Category: Workplace Issues

Daily Briefing – 168

New York State COVID-19 Numbers and Cluster Initiative Update

• 20 hotspot zip codes: 3.70%
• Orange 10950: 3.51%
• Statewide: 1.12%
• Statewide excluding hotspots: 1.05%

• Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes)
• See Cluster Action Initiative website
• See the cluster maps
• Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)

Rapid Testing to Be Made Available for Every County in New York State

The State Department of Health will deploy an initial 400,000 rapid result test kits free of charge to local health departments, hospitals, pharmacies, and other health care providers to help increase access to free COVID-19 tests that can be done within 15 minutes and without having to send a specimen to a lab.

The rapid tests can be used to control new outbreaks, conduct surveillance testing, and will also be made available on a as needed basis to help schools in ‘yellow zones’ test students and staff as part of new requirements to monitor COVID-19 spread as part of the Governor’s Cluster Action Initiative.

Read the press release

Manufacturers: The Front-Line Defense Against COVID-19

Writing in IndustryWeek NAM CEO Jay Timmons and Carolyn Lee, CEO of the Manfuactuirn Institute write that “As the rate of COVID-19 cases ebbs and flows throughout the country, manufacturers have risen to the challenge in much the same way they did during WWII and other times of national crisis. Working day and night and over the weekends, they have helped us emerge from the early days of the pandemic by keeping shop floors open and making vital products, including the medical supplies and protective equipment people need to fight the coronavirus. Now manufacturing workers are spearheading our recovery, ensuring that the American economy reopens and generates prosperity. And we’ll need many, many more of them.”

“Throughout history, manufacturers have acted heroically—to protect our country and save lives. The pandemic was no exception, and manufacturing workers are a major reason why our country is on the road to renewal. If you’re ready to make a difference, pursue a career in manufacturing.”  

Read more at IndustryWeek

OSHA Refines COVID-19 Reporting Requirements

Jackson Lewis Attorneys report that on October 1, 2020, OSHA updated the FAQs again – this time taking a more reasonable approach. OSHA’s new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding its reporting and recordkeeping requirements and the conflicting state regulations create confusion for employers — and increase their chances of running afoul of enforcement efforts, say attorneys Gillian G. W. Egan and Cressinda D. Schlag of Council Associate Member Jackson Lewis.

In these most recent FAQs OSHA defines a “work-related incident” as “an exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in the workplace.” This is a significant and welcomed departure from OSHA’s previous position, which eliminated the work-relatedness determination altogether.

Read more at Jackson Lewis

Great Barrington Declaration

“As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection.”

Thus begins The Great Barrington Declaration, released last week by scientists who argue that most of us should return to our pre-COVID ways of life.  The declaration has generated a lot of attention and controversy. The cosigners represent a host of scientific disciplines such as public health, biostatistics, finance, and psychiatry. They include Michael Levitt, PhD, (who received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2013), Jonas Ludvigsson, MD, Angus Dalgleish, PhD, David Katz, PhD, and Mike Hulme, PhD.

• Read The Great Barrington Declaration
• Read the related story in Infection Control Today

Mid-Hudson Bridge Authority Traffic Off 16.55  Percent

In its August 2020 Traffic & Revenue Comparison Report the NYS Bridge Authority reported traffic on all bridges decreased by a total of 16.55 percent. There were just under one million fewer bridge crossings in the first eight months of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. There were over 4.8 million crossings this year, compared with 5.8 million last year.

The Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge had the biggest decline in traffic that with a loss of 18.05 percent. That was followed by the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, which lost 17.51 percent of its traffic. Traffic fell by 16.48 percent on the Mid-Hudson Bridge, by 15.94 percent on the Bear Mountain Bridge, and by 11.13 percent on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge.

Read more at Mid-Hudson News

Chinese Steel Production Drives Global Increase

Global steel output remained steady during August, with 156.2 million metric tons produced by 64 countries, about 0.9% more than during July and just 0.6% more than during August 2019. The World Steel Association, which tracks and reports monthly production in member nations, noted that many of the totals available for August represent estimates as a result of “ongoing difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic”.

However, the structure of the global industry is such that Chinese steel production is offsetting decreases and adjustments made in other nations dealing with the pandemic.

Read more in American Machinist

Trucker Pay Increasing as Driver Shortage Grows, Industry Capacity Tightens

Multiple trucking companies are giving drivers pay raises, thanks in part to increased income from customers willing to pay for fast service during the coronavirus pandemic. The higher pay may also help carriers recruit new drivers to replace older ones who have retired because of health concerns and to meet higher demand caused by the growth in e-commerce.

Read more at Transport Topics

The Council of Industry 2020 Compensation & Benefits Survey is Coming October 20th 

We are pleased to announce that the 2020 Council of Industry Compensation and Benefits Survey will be available for completion beginning October 20th. Your participation provides great insight for the Council of Industry, your company, as well as your peers. The survey is co-sponsored by Rose & Kiernan and Ethan Allen Workforce Solutions.
 
Here is some information to help you get ready

Daily Briefing – 167

New York State Cluster Action Initiative Update and COVID-19 Numbers

• 20 hotspot zip codes: 5.74%
• Orange 10950: 3.04%
• Statewide: 0.96%
• Statewide excluding hotspots: 0.84%
   
  • Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes)
  • See the state early warning dashboard
  • See the school districts dashboard 
  • See the SUNY Dashboard

NYS COVID-19 Cluster Initiative Takes Shape

The initiative divides clusters and the areas around them into three categories with successively higher restrictions within each one: Red Zone – cluster Itself; Orange Zone – warning zone; and Yellow Zone – precautionary zone. The enforcement of the zones went into effect between Wednesday, October 7 and Friday, October 9.

