to put Covid behind us, we never leave home without our masks. And that remains the reality for the foreseeable future.

Guideway, creating and updating your Living Trust

We’re proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. We provide a hard copy as well as a soft copy of your documents. More questions? Contact us today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Guideway assists our clients with uncontested legal matters, including Divorce. If you and your spouse can agree on division of property, you don’t need a lawyer, and we can save you a lot of money. We prepare the legal documents and guide you through it. 

There’s a general perception these days that Divorce is on the rise

Yet according to the Institute for Family Studies, the divorce rate reached a record low in 2019—for every 1,000 divorces, only 14.9 ended in divorce. But after a year and a half riding the pandemic rollercoaster, it’s a wonder anyone’s still married. Too much forced togetherness, economic insecurity and job loss. It’s been particularly hard on women—they’ve shouldered the bulk of childcare duties as whole families have switched to working and learning from home. But just as post-pandemic job hunters are seeking higher pay and more benefits, Covid has made many couples realize that they are no longer satisfied with the status quo. They want more from their relationships. 

According to Matt Lundquist, clinical director of Tribeca Therapy:

The pandemic has exacerbated issues that couples might have previously ignored, or tried to ignore. Alongside the enormous stress that Covid has created, many people in long-term marriages have found themselves at a crossroads. “I think this has been a forced moment of profound reflection. People are thinking a lot about what matters to them, what they want in life, what they tolerated living without that they don’t want to tolerate anymore. People are realizing that they have choices.”

 

Family attorney Alton L. Abramowitz: with SSRGA: “People are reexamining their lives, thinking: Is this the way I want to live for the next ten, 20 years?” he says. “There is this pent-up desire to move on with their lives.”

New York Magazine-The Covid Divorce: Couples want more from their relationships

He had promised he was sober, and then I found empty bottles

“What shifted for us is the lack of coping skills and distractions. We were in a very small house with our kids in lockdown. There was no place to hide. My ex’s alcoholism began to loom during the lockdown. I’m trying to raise the kids and he’s struggling with his addiction. With all of the stress of the pandemic, I needed the partner that I never got. I caught his stashing bottles around the house. My father has addiction issues, and it was not lost on me that I’m calling my mom, and she’s crying to me about this exact issue 20 years down the road. I had to end this cycle because it was not going to change.”

— Maya, 39, Montreal; married 16 years, together 21

 

She wanted a breadwinner, and I didn’t know how to get a six-figure job

“Before the pandemic, I was working for myself as a wedding photographer, and I was planting seeds for screenwriting and writing a book. I had worked hard to carve out a successful creative career. The pandemic changed things overnight—no one was having big weddings, so my income dried up; we didn’t meet our financial goals and ended the year with debt. I took a job with my wife’s company as a salesperson. The CEO loved my wife and hired me because of her. I never really succeeded in this culture. It cracked open big differences between us on how we define success and value money. We ended up separating, I moved to California and realized that I was happier alone. We are now planning to divorce, though not rushing to file papers.”

— Parker, 30, Southern CA; married four years, together seven

Why work with Guideway?

 

Guided Mediation. For those divorcing couples who have difficulty reaching consensus or for whom the Divorce process has stalled, our Guided Mediation, through a process of compromise and negotiation, assists couples in reaching successful conclusions.

One flat fee. There are never annoying add-on charges for copying, phone calls and other miscellany. Where appropriate, we also notarize documents and file them with the County Recorders’ Office. We’re a single point of contact. You’ll work with a dedicated specialist who is available for questions and support throughout the process. We’ve been in business since 2003, with three Bay Area offices–Dublin, Oakland and Walnut Creek. More than 60% of our business comes from referrals and repeat business. Schedule an appointment today. 

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

 

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

The New American Renaissance: Covid Becomes the Driver for Growth

While Covid has disrupted our lives in ways that few emergencies have before, it has also cleared the way for an economic boom and social revival. The New York Times’ David Brooks is calling it the “American Renaissance”.

