COVID-19 Monitor

Last Updated:October 15, 2020

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How Should We Allocate Scarce Medical Resources? (HBR) Published on: April 29, 2020 | Category: Leadership

Physicians around the world must make daunting decisions in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Chief among their concerns is that there might not be enough of a scarce resource, such as ventilators, ICU beds, or vaccines, for all of the patients who need them.
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, for instance, bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel and colleagues argue for prioritizing the lives of health care providers – providing them first with testing, ventilators, treatments and vaccines – to assure that they can remain on the job or return quickly to it if they become sick.
Roger Severino, the director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for example, announced that there would be investigations of those who institute utilitarian policies during the crisis.
But, Severino failed to provide any alternative guidance for making such tragic choices.

We Mapped All the Media Impacts of COVID-19 in Canada (The Canadian Journalism Project) Published on: April 29, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Economic Impact

More than 100 media outlets in Canada have made cuts in 11 provinces and territories in a six-week period, with nearly 50 community newspapers shuttering.
Journalists and media workers across Canada are suffering from the labour impacts, as are other sectors. Despite challenging employment conditions, they are sourcing and delivering crucial information on a protracted, history-defying news event.

Donald Trump orders meat processing plants to stay open (FT) Published on: April 29, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

Donald Trump has issued an executive order to force meat-processing factories to remain open, as concerns mount about the US food supply chain after the closure of several big plants because of Covid-19 outbreaks.
The US president invoked the Defense Production Act — a Korean war-era law that permits the government to compel companies to take action for national security reasons — after a spate of recent outbreaks of the virus at processing facilities raised concerns about serious food shortages.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump suggested that the executive order would help shield companies from any legal liability that could arise from remaining open while they deal with coronavirus outbreaks in their plants.

1 in 4 Alberta COVID-19 cases now tied to meat plant, as outbreak spreads to nearby First Nation (CBC) Published on: April 28, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

Canada’s largest outbreak of COVID-19 is linked to an Alberta meat-packing plant — and has now spread to a nearby First Nation, a local official says.
That plant is the location of Canada’s largest outbreak tied to a single site, with 1,167 cases, representing nearly 25 per cent of Alberta’s total COVID-19 cases, said a spokesperson for Alberta Health.

Mnuchin Says Big Companies Should Apologize for Taking Small Business Loans (WSJ) Published on: April 28, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Leadership

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is seeking an apology to American taxpayers from large companies that sought coronavirus hardship funds intended for small businesses.
“The owners should be apologizing that they took this, not just giving the money back.”
Mr. Mnuchin on Tuesday rebuked companies that inappropriately tapped the roughly $660 billion in loans available through the Paycheck Protection Program and warned that they could face criminal liability if the money isn’t returned.

No COVID-19 bailouts for firms that use tax havens, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says (The Hamilton Spectator) Published on: April 28, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will not allow companies that use offshore tax havens to receive COVID-19 bailout funds.
During the House of Commons’ first virtual sitting Tuesday, Trudeau was pressed by the Bloc Québécois to prevent companies that don’t pay their fair share of tax from benefitting from government aid.

Which companies are most immune to the pandemic? (The Economist) Published on: April 28, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

A working paper published this week by economists at the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of California, Berkeley examines which characteristics were most beneficial, and most harmful, during the stockmarket sell-off up to March 27th.
All else being equal, the share prices of companies with more cash, larger profits and less debt were more resilient against the pandemic.
Firms were also penalised for circumstances largely beyond their control. Companies owned by hedge funds, for example, fared worse than those with corporate backers.

Ford unveils roadmap for ‘re-opening’ Ontario as number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs drops (CBC) Published on: April 27, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Global Response

Ontario will reopen its economy through a three-stage process in the coming weeks and months, the government says, though it offered no firm date and few details about when that effort will begin.
Each stage will last at least two to four weeks, at which point Ontario chief medical officer of health will be able to tighten certain restrictions, extend the stage or advise that the province can move into the next phase.
Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer health, said last week that the province would need to see fewer than 200 new cases daily for an extended stretch before relaxing COVID-19 emergency measures would be feasible.

The Federal Reserve Is Changing What It Means to Be a Central Bank (WSJ) Published on: April 27, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

By lending widely to businesses, states and cities in its effort to insulate the U.S. economy from the coronavirus pandemic, it is breaking century-old taboos about who gets money from the central bank in a crisis, on what terms, and what risks it will take about getting that money back.
And with large-scale purchases of U.S. Treasury securities, the Federal Reserve is stretching the boundaries for what a central bank will do to finance soaring federal debt—actions that move it deeper into political decisions it usually tries to avoid.
Economists project the central bank’s portfolio of bonds, loans and new programs will swell to between $8 trillion and $11 trillion from less than $4 trillion last year.

Largest US meat company warns food supply chain is breaking (FT) Published on: April 27, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

The largest US meat company has warned of shortages for consumers, saying the country’s complex food chain was “breaking” as Covid-19 spreads to refrigerated packing plants.
Almost a third of US pork processing capacity and 14 per cent of beef capacity is now offline as the disease sweeps through the densely staffed cutting floors of packing plants, agricultural economists say.
On Friday, US packing plants killed 83,000 cattle, down by more than a quarter from 114,000 a year before, and 361,000 pigs, down almost 20 per cent from 449,000 a year ago the USDA reported.

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