A chart on the Cluster Initiative website (link below) has a summary of restrictions but it is not exhaustive. For full details see Empire State Development’s Guidance Related to New York’s Cluster Action Initiative.

• See Cluster Action Initiative website
• See the cluster maps
• Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)

Initial Unemployment Claims At 840K

First-time unemployment claims edged downward to 840,000 last week but remained above the pre-pandemic peak. Continuing claims also dropped, but some of the decrease is attributed to the fact that some people have reached the maximum available through regular state programs.

Claims have been above 800,000 every week since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, leading to the shutdown of the U.S. economy. However, continuing claims again fell sharply, dropping by just over 1 million to 10.98 million, according to the Labor Department release. Continuing claims trail the headline weekly claims number by a week.

Read more at CNBC

SBA and Treasury Announce Simpler PPP Forgiveness for Loans of $50,000 or Less

The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, Friday released a simpler loan forgiveness application for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of $50,000 or less. This action streamlines the PPP forgiveness process to provide financial and administrative relief to America’s smallest businesses while also ensuring sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

“The PPP has provided 5.2 million loans worth $525 billion to American small businesses, providing critical economic relief and supporting more than 51 million jobs,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.  “We are committed to making the PPP forgiveness process as simple as possible while also protecting against fraud and misuse of funds.  We continue to favor additional legislation to further simplify the forgiveness process.”

• Click here to view the Interim Final Rule for loans of $50,000 or less.
• Click here to view the instructions for completing the simpler loan forgiveness application

Coronavirus Stimulus Talks at Impasse

The latest, beefed-up White House offer on a new coronavirus package hit resistance from both Democrats and Republicans over the weekend, deflating hopes that a bipartisan agreement was imminent.

Democrats criticized the nearly $1.9 trillion offer from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as insufficient, particularly in its funding and strategy for coronavirus testing and tracing. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, balked at the offer’s cost and its proposed expansion of the Affordable Care Act. The concerns from both sides of the Capitol lowered expectations that had risen Friday when President Trump approved the most generous GOP offer to date in the negotiations.

Read more in the WSJ

Airbus Adds Biz Jet Model to A220 Series

While commercial aviation struggles with diminished demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, private aviation is having a more visible recovery track. Airbus corporate jets president Benoit Defforge explained that private aviation has regained about 90% of its pre-pandemic rate of order volume.

The A220s are twin-engine, narrow-body jets for regional and medium-range service, with seating for 108 to 130 passengers. The new business jet variant will be designed for 18 passengers. The ACJ TwoTwenty is offered with a flexible cabin layout, according to the requirements of heavy and long-range business-jet operations.

Read more at American Machinist

Survey: 76% of Workers Want More Mental Health Support

A new study by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence reveals that 68% of those surveyed would prefer to talk to a robot over their manager regarding stress and anxiety at work. 76% of respondents believe that companies should be doing more to support their workers’ mental health.

The disintegration of boundaries between work and life due to remote work is being reported as the biggest driver of this dip in emotional well-being.  While many companies have started providing new-age benefits that address the emerging issues related to mental health, employees have higher expectations from their companies. Companies may believe that reimbursing counseling costs or covering mental health under insurance might be enough. Still, employees think there is scope for more intervention and technology utilization for their mental wellness.

Read more at ToolboxHR

What You Need to Know About Workplace COVID-19 Testing

Dr. Caesar Djavaherian of Carbon Health discusses types of coronavirus tests available to employers and best practices for maintaining safe workplaces. Djavaherian emphasizes the importance of prevention education, recommends implementing an employee daily symptom tracker — and identifies which symptoms to watch for — and explains why a positive result doesn’t necessarily mean a workplace must shut down.

Read more at Reset Work

Winners and Losers – The Pandemic Has Caused the World’s Economies to Diverge. A Series of Articles in the Economist Looks at the Trends and the Possibilities

In February the coronavirus pandemic struck the world economy with the biggest shock since the second world war. The crash was synchronized. As a recovery takes place, however, huge gaps between the performance of countries are opening up—which could yet recast the world’s economic order. By the end of next year, according to forecasts by the OECD, America’s economy will be the same size as it was in 2019 but China’s will be 10% larger. Europe will still languish beneath its pre-pandemic level of output and could do so for several years—a fate it may share with Japan, which is suffering a demographic squeeze.

It is not just the biggest economic blocs that are growing at different speeds. In the second quarter of this year, according to UBS, a bank, the distribution of growth rates across 50 economies was at its widest for at least 40 years.

Read more in The Economist

National Geographic COVID-19 Data Tracker

Nat. Geo. provides an interesting page with plenty of information and graphics to track the spread of COVID-19 – on page for the United States and another for Europe and the rest of the world. 

• See the data for the US
• See the data for Europe 

Daily Briefing – 166

COVID and Cluster Initiative Update – Record Number of Tests Conducted

145,811 COVID-19 test results were reported to New York State Wednesday and the state continues to track clusters with a particular focus on areas where there are hot spot, cluster situations. Within the top 20 ZIP codes in counties with recent outbreaks – Brooklyn, Queens, and Rockland and Orange Counties – the average rate of positive tests is 5.8 percent. The rate of positive tests for the remainder of New York State, not counting these 20 ZIP codes, is 1.01 percent. These 20 ZIP codes contained 23.2 percent of all positive cases in New York State yesterday, but represent only 6.2 percent of the state’s population.

Positivity rates:

• 20 hotspot zip codes: 5.8%
• Orange 10950: 10.1%
• Statewide: 1.26%
• Statewide excluding hotspots: 1.01%

The state has also developed an tool to see in an address in within a designated cluster.  

• Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes) 
• See the essential business guidance here.
• See the state early warning dashboard
• See the school districts dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard
• Hot spot address lookup tool

Trump: Talks on COVID-19 Aid are ‘Working Out’

Two days after calling off coronavirus relief talks with Democrats, President Trump did a full 180-degree turn and said Thursday that he was now negotiating a “bigger deal” than a narrowly focused package to rescue airlines. “I shut down talks two days ago because they weren’t working out. Now they’re starting to work out,” Trump said in the phone interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.

Two days after calling off coronavirus relief talks with Democrats, President Trump did a full 180-degree turn and said Thursday that he was now negotiating a “bigger deal” than a narrowly focused package to rescue airlines.

Pelosi and Mnuchin have been busy fighting for an eleventh-hour lifeline for the decimated airline industry. The pair spoke twice by phone on Wednesday, and were expected to talk again on Thursday.

Read more at The Hill

Minutes: Fed Worried By Lack of Stimulus But Economy Recovering Faster Than Expected

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 15–16 meeting show the body’s concern about the U.S. economy’s ability to withstand the COVID-19 crisis without relief from Congress.

In positive news, the minutes noted that the U.S. economic recovery was moving more quickly than anticipated.  Still, members of the Fed Open Market Committee worried that a lack of additional assistance would jeopardize the recovery and cause particular harm in minority and low-income communities. “Many participants noted that their economic outlook assumed additional fiscal support and that if future fiscal support was significantly smaller or arrived significantly later than they expected, the pace of the recovery could be slower than anticipated.” 

Read more at CNBC

NAM Global Economic Report: Seven of the Top 10 Exports Markets Expanded in September

The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI expanded in September at the fastest pace in 25 months, buoyed by recoveries in demand and strengthening in the outlook.  In September, seven  of the top 10 markets for U.S.-manufactured goods had expanding manufacturing sectors, up from six in August and just one (China) in May. As such, these major trading partners have continued to improve after plummeting in April to levels that were either the worst since the Great Recession or at record lows.

The World Trade Organization predicts that global trade volumes could fall 9.2% in 2020, an improvement from the previous estimate of a 12.9% decrease this year. WTO predicts that global trade should rebound, rising by 7.2% in 2021.

Global Manufacturing Economic Report 1008 2020

German Exports Rise on “Low-Hanging Fruits” of Recovery

The value of German goods exports rose by 2.4% month-on-month in August, the fourth consecutive month of growth after the covid-19 lockdowns decimated international trade. German exports were still down 10.2% compared with last August. Meanwhile, German imports surged 5.8% month-on-month in August, reducing the country’s trade surplus.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected exports and imports to both rise by 1.4%. The trade surplus was forecast at 18.2 billion euros.  “The export economy has been reaping the low-hanging fruits in recent months,” VP Bank economist Thomas Gitzel said, adding that subsequent months would be harder.

Read more at Reuters

PPG CEO: Manufacturing Is Critical to Economic Rebound

Writing in IndustryWeek PPG CEO Michael McGarry says that “The U.S. manufacturing sector has established itself as the backbone of economic stability and renewal amid times of crisis or downturn. It is important that candidates in this election, regardless of political affiliation, understand that a strong economic recovery is reliant on a durable manufacturing industry.”

He adds that infrastructure investment, workforce development, immigration reform and continuing a pro-growth tax policy are the keys to ensuring growth in manufacturing. 

Read more in IndustryWeek

Health Benefit Costs Seen Rising 8.1% in 2021

Employer-sponsored health care benefit costs are expected to increase more than 8% globally next year as workers get treatment they had deferred due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Willis Towers Watson report. The consulting firm’s 2021 Global Medical Trends Survey found medical insurers project growth in benefit costs will slow this year to 5.9% after a 7.2% gain in 2019.

But for 2021, they forecast 8.1% growth, with North America gaining 7.1% after a 2.8% increase in 2020. The study also found that 67% of respondents expect medical costs will continue to accelerate over the next three years.

Read more at CFO

Airports Consider Pre-Flight COVID-19 Testing

Airports are working to offer pre-flight COVID-19 testing to prevent passengers from facing cumbersome quarantine orders when they arrive at their destination.

Hawaiian Airlines, for example, is offering $150 at-home saliva tests for passengers to take before flights and a range of airports are opening testing centers that offer 15-minute results (with others offering 48-hour results for more accuracy).  The goal isn’t only to help people fly without quarantining; it’s also to promote confidence in air travel itself. 

Read more in the WSJ

Daily Briefing – 162

Cuomo: State Will Up Enforcement In “Hot” Zip Codes

The Governor issued a press release Sunday announcing New York State will increase enforcement in zip codes with high positivity rates (hotspots). The new enforcement effort will fine and potentially close local businesses found to be out of compliance. This effort is modelled on the State Liquor Authority and State Police Task Force that has been enforcing State guidance at bars and restaurants. Infection rates:

• 20 hotspot zip codes: 4.8%
• orange County Zip 10950: 13.7 (3 day average is 21.2%)
• Statewide: 1.10%
• Statewide excluding hotspots: 0.91%

Use these helpful tools. 

• Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes with percent positives) 
• See the early warning dashboard
• The School districts dashboard 
• Here is the SUNY Dashboard

President Trump Received Regeneron Experimental Antibody Treatment

President Trump has received a dose of an experimental antibody cocktail being developed by the Hudson Valley drug maker Regeneron, in addition to several other drugs, including zinc, vitamin D and the generic version of the heartburn treatment Pepcid, according to a letter from his doctor that was released by the White House Friday afternoon.

