News Update – Tuesday, August 11, 2020

APCO Worldwide's Coronavirus Beat is a weekly publication on the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, economies, policy and culture, and how leaders are responding. The next newsletter will appear Tuesday, August 18.

Have a comment about this newsletter? We welcome your feedback.

Business & Economic Impact

1. Australia estimates it may add as few as 36,000 people from net immigration in the next year, stifling a key pillar of the country’s economic growth strategy, The Wall Street Journal

2. The chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs warned that uncertainty in several Southeast Asian countries could threaten the post-COVID recovery, CNBC
3. The U.S. economy added 1.8 million jobs and the jobless rate fell to 10.2% in July as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, FiveThirtyEight

Global Policy

1. Governments across the European Union are curtailing emergency wage support schemes aimed at preserving jobs, despite uncertainties amid the COVID-19 crisis, POLITICO

2. The pandemic is predicted to push more than one million people from their homes across the Sahel, creating havoc in an already highly fragile region, The Guardian
3. Mexico aims to conduct late-stage clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines in development by Johnson & Johnson and two Chinese companies within months, Reuters

Control Measures

1. Applications for cross-border travel between Singapore and Malaysia opened on August 10, creating an avenue for short visits and a long-term commuting scheme, The Straits Times

2. Face masks have become compulsory in more than 100 Paris streets and tourist areas, while Greece declared they are “formally” in a second wave of the pandemic, The Guardian
3. President Trump is reportedly considering banning U.S. citizens or permanent residents from returning if believed to be infected with the coronavirus, The New York Times

Worth Noting

1. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said reopening schools is a ‘social, economic and moral imperative,’ amidst warnings that Britain risks a second wave of COVD-19, Reuters

2. German businesses expect coronavirus restrictions on public life to continue for another 8.5 months on average, according to a survey by Ifo, CNBC
3. The CDC and Pandemic Action Network partnered with 40 organizations to host World Mask Week in an effort to increase the use of masks, USA Today

Stay Ahead: Insights from APCO

Webinar: Brazda Breakfast Briefing with Dr. Anthony Fauci

During a time of crisis, when speaking to the public the first and most important principal is to use clear, consistent and truthful communication based on facts as they are known. At the August 6 Brazda Breakfast briefing, an event sponsored by APCO and hosted by The Alliance for Health Policy, Dr. Anthony Fauci showed this principal in action as he walked 60 reporters through what we know now about COVID-19, how it spreads, where it is spreading, the status of vaccine development, and what we all can and should do to slow the spread.

Watch the full recording of the event here.

Webinar: What’s Next for U.S. Drug Pricing and Domestic Production

Jack Kalavritinos, senior director at APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C. office, hosted a discussion around the Trump Administration’s recent executive orders on drug pricing and the invocation of the Defense Production Act to spur increased U.S.-based pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturing as the nation gears up to come back stronger. Panelists were APCO IAC member and policy expert Dr. Kavita Patel; PhRMA General Counsel and former HHS acting general counsel, Jim Stansel; and, former FDA Chief Counsel and Sidley partner Becky Wood.

Watch the full event here.

Some Positive News

Joint forces on vaccine development: Over 70 countries are forming a procurement alliance for two billion doses of coronavirus vaccines by 2021, Nikkei Asian Review
Keeping music alive: A New Orleans musician started a non-profit organization during the pandemic to provide temporary financial relief for artists, CNN
Groceries and drive-in movies: Walmart is launching free drive-in movie theaters at 160 stores amid the COVID-19 pandemic, USA Today

More Tips from Around the Water Cooler

What you need to know before heading back to the office, Bloomberg
Everyone is a live-streamer in the COVID-19 Era, The Wall Street Journal
How to prepare for your return to the office, The New York Times
8 ways managers can support employees’ mental health, Harvard Business Review

Quotables

"Leaving lockdown does not mean back to the old ways. It's a new normal. People have this Hollywood-esque belief in a vaccine; that scientists are just going to fix it. In a two-hour film the end comes pretty quickly, but scientists aren't Brad Pitt, injecting themselves and saying we're all going to be saved."

- Dr. Margaret Harris, World Health Organization spokesperson

"If and hopefully when a vaccine becomes available, this means a simple communications approach is not going to be enough on its own –- we’ll need tailored messages for different groups, and to engage social media platforms to contain and remove blatant conspiracy theories."

- Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London

The APCO team is working with clients globally to manage this crisis, and we stand ready to support your needs. For more resources from APCO, including our latest research, information on how we can help or to contact us, visit apcoworldwide.com/coronavirus.

About Coronavirus Beat

Coronavirus Beat is a bulletin of updates and clippings from the most relevant media and government sources created to help APCO’s clients keep abreast of the impacts of COVID-19 from around the world. APCO is supporting clients in managing the issues they confront related to the outbreak. Contact our crisis team at Crisis360@apcoworldwide.com or +1.866.360.APCO (toll-free) or +1.866.483.2726 (outside the United States).

APCO Worldwide is an advisory and advocacy communications consultancy helping leading public and private sector organizations act with agility, and build organizational reputations, brands, relationships and solutions to succeed. APCO has offices in more than 30 major cities throughout the world. To find out how APCO’s integrated services can help your company, visit apcoworldwide.com.