Brooks describes how West Germany and Japan endured widespread devastation during World War II, yet in the years after the war both countries experienced miraculous economic growth. Britain emerged from the war with its institutions more intact, yet entered a period of slow economic growth and lagged behind other European democracies.

Disruption becomes the engine for growth

Germany and Japan enjoyed explosive growth because their old arrangements had been disrupted. The devastation itself, and the forces of American occupation and reconstruction, dislodged the interest groups that had held back innovation. The old patterns that stifled experimentation were swept away. The disruption opened space for something new.

We’ve endured grievous loss and anxiety during this pandemic

Many have also used this time as a preparation period, allowing them to burst out of the gate when things opened up. The result?

• 4 million new businesses were started in 2020, by far a modern record.
• A report from Udemy, an online course provider, says that 38 percent of workers took some additional training during 2020, up from only 14 percent in 2019.

After decades of rampant spending, Americans socked away trillions of dollars in 2020, reducing their debt burdens to lows not seen since 1980, putting themselves in a position to spend lavishly as things open up.

The best job market in 25 years, the economy has already taken off

• Global economic growth is expected to be north of 6 percent this year, and strong growth is expected to last at least through 2022.
• In late April, Tom Gimbel, who runs the recruiting and staffing firm LaSalle Network, told The Times: “It’s the best job market I’ve seen in 25 years. We have 50 percent more openings now than we did pre-Covid.”
• Investors are pouring money into new ventures. During the first quarter of this year, startups raised $69 billion, 41 percent more than the previous record, set in 2018.

Socioeconomic rebalancing takes three forms

1. Power has begun shifting from employers to workers. In March, U.S. manufacturing, for example, expanded at the fastest pace in nearly four decades. Between April 2020 and March 2021, the number of unemployed people per opening plummeted to 1.2 from 5. Workers are in the driver’s seat. Employers are raising wages and benefits to try to lure workers back.
2. A rebalancing between cities and suburbs. Covid-19 accelerated trends that had been underway for a few years, with people moving out of big cities like New York and San Francisco to suburbs, and to rural places like Idaho and New York’s Hudson Valley.
3. Finding balance between work and domestic life. Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom expects that even when the pandemic is over, the number of working days spent at home will increase to 20 percent from 5 percent in the prepandemic era.

Millions of Americans who could work remotely found that they liked being home, dining every night with their kids and not having to commute. We are apparently becoming a less work-obsessed society. We’re looking for ways to make a living and stay connected with our families and our communities. To be more present. Nobody knows where this national journey of discovery will take us, but the voyage has begun.

The need to create a Living Trust has had more immediacy

Despite all the good news on the economy, we’re still fighting Covid. The new Delta variant is highly contagious and it’s a serious threat for those who remain unvaccinated. Sadly, it is now affecting those who are vaccinated. More of our clients are scheduling appointments to create or update their Living Trusts. A Trust is the legal document that outlines the way in which your assets will pass on to your loved ones when you die. Our Trust package includes a Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive. We guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Vaccine Passport: The Reality and the Roadblocks

With Covid’s highly contagious Delta variant raging across the country, the debate over a vaccine passport has amped up. A digital health certificate/vaccine passport required to prove immunization status is controversial, but it’s gaining momentum. Danny Meyer, owner of a number of well-known restaurants in New York City and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, including Shake Shack, is requiring employees, drinkers and diners to show vaccination status before they can enter his restaurants. The biggest challenge to normalizing a vaccine passport? It’s data privacy. 

Big brands are stepping up 

Disney and Walmart, Google and Facebook, Morgan Stanley and Saks, The Washington Post, Lyft and Uber. These influential companies span a few industries, which means that other businesses in their sectors will follow. The reality is that after a year of masking up and locking down, consumers want to get back to a normal life. A growing number of businesses — from cruise lines to sports venues — say they will require proof of vaccinations for entry or services. 

What we can learn from other countries: In Paris it’s pay for play

If you want to go to the Eiffel Tower, you have to show your vaccination status, your le pass sanitaire, or health pass. Visitors who turned up at the Eiffel Tower without proof of vaccination were offered on-the-spot Covid tests. Starting in August, the health-pass requirement will be extended to adults at restaurants, cafés, shopping centers, “as well as for travel by plane, train and bus for long-distance journeys,” according to the app’s website.