There are no approved treatments for Covid-19, but the Regeneron treatment is one of the most promising candidates, along with another antibody treatment developed by Eli Lilly. Both are being tested in patients around the country. Initial results have suggested that they can reduce the level of the virus in the body and possibly shorten hospital stays — when they are given early in the course of infection.

Read more in the New York Times (subscription)

U.S. Economy Plunged 31.4% in Q2 But a Big Rebound is Expected

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services, fell at a rate of 31.4% in the April-June quarter, only slightly changed from the 31.7% drop estimated one month ago.  Economists believe the economy will expand at an annual rate of 30% in the current quarter as businesses have re-opened and millions of people have gone back to work. That would shatter the old record for a quarterly GDP increase, a 16.7% surge in the first quarter of 1950 when Harry Truman was president.

The government will not release its July-September GDP report until Oct. 29, just five days before the presidential election.

Read more at CNBC

New York State’s Second Quarter Economic Crash Was the Worst on Record, Well Above National Average

Seasonally adjusted at annual rates, New York State’s second-quarter GDP crashed 36.3 percent—easily the biggest drop on record, among the biggest decreases in any state, and considerably worse than the 31.4 percent decrease in national GDP during the same period, according to BEA estimates released today. New York’s economic performance ranked 44th out of 50 states.

The new GDP figures also included an adjustment to the annual state GDP estimates for 2019. New York’s GDP increase for last year was adjusted slightly downward, to 1.6 percent, compared to a national GDP growth of 2.2 percent. This ranked New York in the middle of the pack among the 50 states.

Read more at the Empire Center

Consumer Spending Rose in August, but Incomes Pose Hurdle for U.S. Recovery

The Commerce Department said that household income—what people receive in wages, investments and government benefits—fell by 2.7% in August from the previous month because emergency unemployment payouts came to an end. Consumer spending continued to grow (see main stories), but at a slower rate, which could dampen the country’s economic recovery.

Read more at the WSJ

Jobs Report Shows Fewer Hires as Recovery Loses Momentum

Nonfarm payrolls rose by a lower than expected 661,000 in September and the unemployment rate was 7.9%, the Labor Department said Friday in the final jobs report before the November election.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a payrolls gain of 800,000 and the unemployment rate to fall to 8.2% from 8.4% in August. The payrolls miss was due largely to a drop in government hiring as at-home schooling continued and Census jobs fell.

Read more at CNBC

Jackson Lewis: OSHA COVID-19 Enforcement on the Rise

OSHA began opening many COVID-19 inspections in April 2020, and it has six months in which to issue citations. The ending of OSHA inspections in these cases and OSHA’s inclination toward issuing citations means that all employers, particularly those in the healthcare, personal care, and residential and group living spaces, should be prepared for possible citations.

To date, federal OSHA and its state counterparts have issued citations related to the selection of respirators, medical evaluations, and fit testing, as well as recording-and-reporting violations, and even under the general duty clause for failure to follow industry guidance on COVID-19-related precautions, such as social distancing.

Read more at Jackson Lewis

OSHA Issues Additional COVID-19 FAQs

OSHA’s new FAQs provide information to help employers apply the agency’s existing injury and illness recording and reporting requirements to the coronavirus. In particular, the FAQs provide guidance on how to calculate reporting deadlines for in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities and clarify the meaning of the term “incident” as it relates to work-related coronavirus in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities.

.These FAQs are the latest effort by OSHA to provide employers and employees with more information about how it will enforce its standards and regulations during the pandemic. 

• Read the FAQs
• Read more at EHS Today

DHS Announces Relaxing Travel Restrictions to U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is making it a little easier for some foreign nationals to fly to the United States by lifting certain restrictions in place following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the restrictions, any airplanes carrying passengers who had recently travelled to or had been present in China, Iran, the 26 countries in the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Brazil but were exempt or received waivers to enter the U.S. were required to land at a limited number of U.S. airports. At those designated airports, there were public health resources for conducting enhanced entry screening. Now, those restrictions have been lifted. This change should make it easier for covered travelers, as they will have more flights, more airlines, and more U.S. arrival destinations to choose from for international travel.

Read more at Jackson Lewis

Deeper Dive From The Economist – Will COVID-9 Kill Globalization?

Covid-19 has been the third major disruption to globalisation within the past twelve years. The pandemic will not kill globalization off, but it will deepen the cracks.  The Economist offers a brief history of modern globlaization and the impacts of COVID-19.

Watch the 15 minute film

Daily Briefing – 159

NYS Update: Changes to Restricted States, Cuomo to Meet with Orthodox Leaders Regarding “Hot Spot” Zip Codes

Governor Cuomo announced yesterday that he will meet with Orthodox Jewish leaders to address COVID-19 clusters in communities downstate.

The governor also announced that Colorado has been added to New York State’s COVID-19 travel advisory. Arizona and Virginia have been removed. The advisory requires individuals who have traveled to New York from areas with significant community spread to quarantine for 14 days.

• Read the press release (it includes the “hot spot zip codes”
• See the Restricted States
• Visit the early warning Covid dashboard

McKinsey: Time to Think Beyond COVID-19

Reach back to your company’s 2019 performance trajectory and start planning for a return to normal economic conditions for 2022, argues this McKinsey analysis. The coronavirus remains a threat, of course, but excess deaths are down, and the economic and operational upheaval caused by the pandemic is relatively well-understood, the authors write.

Read the full story from McKinsey

GM Announces $71 Million Investment at Ohio Plants

The investments, which GM said would help it retain 240 jobs, include $39 million at the company’s Toledo transmission plant and $32 million at its Defiance casting plant, according to an announcement from the company. 

