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, March 23.
Have a comment about this newsletter? We welcome your feedback.
Business & Economic Impact
1. Automakers in Europe and North America take production offline, spelling trouble for the global economy, CNET
2.Further pain for airlines as Delta predicts a $2 billion hit in March alone, CNBC 3.Market losses accelerating as the Dow falls below 20,000, oil hits lowest level in 18 years, The Wall Street Journal 4. COVID-19 the dominant theme in corporate earnings calls, MarketWatch 5. Tech companies still hiring despite mass lay-offs elsewhere, Financial Times 6. Japanese businesses wait as Tokyo 2020 decision looms, The New York Times
Global Policy
1. China likely to take a more conservative approach to stimulus versus 2009, Financial Times
2.U.S. Senate sends bill to ensure paid leave for Americans to Trump's desk, The Washington Post 3.Turkey unveils $15.4 billion stimulus package including tax cuts and increased pension payouts as COVID-19 infections rise,Bloomberg
4.Politicians 'underestimated' virus threat, European Commission president admits upon EU border closure, EURACTIV
5. Trump to boost medical supply production for COVID-19,Medical Healthcare
Control Measures
1. Canada and the U.S. agree to restrict non-essential travel across world's longest border, CBC News 2. More than 250 million EU citizens are affected by full or partial lockdowns, The Guardian
3. Singapore mandates 14-day home isolation for all returning travelers following spike in the number of new infections, Straits Times
4. WHO says India's response to COVID-19 thus far is impressive, World Economic Forum
5. UK schools to close from Friday as government shifts strategy to control COVID-19,BBC News
6. Australia, New Zealand to close borders to non-residents, Bloomberg
Events & Happenings
1. Euro 2020 contest planned to play across Europe postponed to next year, ESPN
2. The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands is canceled for the first time since 1956, BBC News 3. China gives go-ahead for human trials of potential COVID-19 vaccine: State media, Reuters 4. The WHO and 10 countries launch 'solidarity trial' to compare COVID-19 treatments, Business Insider 5. Roughly half of Americans do not trust traditional media to report on the coronavirus,Axios
COVID-19 STRIKES THE BALLOT BOX
With COVID-19 disrupting all aspects of daily life, elections around the world are the next to be impacted by the virus' spread. As public health measures increase, states have issued different responses to the coronavirus' impact on elections. In France, the second round of municipal elections was postponed to June, but it was maintained that Sunday's first round results will be honored. In the U.S., only three of seven scheduled presidential primaries went ahead, with Ohio issuing an order to postpone the primary just the night before polls opened. In Singapore, government officials have deliberated holding national elections, due to take place before April 2021, despite the pandemic. Meanwhile, a “mediocre” public demonstration in Bangkok last week shows the threat COVID-19 may hold for a meaningful pro-democracy movement in Thailand.
With COVID-19 impacting the way we work and interact with each other, the very nature of elections is also likely to change. If countries decide to go ahead with elections as scheduled, campaigns will continue to be forced to reach voters behind heightened public health measures. Citizens are very likely to engage with candidates almost entirely through news outlets and social media, increasing fears over misinformation. Meanwhile, elections could be won - and lost - by the 'coronavirus' question. Incumbent candidates are likely to be challenged on their handling of the public health crisis and economic measures to support businesses and families alike.
BORDER CLOSURES
The global spread of the COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in the unprecedented introduction of travel restrictions and border closures around the world. The European Union decided to close its external borders to most outsiders, just as the continent surpassed China in the total number of coronavirus cases and deaths. Nearly a dozen E.U. member states, most recently Germany, also chose to close their national borders, pausing the EU's principle of free movement within the Schengen Area. Canada and the U.S. also announced plans to restrict non-essential travel across the border. Border closures are also becoming a new normal elsewhere, from Argentina and Israel's decisions to ban all non-residents, Morocco's plans to halt all international travel, to India's suspension of nearly all travel visas.
Border closures are just one of many tools governments are adopting to aggressively control the spread of COVID-19. They also confirm the growing worries of public health officials that the pandemic's peak is not coming soon enough. While many border closures have explicitly avoided trade disruptions, businesses should prepare for further challenges across their supply chains and work flows for the coming year.
Stay Ahead: Insights from APCO
America Adapting: APCO Survey of U.S. Public Attitudes
On March 13, 2020, APCO conducted a second weekly wave of U.S. public opinion research to understand the effect of COVID-19 on people, businesses and institutions. APCO will continue to track Americans’ attitudes and behaviors related to COVID-19 over the coming weeks.
Millennial Americans are the most worried about contracting COVID-19, with younger and older generations expressing notably less concern.
56% of millennials (those aged 25 – 44) expressed their worried about contracting the virus.
29% of those under 25 years old said that they were “extremely” or “very” worried.
Only 24% of those 65 years old and over reported feeling these levels of concern.
emPOWER Outbreak 2020: Managing Your Response to COVID-19
To help clients manage crises related to COVID-19, APCO has developed emPOWER Outbreak 2020, which allows organizations to connect virtually from the safety of their offices and homes, play out scenarios online, evaluate decision-making and resources in real time, and come away with valuable insights that can translate immediately to protocol and actions.
America's fractured policies on paid sick leave are changing amid the coronavirus. Here's how the potential new laws could affect you, Business Insider
Disrupted and distanced: The latest advice on navigating coronavirus, NPR(podcast, 16 minutes)
The coronavirus pandemic in five powerful charts, Nature
After the White House's initial missteps, COVID-19 could reshape the global order as we know it, Foreign Affairs
Quotables
"Don’t assume your community won’t be affected. Prepare as if it will be. Don’t assume you won’t be infected. Prepare as if you will be. But there is hope. There are many things all countries can do."
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization Director-General
“Winston Churchill once said, 'If you are going through hell......KEEP GOING!' The challenge we have is not of the dimension he was forced to confront but that is exactly what we, all of us, are going to do: Keep going.”
- Nicholas Speeks, CEO, Mercedes-Benz USA
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 the 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.