Digital health pass initiatives will be driven by the private sector

The Biden administration has said there will be no federal vaccination system or mandate. Individual states hold primary public health powers in the United States and have the authority to require vaccines. According to Jen Psaki, White House press secretary,“ We expect a vaccine passport will be driven by the private sector. There will be no centralized, universal federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential.”

 

Challenge for apps: Compatibility among systems and health records

These apps will provide a verified electronic record of immunizations and negative coronavirus test results to streamline the process. The drive has raised privacy and equity concerns and some states like Florida and Texas have banned businesses from requiring vaccination certificates. These certificates can be forged and scammers are already selling false and stolen vaccine cards. Governments, technology companies, airlines and other businesses are testing different versions of the digital health passes and are trying to come up with common standards so that there is compatibility among systems and health records.

 

New York became the first state to launch a digital health certificate

New York’s Excelsior Pass verifies people’s negative coronavirus test result and if they are fully vaccinated. There have been 1M+ downloads—New Yorkers use it to go to Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden and other public venues. Most businesses require showing state I.D. along with the Excelsior Pass to prevent potential fraud. Some airlines have started a digital health pass, the Common Pass, including Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic and Jet Blue Common Pass, to verify passenger Covid-19 test results before they board flights.

 

Opposition the vaccination mandate centers around data privacy

“There are a whole lot of valid concerns about how privacy and technology would work with these systems, especially as Silicon Valley does not have a great history delivering technologies that are privacy enhancing,” said Brian Behlendorf, executive director of Linux Foundation Public Health, an open-source, technology-focused organization. Others worry that an exclusively digital system would leave some communities behind, especially those who do not have access to smartphones or the internet.

“Any solutions in this area should be simple, free, open source, accessible to people both digitally and on paper, and designed from the start to protect people’s privacy,” Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said in a statement. The World Health Organization does not support requiring vaccination passports for travel yet. It is working with agencies like UNICEF and the European Commission to establish the standards and specifications o f a globally recognized, digital vaccination certificate.

Creating a Living Trust has become more immediate 

The new Delta variant is highly contagious and it’s a serious threat for those who remain unvaccinated. Sadly, it is now affecting those who are vaccinated. More of our clients are scheduling appointments to create or update their Living Trusts. A Trust is the legal document that outlines the way in which your assets will pass on to your loved ones when you die. Our Trust package includes a Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive. We guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Staying Safe: Still My Most Important Job

From the initial Covid lockdown in March 2020, my most important job has been keeping my team and our clients safe. Happily, I’ve been successful. I acted quickly, creating a virtual work model that allowed us to continue serving our clients. The unexpected outcome was that everyone seemed to like this new remote process. Clients didn’t have to leave home, and my team found that the Zoom intake process was much more efficient. I believe that we continued to meet the needs of our clients. 

We’re starting to feel like there’s an end to this austerity

Many of our clients have had both vaccines and are feeling liberated. Many more can’t wait for their second shot. In a matter of weeks, vaccinations will be available to everyone. As we look forward to spring, we’re all eager to put this year behind us. 

According to The New York Times Covid infection tracker, at least 487 new coronavirus deaths and 45,582 new cases were reported in the U.S. on March 28. That’s a 15% increase in just two weeks. California is adding around 2,600 cases a day. These numbers are especially concerning when we read about the new mutant strains that are surfacing. We are taking this very seriously, and I want to assure our clients that we are continuing to follow strict Covid protocols.

I want to assure our clients that we are continuing to follow strict Covid protocols

We’re still masking up and wiping down surfaces. Signings and meetings are by appointment only. In this way we can ensure that we’re social distancing. 

If you’ve spent most of 2020 at home, I hope this message assures you that we haven’t let up; we’re making our office and our process as safe as possible for every client. That remains my most important job.

My Best,

Ian Duncan
Guideway