“The Toledo investment will be used to upgrade and enhance the production of GM’s eight-speed rear-wheel-drive transmission and the Defiance investment will be used to prepare the facility for future engine casting components work,” the company said.

Read more at the Detroit Free Press

Pelosi and Mnuchin Discuss Possible Coronavirus Aid

The two spoke for 50 minutes, one day after House Democrats unveiled a new, less-expensive version of their previous aid package, which shaved the price tag to $2.2 trillion, down from $3.5 trillion. Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Mnuchin, who also spoke Monday night, agreed to talk again Wednesday, Mrs. Pelosi’s spokesman said on Twitter.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Tuesday morning that he had spoken with Mr. Mnuchin, along with President Trump. “So hopefully we’ll make some progress and find a solution for the American people,” Mr. Meadows told reporters.

Read more at the WSJ

Companies Prepare for COVID-19 “Take-Home” Lawsuits

U.S. businesses with COVID-19 outbreaks are facing an emerging legal threat from claims that workers brought coronavirus home and infected relatives, which one risk analysis firm said could cost employers billions of dollars.

Between 7% and 9% of the roughly 200,000 U.S. COVID-19 deaths so far are believed to stem from take-home infections.  Attorneys for both plaintiffs and companies said successful cases require a strong “causal chain” linking the sick family member to the worker and then to the business and the business’s alleged failure to adopt safety measures.

Read more at Reuters

Contact Tracing: What Employers Should Know

Contract tracing in the workplace could put employers in a legal bind because of confidentiality rules, warns attorney Susan Kline. Kline advises employers to establish a contract-tracing policy, to never disclose names of employees who test positive, and to ensure those in contact-tracing roles are trained to sensitively deal with employees.

Read the full story at Human Resource Executive

COVID-19 Vaccine Prospects That Have Made it to Phase Three trials and Beyond

More than 150 coronavirus vaccines are in development across the world—and hopes are high to bring one to market in record time to ease the global crisis. Several efforts are underway to help make that possible, including the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed initiative, which has pledged $10 billion and aims to develop and deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by January 2021. The World Health Organization is also coordinating global efforts to develop a vaccine, with an eye toward delivering two billion doses by the end of 2021.

Though it’s too soon to say which candidates will ultimately be successful, here’s a look at the prospects that have reached phase three and beyond—including a quick primer on how they work and where they stand.

Read more at National Geographic

NAM Works to Provide Recommendations on Ventilation Strategies

The NAM is working with the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Manufacturing Sector Council to offer recommendations to companies on ventilation strategies to reduce the risk of COVID-19 at the workplace. If your company has updated its industrial or HVAC systems or is using outdoor air to reduce the spread, NAM wants to hear from you and highlight your story. 

To share your story email Drew Schneider 

CMS Issues Urgent Call to Action Following Drastic Decline in Care for Children Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released preliminary Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) data revealing that, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency, rates for vaccinations, primary, and preventive services among children in Medicaid and CHIP have steeply declined. This decline may have significant impacts on long-term health outcomes for children, as Medicaid and CHIP cover nearly 40 million children, including three quarters of children living in poverty and many with special health care needs that require health services.

Read the press release 

NAM’s Timmons: Manufacturers Worried About Coronavirus’ Long-Term Impact

On Monday NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons was a guest with Neil Cavuto on Fox Business discuss concerns over the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the U.S. economy and the 2020 presidential election as well as workforce development and manufacturing day.

Watch on Fox Business

Daily Briefing – 158

Cuomo: State Looking Into Covid-19 Spread in Brooklyn, Mid-Hudson Region

State health officials are looking into Covid-19 clusters in Brooklyn, Rockland County and Orange County that led to a slight uptick in the state’s overall coronavirus infection rate this weekend, Gov. Cuomo said Monday.  After weeks of seeing a positivity rate of about 1 percent, Cuomo said recent outbreaks in Brooklyn, the Mid-Hudson region and the Southern Tier pushed the state’s infection rate up to 1.5 percent as of Sunday.

In the Governor’s press release yesterday afternoon he provided an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Sunday, September 27th. The State’s infection rate increased to 1.5 percent. This uptick has been traced to ten zip codes with high infection rates, which accounted for 27% of positive COVID-19 test results. The State is deploying rapid testing equipment to high infection areas. Governor Cuomo noted that outside the top 20 zip codes for new coronavirus cases, the infection rate in the rest of the state remains at one percent.

Read the press release and see which zip codes saw the uptick

Manufacturing Mutterings: Council of Industry Podcast With Lt. Governor Kathleen Hochul

Council of Industry President Harold King talks with the Lt. Governor about her role as the head of the State’s Regional Economic Development Councils and Workforce Development Initiative as well as how she came to appreciate manufacturing and recognize its economic significance, the challenges we face rebuilding the economy in a COVID-19 world, apprenticeship, workforce development, business climate and more. 

Listen Here

Pelosi Believes Coronavirus Stimulus Deal Still Possible 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said another coronavirus stimulus plan is possible as House Democrats try to forge ahead on a smaller aid package costing about $2.4 trillion, roughly $1 trillion less than their initial proposal but more than what the Trump administration has signaled it will accept. 

The chamber could vote on the bill as soon as next week. Pelosi, facing growing pressure from moderate Democrats, has tried to convince Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to increase the administration’s $1.3 trillion offer by an additional $1 trillion. However, Mnuchin signaled earlier this month that the administration would not approve a plan that was larger than $1.5 trillion.

