COVID-19 Monitor

Last Updated:October 15, 2020

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Trudeau considered best to manage pandemic, revive economy, poll suggests (Sudbury.com) Published on: August 25, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

Respondents to the poll, conducted by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies, were split about the prospect of a confidence vote triggering a federal election this fall, with 42 per cent opposed to an election and 38 per cent in favour.
But if there were an election today, 38 per cent of decided voters said they’d support Trudeau’s Liberals, compared to 30 per cent for the Conservatives, 18 per cent for the NDP and six per cent for the Greens.
The Bloc Quebecois were at 33 per cent in Quebec, statistically tied with the Liberals in that province at 32 per cent, with the Conservatives well behind at 16 per cent, the NDP at 12 per cent and the Greens at four per cent.

Insurers bet that pandemic will usher in era of higher returns (FT) Published on: August 25, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

The coronavirus crisis appears a rolling nightmare for the insurance industry as it is assailed by huge claims and locked in damaging legal fights with customers.
But in recent months investors have quietly poured billions of dollars into insurance companies, betting the pandemic will ultimately prove the catalyst that ends a period of fallow returns for the industry.
According to insurance broker Marsh, prices for commercial insurance leapt by 19 per cent in the second quarter of the year, after a 14 per cent increase in the first three months of 2020.

How to Foster Psychological Safety in Virtual Meetings (HBR) Published on: August 25, 2020 | Category: Leadership

When Covid-19 was recognized as an emerging public health crisis earlier this year, tens of thousands of employees were sent home from offices around the world to start working from home for the foreseeable future.
It may take years before we understand the full impact of this abrupt shift to virtual work on people and companies, but it wasn’t long before many started to wonder about the impact of virtual meetings on psychological safety — people feeling they can raise questions, concerns, and ideas without fear of personal repercussion.
There are good reasons to worry. Detecting social cues or non-verbal agreement is nearly impossible. Team members may feel isolated without the natural support of an ally nodding from across the table.

Burnout, splinter factions and deleted posts: Unpaid online moderators struggle to manage divided communities (Washington Post) Published on: August 25, 2020 | Category: Global Response, Leadership

From the pandemic to systemic racism and volatile politics, the real world is seeping into online communities and making them harder to moderate.
Over the past five months, many moderators have found their jobs mirroring the outside world: increasingly messy, harder and unpredictable.
Facebook says there has been an increase in groups participation during the pandemic, and in conversations about race amid the Black Lives Matter protests.
In the United States, which has the highest number of reported covid-19 deaths in the world, 4.5 million people are in a pandemic-related support group on Facebook, according to the company.

Europe Tried to Limit Mass Layoffs, but the Cuts Are Coming Anyway (NY Times) Published on: August 24, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

When European countries ordered businesses to shutter and employees to stay home as the coronavirus spread, governments took radical steps to shield workers from the prospect of mass joblessness, extending billions to businesses to keep people employed.
A tsunami of job cuts is about to hit Europe as companies prepare to carry out sweeping downsizing plans to offset a collapse in business from the outbreak.
As many as 59 million jobs are at risk of cuts in hours or pay, temporary furloughs, or permanent layoffs, especially in industries like transportation and retail, according to a study by McKinsey & Company.

COVID-19 pandemic accelerated shift to e-commerce by 5 years, new report says (TechCrunch) Published on: August 24, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Economic Impact

As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes our world, more consumers have begun shopping online in greater numbers and frequency.
The pandemic has also helped refine which categories of goods consumers feel are essential, the study found.
Clothing, for example, declined in importance as more consumers began working and schooling from home, as well as social distancing under government lockdowns.

Coronavirus Lifts Government Debt to WWII Levels—Cutting It Won’t Be Easy (WSJ) Published on: August 24, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Among advanced economies, debt rose to 128% of global gross domestic product as of July, according to the International Monetary Fund. In 1946, it came to 124%.
After World War II, advanced economies brought down debt quickly, thanks in large part to rapid economic growth. The ratio of debt to GDP fell by more than half, to less than 50%, by 1959. It is likely to be harder this time, for reasons involving demographics, technology and slower growth.
By the early 1960s, the Group of Seven advanced economies all had population growth of nearly 1% a year or more. Today, no G-7 country has population growth of 1%, and Japan and Italy are shrinking.
Rapid economic growth and lower military spending in the postwar years made it easy to reduce debt. In the U.S., federal outlays fell by more than half between 1945 and 1947, not accounting for the effects of growth or inflation.

A poorer retirement is pandemic’s hidden legacy (FT) Published on: August 24, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Central banks’ action to stimulate economies and keep interest rates low have made it harder for pension funds to earn the money to pay for their members’ retirement.
The crisis has come at a particularly difficult time for the pensions industry, which is already under pressure from a decade of low interest rates and low bond yields.
In Australia, where the government has allowed members early access to their pension superannuation funds, the result has seen some 600,000 people — most of them under 35 — wipe out their savings altogether.

Businesses were desperate for a rent-relief program. Governments rushed to deliver them one. What went wrong? (The Logic) Published on: August 24, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) estimated that some 400,000 to 500,000 firms were eligible for the nearly $3-billion rent-relief program.
As of June 29, three months into the pandemic, the government had approved only about $194 million in funding, on behalf of around 25,600 tenants, according to figures Finance Canada provided to The Logic.
The rent relief program should have been one of the main pillars propping up Canada’s economy in an unprecedented time, but, four months after its creation, it still feels like an afterthought.

Alarm across Europe over surge in coronavirus cases (FT) Published on: August 23, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

A sharp rise in the number of coronavirus infections over the past two weeks has put European governments on high alert as holidaymakers return home to big cities and teachers and pupils prepare for the start of the school year after months of disruption.
France has opted to control the spread of the virus rather than attempt to eliminate it completely, and French president Emmanuel Macron has said there is no such thing as a “zero risk” society.
In Italy, new daily cases have also increased, reaching 947 on Friday, due to more travel and nightlife activities over the summer holidays.

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