News Update – Wednesday, November 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, November 17.

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

Business & Economic Impact

1. Global stocks surged to record highs after Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their coronavirus vaccine was 90% effective in trials, giving hope to economies, The Guardian

2. Britain could take 10 years to recover from the pandemic because the financial hit will reduce the power needed to rebuild for Brexit, advertising leader Martin Sorrell said, Reuters
3. China’s export growth accelerated 11.4% in October, boosting the total so far this year back above pre-coronavirus levels for the first time, Associated Press

Global Policy

1. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is planning to rebuild ties with longstanding allies and use those ties to coordinate international efforts to deal with COVID-19, The Wall Street Journal

2. The World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings scheduled to take place in Morocco in October 2021 will be postponed by until 2022 due to the pandemic, The World Bank
3. Taiwan said Chinese “obstruction” prevented it from attending a key WHO meeting on the coronavirus, accusing the global body of prioritizing politics over health, The Japan Times

Control Measures

1. After experiencing a prolonged rise in infections, Greece entered a three-week nationwide lockdown to get the virus under control before the December holiday season, Bloomberg

2. Chinese experts stressed the important role that education and ensuring the public have an understanding of control measures play in combating the virus, South China Morning Post
3. The UK has suspended its one-to-one nursing policy for critically ill COVID-19 patients as hospitals are no longer able to keep up with the rate of admissions, The Guardian

Worth Noting

1. The CDC stated that masks protect the wearer, an update to guidance originally suggesting the benefit of masks was to prevent people from spreading the virus, CNN

2. The decision to kill millions of mink in Denmark highlighted scientists concerns that the virus could mutate in animals and become more dangerous to humans, The New York Times
3. AstraZeneca has made a deal with the Argentinian government to deliver 22 million doses of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine to Argentina with deliveries in 2021, Reuters

Stay Ahead: Insights from APCO

After the Pandemic: The New Frontier of Travel and Hospitality

We partnered with the Diplomatic Courier to create a “bookazine” on the impact of COVID-19 on the travel and tourism industry. With contributions from around the world, we look at how the industry is coping with the crisis and working to come back stronger in the future. Start with this article by Margery Kraus and get the whole volume here:

"In this edition, experts from APCO Worldwide and their network take on an array of questions. COVID-19 itself is a daunting challenge, but so are the variety of national policy responses and the need to allay customer anxieties about travel and conditions at destinations.

These experts explore technological approaches—how does industry use digital technology to make things safer—and also query what kind of policies governments can take on to encourage safe travel. This is particularly critical when we consider how many national economies rely on tourism for a significant chunk of their GDP.

The good news amid all of this is that destinations around the world have found ways not only to make travel safe, but to address concerns of travelers who rightly want to safeguard their health as they venture back out into the world."

The COVID-19 Pandemic: A New Public-Private Balance

Claudia Trivilino, a senior consultant based in APCO Worldwide’s Rome office, discusses the importance of a public-private partnership to fight the COVID-19 pandemic:

"The COVID-19 pandemic has had similar short-term impacts on national economies—suffering from shortages in the healthcare system as well as growing unemployment and poverty gap. However, long-term effects differ from country to country: a sudden “great distraction” from other concerns led to a moment of “great reflection” upon addressing pressing outstanding and new priorities.

Failures and successes tested the governments’ past investments on essential services, and showcased current issues and shortcomings. Nevertheless, the emergency triggered different national reactions and considerations, shedding the light on new public policy problems or pushing old ones back to the top of the agenda."

Some Positive News

Gone but not forgotten: Queen Elizabeth II led socially distanced services in the UK to commemorate those who gave their lives during the World Wars while the general public found ways to join in from their doorsteps, BBC
Recovery for women and minorities: Data from the U.S. Labor Department shows that the unemployment rate for women and minorities, groups hardest hit by the pandemic, reduced during October, Bloomberg
Pandemic pet boom: Pet merchandise is expected to be one of the top gift-giving categories this holiday season, with people planning to spend an average of $90, according to a survey by consulting firm Deloitte, CNBC

More Tips from Around the Water Cooler

Build mental endurance like a pro, The New York Times
Lockdown 2: A remote work how-to guide for leaders, Financial Times
Don’t get blindsided by your blind spots, Harvard Business Review
Working through the death of a colleague, Harvard Business Review

Quotables

“We cannot allow the fight against one deadly disease to cause us to lose ground in the fight against other diseases. Addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic is critical. However, other deadly diseases also threaten the lives of millions of children in some of the poorest areas of the world. That is why today we are urgently calling for global action from country leaders, donors and partners. We need additional financial resources to safely resume vaccination campaigns and prioritize immunization systems that are critical to protect children and avert other epidemics besides COVID-19.”

- Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director

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.