Read more at CNBC

China’s Yuan Is Riding High as Economy Recovers, Foreign Investors Pump In Money

The yuan is closing out its strongest quarter against the dollar in more than a decade, boosted by optimism over China’s economic outlook and by the country’s comparatively high interest rates.

From the start of July through Friday’s close, the yuan has strengthened 3.7% against the dollar. That puts the yuan on track for its biggest quarterly gain since early 2008, FactSet data shows. The only other bigger quarterly gains on record are from the 1970s and 1980s, long before China began reforming its currency market in 1994. 

Read more in the WSJ

NAM Manufacturing Economy Report – Core Capital Goods, Manufacturing PMI, Housing, Jobs and More

New orders for durable goods rose 0.4% in August, extending the 11.7% gain in July and rising for the fourth straight month despite growing well below the consensus estimate of around 1.5%. Overall, the durable goods manufacturing sector has continued to rebound from steep declines in March and April due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but current activity remains off 4.6% from the pace in August 2019.

Despite the slower-than-expected headline number for durable goods, nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft (or “core capital goods”)—a proxy for capital spending in the U.S. economy—rose 1.8% to the highest level since July 2018 and increased 2.8% year-over-year.

Monday Economic Report 2020-0928

Eurozone PMI – Business Activity Stagnates, Manufacturing a Bright Spot

Business activity stalled across the eurozone in September, albeit with increasingly divergent trends by sector and country. Faster growth of manufacturing, led by Germany, was offset by a renewed downturn in the service sector, which was often linked to resurgent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection rates. A net loss of jobs continued to be reported, though the rate of payroll reduction eased, notably in manufacturing, thanks in part to improved future expectations. Price pressures meanwhile moderated during the month.

Manufacturing output growth accelerated in September to the fastest since February 2018, fueled by the largest rise in new orders seen over this period. 

Read more at IHS Markit Flash

Forecast: US auto sales to rise 3.3% in September

J.D. Power and LMC Automotive forecast a 3.3% increase in US auto sales in September on a month-over-month basis. With the expected September growth, fueled in part by the Labor Day holiday, annual sales are forecast at 15.7 million vehicles, an increase of 500,000 vehicles from seasonally adjusted annual sales pace last month.

Read more at Reuters

Consumers Expect Modest Increase in Spending Growth and Continued Government Support

The New York Fed’s Center for Microeconomic Data released its August 2020 SCE Household Spending Survey and SCE Public Policy Survey. The authors highlight the key takeaways from the data releases regarding the evolution of households’ spending and public policy expectations.

See the post and the results

This Friday- Broadcasting Live From Stanfordville Machine, Mfg Day 2020

WKIP’s Hudson Valley Focus Live will be broadcasting live the morning of October 2nd from Stanfordville Machine, Victory Lane in Poughkeepsie.

Hosted as always by Tom Sipos, guests will include Stanfordville CEO Neal Johnsen, the Council of Industry’s Johnnieanne Hansen and Harold King, and many other manufacturers, educators and economic development professionals.

Tune in at WKIP or with the iHeart Radio App

Daily Briefing – 157

Cuomo:  Percent Positive Just Over One Percent – Mid Hudson Region Higher

The Governor issued a press release Sunday providing an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Saturday, September 26th. The percentage of tests returning positive remained relatively flat at 1.02 percent.

Notably the Mid-Hudson Region has seen and increase in the percentage of people testing positive. 

• Read the press release
• Visit the early warning dashboard

What Can Government Do to Strengthen US Manufacturing?

To explore these and other policy proposals that would impact manufacturing for years to come, the Manufacturing Policy Initiative (MPI) at Indiana University and the Hudson Institute have organized a series of virtual policy discussions during Manufacturing Week, September 28 – October 2, 2020. The series will conclude on Manufacturing Day, Friday, October 2, with a live event at noon (EDT) featuring spokespeople for presidential candidates Donald Trump (Republican Party), Joe Biden (Democratic Party), and Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian Party).

Read more about the discussions and how you can join in at IndustryWeek

Commerce Department: Core Capital Goods Orders Rise in August

The Commerce Department reported a 0.4% gain in durable goods orders in August, with a 1.8% gain for capital goods excluding aircraft and defense. July’s figure for capital goods excluding aircraft and defense was revised upward from 1.9% to 2.5%.

Read more at Reuters

Manufacturers Repurpose LIDAR for Remote Sensing During COVID-19

For manufacturers, there is no remote work option. In the face of COVID-19, they need to take extra precautions, including remote temperature sensing.  As the global pandemic continues, some manufacturers are realizing they can repurpose their 3D LIDAR systems—now used for security or product tracking—to monitor employee distancing and behavior, said Justin Bean, global marketing director for Lumada Video Insights at Hitachi Vantara, which produces manufacturing software.

LIDAR, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote-sensing method that measures distances between objects through the use of pulsed laser light. The systems help autonomous vehicles maneuver. They’re used in airports to monitor the flow of passengers in real-time, and by manufacturers to monitor supply chains, said Flood. He spoke via the web at Geo Week, held in April.

Read More at ASME

Employers Expanding Wellness Benefits to Address COVID Concerns, Expect Health Benefits Costs to Increase More than 5%

Large employers plan to expand virtual care offered to employees next year as well as double down on mental health and emotional well-being as they continue to address the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an annual survey by Business Group on Health.

Employers project health benefits costs will rise by more than 5% in 2021 although the pandemic’s impact is fueling uncertainty about overall costs. According to the 2021 Large Employers’ Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey, the total cost of health benefits is expected to rise 5.3% in 2021, taking cost management initiatives into account. The total cost is projected to rise to an average of just over $15,500 in 2021. In line with recent years, employers will cover nearly 70% of costs while employees will bear about 30%, or nearly $4,700.

