COVID-19 Monitor

Last Updated:October 15, 2020

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Air New Zealand’s coronavirus refunds fail: Anatomy of a PR disaster (Stuff.co.nz) Published on: June 28, 2020 | Category: Global Response

When an Air New Zealand customer got so frustrated they paid for a personals ad in the paper to get a response, alarm bells should have already been going off in HQ.
Unlike any other airline, it had the best corporate reputation in Australia and New Zealand before the virus struck – and reputation is valuable currency for any serious company.
It wasn’t just that Air New Zealand issued credits for customers who actually wanted refunds for flights that were cancelled as borders rolled shut.
Also provoking the flood of angry emails and letters was the difficulty customers had in finding out what was happening to their money, in some cases many thousands of dollars saved up for the trip of a lifetime.

Officials warn coronavirus pandemic could worsen as global death toll hits 500,000 (Global News) Published on: June 28, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

The world surpassed two sobering coronavirus milestones Sunday — 500,000 confirmed deaths, 10 million confirmed cases — and hit another high mark for daily new infections as governments that attempted reopenings continued to backtrack and warn that worse news could be yet to come.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled back reopenings of bars in seven counties, including Los Angeles.
South Africa’s health minister warned that the country’s current surge of cases is expected to rapidly increase in the coming weeks and push hospitals to the limit.
Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize said the current rise in infections has come from people who “moved back into the workplace.

The pandemic pivot: How IT groups are laboring to make remote working work (Silicon Angle) Published on: June 28, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Almost half of the 1,000 IT professionals recently surveyed by Mendix Tech BV said they’re shifting at least some of their priorities to better support remote work streams outside of IT.
Mendix’s survey found that more than 70 per cent of respondents said they’ve put some IT initiatives on hold, but “at the same time there’s a big push for digitization,” said Jon Scolamiero, manager of architecture and governance in Mendix’s product marketing organization.
An Accenture survey found that 73 per cent of new at-home workers say they miss the social interaction of the workplace, Burden said.

South Korea has entered its 2nd wave of coronavirus. What can Canada learn? (Global News) Published on: June 27, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Earlier this week, South Korea became the first country to officially announce a second wave of the novel coronavirus after a recent resurgence of cases.
In order for there to be a second wave, there needs to be a severe case increase in an area where the virus appeared to have been naturally wiped out, and return as a new variation of itself, Winnipeg epidemiologist Cynthia Carr told Global News.
The concept of physical distancing may not have been firmly “embedded into their thinking,” particularly with young people — a key demographic in nightclubs, Furness said.
This is also not the first time nightclubs were linked to an increase in cases.

Why the American Consumer Has Fewer Choices—Maybe for Good (WSJ) Published on: June 27, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Some IGA Inc. grocery stores now offer only four choices of toilet paper. A few months ago, before the coronavirus pandemic, IGA’s 1,100 U.S. stores typically carried about 40 varieties.
Consumer-oriented companies spent the past decades trying to please just about everyone. The pandemic made that impossible, and now some no longer plan to try.
In grocery stores, the average number of different items sold was down 7.3 per cent over the four weeks ended June 13, said Morgan Seybert, a director of analytics at market-research firm Nielsen. The variety in some categories, such as baby care, bakery and meat, fell as much as 30 per cent earlier in the pandemic.

Blackstone skips payment on $274m hotel loan (FT) Published on: June 27, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Blackstone has skipped a payment on a $274m hotel loan, joining the ranks of leading real estate investors that have fallen behind on debt during the coronavirus crisis.
On Friday, Blackstone characterised the hotel deal as “a very small investment that had been written down prior to Covid-19 as a result of unique operational challenges”.
Some of the debt is trading at values that suggest the investors do not expect to make a full recovery.

Decoding the confusing messages of the coronavirus epidemic in America (The Economist) Published on: June 27, 2020 | Category: Global Response

The US has too few cases for a total lockdown and too many to open up safely.
America’s death toll and caseload are high, and not only in absolute terms. Per head, it has had twice as many cases as Europe and about 50 per cent more deaths.
The epidemic began as an infection of inner cities, minorities and Democratic areas. It is now spreading through suburbia, among whites and in Republican places.

As support for mask-wearing grows, so do political risks for forgoing them (Washington Post) Published on: June 26, 2020 | Category: Global Response

As infections spike in red states such as Texas, Florida and Arizona, support for masks has grown.
More than 70 per cent of Americans believe that people should wear masks most or all of the time in public places, according to a Pew Research survey from mid-June.
A Fox News poll from last week found that 80 per cent hold a favorable view of those who wear masks, including 68 per cent of Republicans and 61 per cent of respondents who strongly approve of Trump.

Britons to be allowed to holiday abroad from July via ‘air bridges’ (Guardian) Published on: June 26, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Overseas holidays will be given the green light from early next month, with the government expected to suspend the 14-day quarantine period for a series of countries and also to set up so-called air bridge arrangements for overseas destinations.
At the same time, the current Foreign Office travel warning against all but essential international travel will be lifted for countries deemed safe.
The list of permitted destinations will remain fluid, with what is described as a “strict handbrake mechanism”, meaning any sudden outbreak of coronavirus in certain countries – or even in particular parts of a country – could require travellers unexpectedly to isolate for two weeks when they return to the UK.

Gov. Greg Abbott orders Texas bars to close again and restaurants to reduce to 50% occupancy as coronavirus spreads (Texas Tribune) Published on: June 26, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday took his most drastic action yet to respond to the post-reopening coronavirus surge in Texas, shutting bars back down and scaling back restaurant capacity to 50%.
Bars must close at noon Friday, and the reduction in restaurant capacity takes effect Monday. Before Abbott’s announcement Friday, bars were able to operate at 50% capacity and restaurants at 75% capacity.
On Thursday, he announced the state was putting a pause on any future reopening plans, though none were scheduled and the announcement did not affect businesses that were already allowed to reopen.
Earlier in the day, Abbott sought to free up hospital space for coronavirus patients by banning elective surgeries in four of the state’s biggest counties: Bexar, Travis, Dallas and Harris.

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