News Update – Tuesday, August 4, 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 11.

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

Business & Economic Impact

1. Even as coronavirus cases surge, distilleries who raced to make sanitizer in March say the business is difficult as large producers like Purell are meeting demand, The New York Times

2. The International Air Transport Association, which represents most of the world's major airlines, said it expects the industry to recover from the pandemic in 2024, Business Insider
3. In the United Kingdom, businesses that have furloughed staff during the coronavirus pandemic must now start contributing to the government's job retention scheme, BBC

Global Policy

1. The U.S. Federal Reserve shed its reservations in becoming the world’s lender during the pandemic, lending nearly $450 billion to overseas counterparts, The Wall Street Journal

2. German leaders are divided on whether to restrict the rights of demonstrators after 20,000 people protested against restrictions, raising fears of a rise in infections, The Guardian
3. Economists are urging the United States and China to ‘step up’ and lead during the pandemic, warning that inaction may cause emerging economies to fail, CNBC

Control Measures

1. Starting August 10, all travelers entering Singapore will be issued with an electronic monitoring device to wear throughout the mandatory 14-day quarantine, The Straits Times

2. Nearly 1.2 million Canadians downloaded the government’s COVID Alert app, but critics say the app requirements are inaccessible to older Canadians and marginalized groups, CBC
3. Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state, closed retail shops, limited construction projects and enforced a night curfew in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Reuters

Worth Noting

1. WHO says China team is probing the origins of COVID-19 had “extensive discussions” and exchanges with scientists in Wuhan where the outbreak was first detected, Reuters

2. Data from an anonymous source revealed the number of deaths from the coronavirus in Iran is triple the official count, highlighting the government's response to the pandemic, BBC
3. The Serum Institute, the world's largest vaccine produce, is mass-producing hundreds of millions of doses of a vaccine candidate that remains in trials, The New York Times

Stay Ahead: Insights from APCO

Moving Towards Employee Social Responsibility
Kanika Arora, HR business partner for APCO Worldwide in India, discusses five key ways to engage employees in CSR that is directly linked to employee retention, productivity and overall engagement:

"The theory of social responsibility and ethics applies for both individuals and organizations. It is important that we realize that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is no different than employee social responsibility (ESR). Achieving the goal of social good is not merely a responsibility of those who occupy the corner office, but all employees, as it is their individual decisions and actions which drive an organization towards adopting ethical practices.

Global businesses can achieve greater productivity and performance from their employees by investing in them and training them to make informed decisions. Organizations need to work with the human resources (HR) team to ensure that policies are implemented in the organization that promote ethics and integrity, which in return builds good corporate citizenship."

Introducing Essential Bytes: Episode 1

Each week, APCO Worldwide's Dan Smith, Nicole Monge and Andre Smith will come together to delve into the current digital landscape; exploring the challenges the communications industry is facing, dissecting what some of the most recent trends mean for communicators and highlighting the opportunities these challenges present. Every week, their goal is simple—communicate the essential. Watch this first episode of Essential Bytes here.

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

APCO will host a discussion around the recent Trump Administration's executive orders on drug pricing and the announcement of using the Defense Production Act to spur increased U.S.-based pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturing as the nation gears up to come back stronger. The panel of experts will discuss policy and political ramifications, how drug pricing actions will resonate considering the pandemic, whether more companies will be incentivized to locate or re-locate operations in the United States, and which of these policies might move forward in 2021.

The webinar will take place this Thursday, August 6, 3:00 - 4:00 PM EST. RSVP here.

Some Positive News

Italy's oldest graduate: A 96-year-old student graduated from the University of Palermo, after surviving World War II and the coronavirus, ABC News
"Stop! Sanitize!": A school principal parodies MC Hammer for a COVID-19 safety video ahead of students' return to school amid the pandemic, USA Today
Improving COVID-19 treatments: European doctors say progress in treating people is helping reduce fatalities among the sickest patients, The Wall Street Journal

More Tips from Around the Water Cooler

5 ways the coronavirus changed how we eat fast food, CNN
How to evaluate COVID-19 news without freaking out, Scientific American
Study: How Americans feel about returning to work during COVID-19, Forbes
Remote managers are having trust issues, Harvard Business Review

Quotables

“The first thing to recognize [is that] because the science changes, the advice that you get from health professionals changes over time as well. You’ll see people saying, “Well, you can’t trust [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony] Fauci, because he was saying one thing in February, and he’s saying something else in July.” This is completely backwards. The people you can't trust are the ones who have not changed their views and advice, despite having enormously more evidence. The ones who are changing their views and advice, based on evidence, are the ones who are doing science and the ones who are giving good recommendations."

- Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the University of Washington

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.