• Read more at EHS Today
• See the full survey

The Pandemic Imperils Working Mothers’ Careers

Flexible scheduling has become a common practice at most companies as the pandemic drags on, keeping physical schools and day care centers closed in many parts of the country. Employers are authorizing workers to create work schedules that will permit them to fulfill their job responsibilities while addressing family needs. Study after study shows, however, that women are shouldering more of the domestic and child care responsibilities. That means they’re on a virtual high-wire act that requires getting up early in the morning and going to bed late at night to complete the work they’re paid for so they can tend to their children during the day.

The resulting exhaustion has led many women to quit or scale back their hours. Those who don’t have that option—such as single mothers—worry about their job performance and how it may affect their career paths. 

Read more from SRRM

Top U.S. Health Officials Reassure on Future Coronavirus Vaccine Safety 

“In the end, FDA will not authorize or approve a vaccine that we would not feel comfortable giving to our families,” Hahn told lawmakers during a Senate hearing on the coronavirus Wednesday. Dr. Fauci, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Adm. Brett Giroir, an assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, joined Hahn and told lawmakers they would take an FDA-approved coronavirus vaccine once it’s available. 

There are four vaccine candidates from Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson that are now in late-stage human trials. On Wednesday, HHS Secretary Alex Azar told CNBC that the FDA commissioner, President Donald Trump and the heads of each company have “made it clear” that a vaccine’s approval is “going to be by the book based on science, data and the law.”

Read more at CNBC

New York State Vaccine Advisor Task Force Announced

Governor Cuomo announced yesterday the formation of an independent Clinical Advisory Task Force of leading scientists, doctors, and health experts who will review COVID-19 vaccines authorized by the Federal Government, and will advise New York State on the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness:

• Prioritization of vaccine recipients based solely on clinical guidance
• Distribution network capable of providing two doses of vaccine to all New Yorkers
• Qualified professionals and organizations to administer the vaccine
• Data and IT infrastructure for scheduling appointments and tracking program metrics
• Public education regarding vaccination program
• Procurement of necessary supplies and equipment

Read the press release

America’s Economy is Recovering Faster than Expected

The upgrades in America can be attributed to three factors. First, the spread of the coronavirus in the southern “sunbelt states”, which rode a wave of the epidemic in the summer, has slowed. Second, America’s economic stimulus, the world’s largest both in absolute terms and as a proportion of GDP, has been potent.

The final reason behind the forecast revisions is probably America’s flexible labour market. The fall in unemployment in recent months seems to reflect mainly the creation of more new jobs, rather than the departure of discouraged workers from the workforce. In Europe governments have tended to assume much of the payroll cost for furloughed workers. Such schemes are handy in a tight spot. But if prolonged, they could keep workers in jobs that are never coming back. America, in contrast, has mainly protected people’s incomes with unemployment benefits. As a result the reallocation of labour from dying industries to up-and-coming ones is happening at speed. For example, the number of travel agents has fallen by 10% since April, even as overall employment has risen. Employment in general-merchandise shops is 6% higher than before the pandemic.

Read more and see the charts at The Economist

Grim Milestone – One Million Deaths But Some Things are Improving, And it Will Not Go on Forever

The Economist takes a long look at the numbers as the world looks set to see its millionth officially recorded death from covid-19 before the beginning of October. That is more than the World Health Organization recorded as having died from malaria (620,000), suicide (794,000) or hiv/aids (954,000) over the whole of 2017, the most recent year for which figures are available. 

Those deaths represent just over 3% of the recorded covid-19 cases, which now number over 32m. That tally is itself an underestimate of the number who have actually been infected by sars–cov-2, the virus which causes covid 19. Many of the infected do not get sick. Many who do are never seen by any health system.

Read more at the Economist (Covid 19 coverage remains free)

Daily Briefing – 156

FDA Approves Upstate Medical and Quadrant Biosciences’ COVID-19 Saliva Swab Test

Governor Cuomo and State University of New York Chancellor  Malatras yesterday announced that the individual saliva swab diagnostic test for COVID-19 developed by SUNY Upstate Medical University and Quadrant Biosciences has been granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While this test has been used to date to support SUNY’s widespread testing of students across campuses, the emergency use authorization will help additional labs begin to use this test, helping pinpoint and contain the virus and protect New Yorkers.

The saliva test for individuals complements Upstate Medical’s and Quadrant’s innovative pool testing, which allows for about 10 to 25 people to be screened in one COVID-19 test. The test’s approval by the FDA means it can be brought to scale across New York State as well as used nationwide.

The Governor also reported that positive tests results remain below one percent.

• Read the testing press release
• Read the Covid update press release

Weekly Jobless Claims Rise 

The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial jobless claims for the week ending Sept. 19 came in at 870,000, adjusted for seasonal fluctuations. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected first-time claims at 850,000, down slightly from the previous week’s 860,000.

Without the adjustment, about 825,000 people filed last week, up from the previous week’s 796,000. More than 6 million people a week filed during the peak of the layoffs in the spring, when Congress approved $600 a week in supplemental benefits. The supplemental benefits expired this summer.

“Bottom line, we have a mix of people going back to work because they are now greater incentivized to do so without the extra $600 per week and those that are still challenged in finding a job that matches their skills in this unfortunate pandemic landscape,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group.

Read more at CNBC

UK Unveils Job Support Scheme  – Focus on “Viable” Jobs

British finance minister Rishi Sunak announced a new jobs support scheme on Thursday that would help firms employ people on shorter hours, but warned he could not save every business or job.

