News Update – Thursday, July 2, 2020

APCO Worldwide's Coronavirus Beat is a twice weekly publication on the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, economies, policy and culture, and how leaders are responding. The next newsletter will appear Monday, July 6.

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

Business & Economic Impact

1. U.S. unemployment fell to 11.1% in June, regaining 4.8 million jobs, but the labor market is operating with 15 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic, The Wall Street Journal

2. The International Monetary Fund said Asia’s economy is expected to contract by 1.6% this year, warning the region could take several years to recover, International Monetary Fund
3. UK discount retailer Primark, who was on course to earn GBP 1 billion this year, will lose almost two-thirds of its annual profits, Financial Times

Global Policy

1. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement went into effect July 1, introduced amid the pandemic and the greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression, Atlantic Council

2. The World Health Organization warned that some countries with a surge in cases may need to reimplement severe restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, CNBC
3. The United Nations warns methane levels may rise and food system may collapse during the pandemic due to excess food from closed businesses, World Economic Forum

Control Measures

1. UK health officials identified 36 at-risk areas across England and are considering placing parts of London on lockdown, Business Insider

2. Austria issued travel warnings for six states in the Balkan region despite the European Union deeming two of the six states as safe for travel, BBC
3. Thailand entered the fifth phase of its COVID-19 reopening plan, allowing the reopening of schools, venues and pubs, and allowing foreign visitors on a controlled basis, ABC News

Worth Noting

1. The U.S. government is purchasing nearly all of Gilead's remdesivir for the next three months, enough to treat around 80,000 patients, but shutting out other nations, The Guardian

2. Taiwan's Songshan airport began offering travel-starved tourists fake flight experiences while showing off completed airport renovations and coronavirus-prevention steps, Reuters
3. Singapore will hold general elections on July 10 featuring temperature screening and hygiene measures, more polling stations and recommended time slots to cast ballots, CNBC

Stay Ahead: Insights from APCO

Companies Risk “Digital Doomsday” as Employees Return to Offices

Deanna Javadi and Lee Betancourt of the crisis management and litigation communications practice in APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C. office discuss how companies should evolve their corporate social responsibility pathway to meet the new consumer environment after the pandemic:

"These are truly unprecedented times and if we don’t evolve to meet new expectations, there is a real risk of being left behind and associated with the problem rather than the solution. Corporations and private companies with the means and resources have a responsibility and opportunity to have a social impact and improve the ways you “do good.”

It’s clear now more than ever that being an effective advocate and helping create progress will help your brand and business come back stronger from the crisis and gain the trust and support from the public and your consumers. At the end of the day, isn’t it a win when you can help both your business and society?”

Cartoon image of person holding megaphone speaking

Mapping Digital Transformation in India During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Salonie Chawla, Swati Sudhakaran and Meghna Jalan in APCO Worldwide's India offices discuss how new technologies helped India achieve solutions in crucial sectors including healthcare, food security and education:

"The scaling up of dynamic sectors presents a huge opportunity for overseas businesses to invest in digitalization of India. The Indian government has been focusing heavily on self-reliance to ensure that the country gets a home-grown base for a complete digital value chain, including the electronics and computer hardware, which had been a missing link.

Along with the pandemic outbreak, India is in the middle of several geo-political developments vis-à-vis China, which has further strengthened the sentiments around local manufacturing and digital transformation."

APCO Worldwide’s India offices have done a deep dive into the sectors where technology can spur economic transformation, providing key recommendations to global and domestic companies planning to invest in India. Click here to read and download the full report.

Coronavirus Beat: Looking Ahead

As the situation evolves, APCO would like to continue to ensure we’re delivering the most value to our readers. If you would like to provide us with feedback to help continue improving the content, please fill out this two-minute survey here.

Some Positive News

Sewing squad: A volunteer sewing group on Facebook distributed more than 55,000 masks to vulnerable communities in 3 months, CNN
Digitizing recovery: Microsoft launched an initiative to bring more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide to accelerate the pandemic economic recovery, Microsoft
Encouraging vaccine approval: Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for human trials, making it India’s first approved domestic candidate, Reuters

More Tips from Around the Water Cooler

Tips on retiring during the pandemic, Bloomberg
6 tips for managing employees so they don’t under-perform, Fast Company
A webinar series from Nature Careers to help scientists during the coronavirus pandemic, Nature
Use the lessons from this crisis to create a new normal where work doesn’t suck, Forbes
The long, unhappy history of working from home, The New York Times

Quotables

“The pandemic is already threatening the fulfillment of target targets under Agenda 2030. The pandemic highlights the urgent need for focused policy action to cushion its consequences, protect vulnerable populations, and improve countries' capacity to cope with similar future events."

- Ambassador T S Tirumurti, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations

"We need to prepare for a post-COVID world that is poorer, that is more dangerous and that is more disorderly. We have not seen the conflation of global economic and strategic uncertainty now being experienced in our region since the existential threat we faced when the global and regional order collapsed in the 1930s and 1940s.”

- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison

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.