COVID-19 Monitor

Last Updated:October 15, 2020

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Coronavirus Cash Needs Prompt Companies to Rethink Investments (WSJ) Published on: June 22, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Large companies have swiftly sold big positions in other firms after the coronavirus pandemic sparked a scramble for cash and caused them to rewrite their investing playbooks.
So far this year, more than $28 billion of U.S.-traded stock has been sold spanning eight secondary transactions of at least $1 billion, according to Dealogic, the most by this point in any year on record.
For many firms, the sales stem from a reckoning sparked by the coronavirus pandemic as boards focus on whether the most efficient use of capital is a minority stake in another company.

You don’t know your customer anymore (Fast Company) Published on: June 22, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

A recent study by Capgemini found that while 70 per cent of consumers feel optimistic about recovery from the current outbreak over the next 12 months, nearly as many (65 per cent) say they will be more mindful of their purchase habits once the pandemic is over.
Fifty-nine percent of consumers worldwide said they had high levels of interaction with physical stores before the current crisis, but today, less than a quarter (24 per cent) see themselves in that high-interaction category.
In the next six to nine months, 39 per cent of consumers expect a high level of interaction with physical stores–clearly below the pre-pandemic levels.

France shows Europe can keep Covid-19 in check after reopening (FT) Published on: June 22, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Since May 11, when President Emmanuel Macron ordered the gradual reopening of schools and businesses, the rate of Covid-19 infections has slowed — including in Paris and the north-eastern region where the epidemic struck most fiercely.
This has prompted Jean-Francois Delfraissy, France’s top scientific adviser, to declare that the virus was “under control”.
France is to allow all businesses to resume and all children to return to school from Monday.
Similar promising trends have been observed across Europe.

Covid-19 has led to a pandemic of plastic pollution (The Economist) Published on: June 22, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Data are hard to come by but, for example, consumption of single-use plastic may have grown by 250-300% in America since the coronavirus took hold, says Antonis Mavropoulos of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), which represents recycling bodies in 102 countries.
According to a forecast from Grand View Research, the global disposable-mask market will grow from an estimated $800m in 2019 to $166bn in 2020.
If the public’s increasing appetite for single-use plastic worries environmentalists, then so too does its diminishing inclination to recycle materials that can be reused.
In Athens, for example, there has been a 150% increase in the amount of plastic found in the general-waste stream, says Mr Mavropoulos.

Coronavirus and personal debt: the Americans living on a ‘knife edge’ (FT) Published on: June 22, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Although US consumers’ debt levels are lower than in 2008, a swift end to payment holidays would leave millions vulnerable.
This is what happens when at least 20m jobs disappear overnight in a country where total household debt had already reached $14.3tn, according to the US Federal Reserve, before the crisis hit.
Payment holidays from lenders and unprecedented government support have kept debt delinquency from spiking. While between 5 and 10 per cent of borrowers have accepted payment forbearance, many are still making payments.

Airports beg government to set face mask policy for passengers (The Hill) Published on: June 21, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Airline passengers are encountering a patchwork of rules when it comes to wearing masks on planes and in airports, creating confusion and frustration among customers and companies alike.
With no federal law for wearing masks on planes or in airports, airlines are setting their own policies.
Some have removed non-compliant passengers and banned them from future flights, as was the case earlier this week when American Airlines removed a pro-Trump activist.
The recent policies imposed by airlines and any subsequent federal rules for airports are likely to add fuel to the political fire surrounding masks.

Women’s Job Losses From Pandemic Aren’t Good for Economic Recovery (WSJ) Published on: June 21, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

Women have lost jobs at a steeper rate than men during the coronavirus pandemic, a factor that is likely to hold back the economic recovery.
Married women, who in past recessions took jobs to offset lost wages when their husband or male partner was laid off, also are less likely to seek work because their employment prospects are now limited, one researcher concluded.
The fragility of female-dominated jobs is different from past recessions, when goods-producing sectors such as construction and manufacturing—which are predominantly men—saw greater employment losses.

Will public debt be a problem when the Covid-19 crisis is over? (FT) Published on: June 21, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Even more notable has been the unanimity among macroeconomists that massive fiscal and monetary stimulus is the appropriate response to a “wartime” economic emergency. Almost no one seriously disputes that policy should be doing “whatever it takes” to overcome the shock from the virus.
But once the recovery is established, the public debt overhang is likely to divide economists along familiar lines.
John Cochrane and Kenneth Rogoff are among the influential economists who warn that most advanced economies, notably the US, could soon be running on balance-sheet public debt ratios higher than anything seen before, even following the 2008 crisis. Off-balance sheet commitments in social security and health increase potential government spending even further.

Canadians working from home permanently should expect salary changes, experts say (The Globe and Mail) Published on: June 21, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Global Response

“That means if you live in a location where the cost of living is dramatically lower, or the cost of labour is lower, then salaries do tend to be somewhat lower in those places,” said Mark Zuckerberg on a video conference, where he announced more employees would be allowed to work remotely permanently.
Only one-third of Canadians working remotely expect to resume working from the office as consistently as they did pre-pandemic, while one-in-five say they will remain primarily at home, according to a June study from the Angus Reid Institute.
The companies that don’t offer remote work at all could also find themselves at a disadvantage, if their industry starts to value flexibility and look less favourably at companies that don’t offer it.

NFL union asks players to stop joint workouts amid coronavirus fears (NY Post) Published on: June 20, 2020 | Category: Global Response

The NFL Players Association has asked players to stop working out together.
“Please be advised that it is our consensus medical opinion that in light of the increase in COVID-19 cases in certain states that no players should be engaged in practicing together in private workouts,” wrote NFLPA medical director Dr. Thom Mayer.

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