News Update – Tuesday, October 27, 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 10.

APCO Worldwide's North America offices will be closed on Tuesday, November 3 to allow employees the time to vote in the U.S. elections. APCO Worldwide joined the nonpartisan, business-led initiatives "Time to Vote" and "Day On" to help ensure employees across the United States don’t have to choose between voting and earning a paycheck and can continue to advocate for progress beyond Election Day.

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

Business & Economic Impact

1. Economic activity in the United States grew at the fastest pace in more than a year as businesses anticipated an easing of coronavirus restrictions, The Wall Street Journal

2. The Bank of Japan warned that if the COVID-19 downturn is prolonged, Japan will face rising defaults that may threaten the country's financial system, Financial Times
3. Latin American GDP growth is expected to contract by 8.1% in 2020 over restrictions impacting many jobs requiring close physical proximity, World Economic Forum

Global Policy

1. China’s leaders began a four-day meeting to define policy goals to boost the economy’s self-reliance amid diplomatic tensions and the coronavirus crisis, The Guardian

2. The Council of the EU will reduce physical expert meetings "to the absolute minimum" and limit videoconferences to "priority topics" in response to rising coronavirus case, POLITICO
3. With the United States presidential election approaching, countries are watching the race to determine what the outcome will mean as the pandemic continues, NBC News

Control Measures

1. The Spanish government declared a new state of emergency and imposed a nationwide curfew in an effort to control the latest spike in coronavirus infections, POLITICO

2. To increase compliance rates, the United Kingdom will reduce the self-isolation period to seven or ten days for those in contact with a positive coronavirus case, Financial Times
3. Hit hard by the second wave of COVID-19 infections, Slovakia is asking every resident older than 10 to get tested twice before November 8, The Wall Street Journal

Worth Noting

1. Emotional upheaval, financial distress, and the rupture of regular support networks caused by the pandemic has left people vulnerable to scams, increasing global fraud, Bloomberg

2. The recession caused by COVID-19 forced many to dip into retirement savings or reduce pension contributions, weakening global pension systems, South China Morning Post
3. The high job loss rate by women due to COVID-19 shows that the poor representation of women in the Japanese workforce is not due to them choosing to ‘opt-out’, The Japan Times

Stay Ahead: Insights from APCO

APCO’s Reset Indicator: Comparing Public Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Around the World

APCO is tracking attitudes and behaviors related to COVID-19 in a series of polls. The latest installment, from polling conducted October 6-7, 2020, included research from around the world on coronavirus recovery. The APCO Reset Indicator monitors global public attitudes and behaviors as the world responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest study in our series tracks views of Americans and adds perspectives from Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Singapore and India. For more on APCO’s research, follow us on Twitter, and read the full report on our blog.

"According to the APCO Worldwide global poll of 900 adults, most believe they are still amidst the crisis or are soon returning to it. Yet, as individuals, they are generally optimistic about their standings, including mental and physical health, personal finances and privacy, while they are simultaneously expecting more from leadership of their elected officials, and national and global economies. Notably, the public in Asia tend to be more optimistic than those in Europe and the United States. Despite the lingering uncertainties, healthcare providers remain far more likely to be seen as doing the right things in all the markets of our study."

EU Strategic Autonomy and Germany’s Corona Council Presidency

Christoph Mielke, a senior director, and Gregoire Zammit, associate consultant, at APCO Worldwide’s Brussels office discuss how Europe’s ‘strategic autonomy’ has received greater attention over the last months in light of the COVID-19 crisis:

"The COVID pandemic has been a sharp reminder of the EU’s dependence on third countries to satisfy an essential strategic need: public health. Plagued with issues of shortages, aggressive competition with the US and China over protective equipment and vaccines, the EU has now woken up to the reality of the post-crisis world.

The German-French power couple is expending significant resources on influencing the EU’s expanding role in health. While France seems focused on promoting the reshoring of essential medicines production, the German Presidency is keen on taking a broader approach. The upcoming pharmaceutical strategy, set to be published in December 2020, will be critical in developing strategic autonomy in the field of health."

Some Positive News

A new soundscape for cities: The reduction in noise pollution brought about by lockdowns and social distancing restrictions has made the sounds of nature more noticeable in cities, Bloomberg
Free meals for disadvantaged children: After the UK Parliament voted down a motion to fund free lunches for children over the holiday, communities are working to offer free lunches to families suffering financial hardship due to the pandemic, BBC
Dads taking on home responsibilities: Lockdown measures during the pandemic have pushed fathers to dial back their career ambitions and practice full-time parenting, The Wall Street Journal

More Tips from Around the Water Cooler

Digital hygiene in the Zoom era, The New York Times
4 ways to reconfigure your sales strategy during the pandemic, Harvard Business Review
COVID-19 accelerated the future of jobs. Here’s how to protect workers, The Japan Times
“Serious” leaders need self-care, too, Harvard Business Review

Quotables

“We will know whether a vaccine is safe and effective by the end of November or the beginning of December. The question is: once you have a safe and effective vaccine, or more than one, how can you get it to the people who need it as quickly as possible? The number of doses that will be available in December will certainly not be enough to vaccinate everyone. We will have to wait several months into 2021 before there are enough to go around. There will be a prioritization set so that individuals such as health workers will be vaccinated first along with those who are at an increased risk of developing complications from the virus.”

- Anthony S. Fauci, director, U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

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.