Editor’s Letter: Managing in the Time of COVID-19

It’s a strange time to work at PACIFIC.

As you know, this magazine is all about events, concerts, nightlife and arts. It’s about being together, sharing memories and exploring all the cool things San Diego has to offer.

Basically, the exact opposite of self-quarantine and isolation.

But as I write this, most everything has been cancelled or postponed because of coronavirus. People are freaking out on social media, more of us are being asked to work from home and everything just feels surreal and uneasy.

So we’ve made the drastic and difficult decision to take all events, comedy and concert listings out of the April issue. We just don’t want to put out a magazine filled with outdated or false information.

(We did keep visual arts because even if galleries are closed and ArtWalk gets postponed, I think looking at art on these pages or online can bring a sense of beauty and joy.)

It’s a shame, too, because this is actually one of San Diego’s busiest months. Between Earth Day celebrations, music festival season, baseball games, Bloom Bash and pool parties, April is traditionally like a first taste of summer.

Right now, though, we just have no idea what will be happening when you get this magazine. Optimistically, things could return to normal and we’ll be back out enjoying happy hours and food festivals before we know it. Or, this could just be the start of many months of quarantine.

I don’t know, and the uncertainty kind of makes me panic, but I do hope it’s the latter.

So the most responsible thing to do — what we encourage you all to do — is to lie low, try to stay calm, check in on your parents and grandparents, and enjoy this breather. We’re all so busy all the time, what will it be like to have nowhere to go for a while? To have time for self-care, reading and guilt-free Netflix marathons?

Hopefully you’ll have plenty of time to check out what we do have in our April issue: features on local artists, musicians and influencers; a spotlight of places where you can find cannabis-infused meals; a Coachella-less and somewhat solitary road trip to Indio; a few recipes; and even a guide of things to watch and read while you’re self-quarantined.

Thanks for your understanding and patience, keep washing your hands and — events or no events — we’ll see you next month.

—Nina Garin