COVID-19 Monitor

Last Updated:October 15, 2020

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‘Effects of isolation’ are surfacing: Pediatricians call for return to school (CTV News) Published on: July 6, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Global Response

Children should be allowed to use the playground in small groups, but should wear cloth face masks and maintain a 1-metre distance from others (that’s half the widely recommended 2 metres), the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a series of recommendations issued June 26.
They provide important mental health supports, nutritious food and – for some children – a refuge. Pediatric organizations on both sides of the border say the risk of COVID-19 among children is low and that safety measures can further minimize the risk of transmission.
Health care leaders at Canada’s top children’s hospitals sounded the alarm Monday, saying COVID-19 is creating a “crisis” in children’s health and even violating children’s human rights, including their rights to a quality education, highest standards of health, protection from violence and access to recreation.

Companies are hiring their own epidemiologists to help deal with the pandemic (Washington Post) Published on: July 6, 2020 | Category: Global Response

In a sign of just how complicated it has become to navigate the pandemic, companies are rushing to hire disease detectives such as Trivedi to help guide their efforts to reopen and stay open — especially when state and federal safety guidelines are sometimes short on specific advice and are viewed by some as watered-down by political influence.
Six Flags noted in a news release that its “epidemiologist consultants” helped craft its reopening plans for its theme parks.
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America has seen such a surge in requests for help that it recently published tips for members launching new consulting practices.

Bank of Canada says business sentiment is at lowest since 2009 (BNN Bloomberg) Published on: July 6, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

The results show that even as provinces begin to reopen their economies, many businesses are still struggling with weak demand.
Almost half of all Canadian businesses reported a decline in sales in the past 12 months because of the impact from COVID-19, lower energy prices and heightened uncertainty. Businesses continue to expect weak demand in the future with more firms expecting lower future sales growth in the next year.
More than half of firms expect their sales and employment levels to be near pre-pandemic levels within a year.

Companies pause frantic fundraising to assess pandemic damage (FT) Published on: July 6, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

Companies are pausing for breath after a frantic four-month race to secure cash, drawing down bank credit lines, agreeing government rescue financings and issuing new debt and equity to outlast the coronavirus crisis.
Padded by the extra cash, companies raised just $70bn last week through debt markets, the lowest since mid-March when the coronavirus crisis sent stock and bond prices tumbling.
The slowdown follows the most intense burst of capital raising in history, with about $5.4tn secured by companies across the globe since the year began, including $3.9tn since the start of March.

Banks extend deadline to apply for loan deferrals (The Globe and Mail) Published on: July 5, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Economic Impact

Some of Canada’s largest banks have extended programs that allow clients to defer payments on personal loans through the end of September, signalling that many borrowers still need support even as some early deferrals have expired.
Banks are still getting new requests for deferrals – about 400 in an average week at RBC, for example – though demand has dropped dramatically from the early weeks of the COVID-19 crisis.
“I do get concerned about our ability to understand and to see and be prepared for potential credit risks, primarily credit risks, that might be building,” said Jamey Hubbs, assistant superintendent in charge of regulation at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.

Coronavirus: Arts venues welcome £1.57bn government support (BBC) Published on: July 5, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

The government has unveiled a £1.57bn support package to help protect the futures of UK theatres, galleries, museums and other cultural venues.
Guidance for a phased return of the performing arts is expected to be published by the government shortly.
Many theatre producers are baffled by what they see as ‘one rule for them, and one rule for us’, approach by government, particularly when it comes to travel. Why is it OK for people to sit side-by-side on a train or plane for hours but not in a theatre, which they argue is a much more controllable environment? As far as they are concerned, that is the billion dollar question.

Coronavirus Researchers Compete to Enroll Subjects for Vaccine Tests (WSJ) Published on: July 5, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Vaccine researchers are trying new tacks in an unprecedented effort to recruit the tens of thousands of healthy volunteers needed to finish testing coronavirus shots in late stages of development.
Given the urgency, researchers are taking unusual steps, such as recruiting at pharmacies, enlisting churches in searches for subjects and even requesting employees and families to ask around.
Several coronavirus vaccine candidates are set to enter large clinical trials in the U.S. this summer, among roughly 150 in development using various methods–most of which still have not started human testing.

Soaring saving rates pose policy dilemma for world’s central bankers (FT) Published on: July 5, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Households across the world have been saving up since the coronavirus pandemic hit the global economy, but their cash stash poses a dilemma for policymakers as they try to gauge the amount of stimulus needed to fuel a return to growth.
If consumers rush back to the shops, extra government stimulus threatens to generate too much spending and inflation; but if they continue to hoard their incomes, too little stimulus threatens a vicious circle of weak expenditure, slower recovery and higher unemployment.
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, recently cited a surge in household bank deposits as reason for caution on the speed of the economic recovery, which she forecast would be “sequential and restrained”.

Two-thirds of Canadians support closing businesses again if COVID-19 cases spike: survey (CTV News) Published on: July 5, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Global Response

As scientists and policy-makers anticipate a second wave of COVID-19 later this year, a new survey suggests a majority of Canadians support closing non-essential businesses again if cases spike.
Forty-two per cent of respondents said they support the closures, while another 28 per cent said they somewhat support them.
Nearly one in five respondents said they opposed (11 per cent) or somewhat opposed (nine per cent) mandatory face masks.
According to the Nanos poll, nearly nine in 10 Canadians say a second wave of COVID-19 infections in the next six months is likely (57 per cent) or somewhat likely (32 per cent).

Hard-hit industries clamor for regulations during pandemic (Washington Post) Published on: July 4, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

These business interests see a short-term battle against two hard-to-influence forces: individuals acting irresponsibly and a Trump administration that is reluctant to lay down the type of guidelines that would mandate individual behavior during the pandemic.
In early May, just 29 per cent of Americans were willing to fly on planes, according to an ABC/Ipsos poll, a share that grew to 44 per cent in early June, but by later in the month, the number had fallen to just 36 per cent.
In early June, 59 per cent of respondents said they were willing to eat at restaurants, up from 41 per cent in early May.

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