COVID-19 Monitor

Last Updated:October 15, 2020

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Five COVID-19 aftershocks reshaping mobility’s future (McKinsey) Published on: September 17, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

Against a backdrop of mass layoffs, disrupted travel, and public-transit ridership down 70 to 90 per cent in the world’s major cities, shared mobility—and mobility in general—is struggling.
Developments in personal mobility have coalesced around four disruptions known as ACES: autonomous driving, connected cars, electrified vehicles, and shared mobility.
Long term, COVID-19 could have a sustained influence on mobility, driving changes in the macroeconomic environment, regulatory trends, technology, and consumer behavior.

‘One-two gut punch’: WE scandal has Canadians more skeptical of charities and COVID has them less able to donate, poll finds (National Post) Published on: September 17, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

The Angus Reid poll suggests that troubles Canadians who donate to charity — and is troubling to charities themselves, who are facing a “double whammy” of the WE scandal and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, a majority of Canadians — 62 per cent — across all donor groups say the scandal hasn’t changed how they feel about giving, but “a significant segment is more jaded,” the report says.
The poll says 49 per cent of those who’ve donated over the past two years haven’t changed their habits in light of the pandemic, but 37 per cent say they’ve been donating less.

Fed Sets Higher Hurdles for Rate Increase (WSJ) Published on: September 16, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Central bank signals rates near zero at least through 2023 to help support recovery.
The Fed’s rate-setting committee also revised its postmeeting statement to specify it would maintain rates near zero until it sees evidence of a tight labor market and inflation reaches 2% “and is on track to moderately exceed 2% for some time.”
Separately, officials revised their June economic forecasts to reflect expectations of a less severe contraction this year and a lower unemployment rate.

Americans Keep Spending, but Growth of Retail Sales Slows (NY Times) Published on: September 16, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Retail sales rose 0.6 percent last month, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday, and the 1.2 percent increase in July was revised down to a 0.9 percent gain.
Still, Americans continued to spend on home computers, new cars and online groceries, and some retailers serving those pandemic-related needs reported record sales.
Yet, chains like Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods and West Elm have reported revenue jumps this summer, with many Americans spending more on goods that they could use at home or while socially distancing outdoors.

CDC director suggests face masks offer more COVID-19 protection than vaccine would (Axios) Published on: September 16, 2020 | Category: Global Response

CDC director Robert Redfield suggested in a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that face masks are “more guaranteed” to protect against the coronavirus than a vaccine, citing the potential for some people to not become immune to the virus after receiving the shot.
Redfield told the subcommittee that he believes there will be a “very limited supply” of a vaccine between November and December, and that “we’re probably looking at late second quarter, third quarter of 2021” for widespread distribution.

Social media a problematic coping mechanism for university students’ mental health this fall (Ottawa Citizen) Published on: September 16, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Global Response

Only about one in seven students surveyed indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has not had a negative affect on their mental health and stress levels, while more than half said it has affected them moderately, very much or an extreme amount.
More than 80 per cent of students, meanwhile, said they have used social media at least a moderate amount or more to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, while “problematic” use of social media, as defined by the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, jumped from about 28 per cent before an emergency was declared to just over 40 per cent immediately following.
Other means of coping include watching TV (82 per cent indicating moderate or higher use), connecting via such apps at Zoom and Facetime (65 per cent), eating fast foods or sweets (56 per cent) and exercise (49 per cent).

Don’t Let the Pandemic Set Back Gender Equality (HBR) Published on: September 16, 2020 | Category: Leadership

Our analysis shows that women’s jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable to this crisis than men’s jobs: Women make up 39% of global employment but account for 54% of overall job losses as of May 2020.
At the same time, the burden of unpaid care, which has risen in the pandemic, falls disproportionately on women.
Reversing the regressive trend will require, among things, investment in education, family planning, maternal mortality prevention, digital inclusion, and unpaid care work.

Canada to keep border with U.S. closed until at least Oct. 21, says source (CBC) Published on: September 15, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Global Response

The federal government will extend the Canada-U.S. land border closure for another 30 days until Oct. 21, CBC News has learned.
The source told CBC News that the federal government is waiting to see evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is being managed efficiently before the government considers opening up non-essential travel between the two countries.
The closure has resulted in a dramatic drop in traffic between the two countries, although essential workers — such as truck drivers and health-care professionals — are still able to cross by land.
Canadians are still able to fly to U.S. destinations.

Hospitals Failed to Fully Contain Covid-19 Inside Their Walls (WSJ) Published on: September 15, 2020 | Category: Global Response

An average of 120 patients a day became infected with the new coronavirus inside U.S. hospitals as the pandemic ebbed from its spring peak and rebounded into the summer, according to previously unpublished federal data.
The figures suggest hospitals continue to struggle with in-house spread of the virus, said Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health.

CERB is ending soon. And almost 3 million people will be worse off when it does, report finds (Toronto Star) Published on: September 15, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Economic Impact

David Macdonald, a senior economist at the CCPA, said in the report that more than four million Canadians will be affected by the switch, which happens Sept. 27.
“That is an important reason why consumer spending didn’t fall rapidly during a big recession,” he said.
Macdonald said the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit, which provides $500 per week before taxes for Canadians staying home from work to care for children or other dependants, will likely be available to 184,000 former CERB recipients at the outset.

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