“The government will directly support the wages of people in work, giving businesses who face depressed demand the option of keeping employees in a job on shorter hours, rather than making them redundant,” Sunak told parliament. Sunak said the scheme would run for six months, starting in November and be open to all small and medium sized enterprises. “It will support viable jobs to make sure that employees must work at least a third of their normal hours and be paid for that work as normal by their employer,” he added.

Read more at Reuters

Workplace Safety, Hazard Prevention, and Premium Pay During COVID-19 Pandemic

Jackson Lewis Attorneys write that Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, workplace safety and hazard prevention are more important than ever for manufacturers and other employers of essential employees. Besides the benefits of keeping their workers safe, manufacturers that maintain safe workplaces generally benefit from strong grounds for resisting demands for premium or “hazard” pay during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more at Jackson Lewis

NAM: 60 Covid Policy Wins for Manufacturers

When the history of COVID-19 is written, it will probably confirm that this was the greatest mobilization of manufacturing power since World War II. From food to ventilators to the vaccines themselves, manufacturers are making the products that keep Americans safe, comfortable and hopeful. And they’ve done it all while contending with an economic crash, a raft of new regulations and new safety procedures that had to be implemented at top speed.

These extraordinary demands on manufacturers call for an unprecedented degree of policy support, and the NAM is making sure they get it.  NAM Senior Vice President of Policy and Government Relations Aric Newhouse talks about the NAM’s work over the past six months.

Here are the wins

How to Prevent New Hires from Backing Out of Onsite Work During a Pandemic

You have open positions you need to fill. For this particular position, you require the person to work onsite. You go through the applicant screening process, choose a finalist, and make an offer. The candidate accepts your offer, then declares he or she isn’t ready to come into the workplace.

There are steps you can take that will likely significantly reduce the number of applicants who aren’t willing or able to meet the demands of the position. This saves you both the time and hassle of going through the screening process.

Learn more at EHS Today

COVID-19 Delays Employment Authorization Documents

Issuance of certain Employment Authorization Documents (Form I-766, EADs) may be delayed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. To complete Form I-9, new employees who are waiting for their EAD and current employees who require reverification may present certain Forms I-797, Notice of Action, as a List C #7 document issued by the Department of Homeland Security that establishes employment eligibility, even though the notice states it is not evidence of employment authorization. 

For the notice to be acceptable, it must include a Notice Date from Dec. 1, 2019, through and including Aug. 20, 2020, and indicate that USCIS has approved the employee’s Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. Both new and current employees may present this notice to complete Form I-9 until Dec. 1, 2020. New employees will also need to present an acceptable List B identity document.

Read more at e-verify

EEOC Supplements Its Guidance on the Application of Disability Discrimination Laws to COVID-19 Issues

Bond Scheneck & King attorneys write that The COVID-19 pandemic has placed employers in a difficult position when it comes to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act. New protocols for maintaining workplace safety necessitate inquiries about employees’ health that present privacy pitfalls.  On September 8, 2020, the EEOC supplemented its existing FAQs to provide additional guidance on some of these issues. The full guidance, including the recent additions, is available here.

The most notable points from the September 8 additional guidance are summarized in this article.

Read the article at BSK

Daily Briefing – 155

Executive Order Extending Moratorium On COVID-Related Commercial Evictions Until October 20

Commercial evictions will remain on hold in New York City at least through Oct. 20, following an executive order by Gov. Andrew Cuomo extending emergency coronavirus protections statewide. This marks the second time Cuomo has extended the respite for commercial tenants that was set to expire on Sunday. The order also applies to commercial mortgages. 

“Over the weekend I signed an executive order … which extends the executive order that says the business cannot be evicted from a space because they can’t pay the rent as a result of the pandemic,” Cuomo said during a press briefing on Monday. “That executive order extends until Oct. 20.” 

The New York state Office of Court Administration confirmed on Monday that eviction cases filed since March 17 remain subject to the ongoing suspension. 

Read more at Law360

Reminder:  SUNY and K-12 Monitoring Dashboard

Back on September 6th New York state launched an online dashboard to track COVID-19 tests in school districts. Districts are required to provide the State Department of Health with daily data on the number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus in each of their schools. They must also provide a link to the dashboard on their websites.  

In August the Governor and SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras announced the launch of a SUNY system-wide COVID-19 case tracker dashboard. The centralized dashboard provides real time, up-to-date information on COVID-19 cases, testing, and quarantine and isolation space availability across SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities to more efficiently monitor, respond to, and contain the virus.

• The School district dashboard will be here  beginning Wednesday, 9/9
• Here is the SUNY Dashboard

Fed and Treasury Call for Stimulus

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin credit the Cares Act with helping to build the recovery — yet their call on Congress to fill the economy’s remaining holes is not triggering action on Capitol Hill.

At a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Powell and Mnuchin said the lending programs run by the Fed and Treasury could only go so far and cannot replace targeted aid from Congress.  The economy has “proven resilient” since many Cares Act benefits expired over the summer, Powell said, but there are plenty of unknowns about where the economy is headed. For example, Powell said that savings are very high, raising the long-term risk that people will go through money stored away before they are able to go back to work. “So their spending will decline, their ability to stay in their homes will decline and so the economy will begin to feel those effects at some time,” Powell said.

Read more at the Washington Post 

Existing Home Sales Rise to 14 Year High

Sales of existing homes rose 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 10.5% higher compared with August 2019. This is the highest sales pace since December 2006, before the Great Recession.

IHS Surveys: U.S. Economy Continues Steady Recovery in September

U.S. service-sector and manufacturing companies reported solid growth in September, a positive signal for overall economic growth in the third quarter.

Data firm IHS Markit said Wednesday its composite Purchasing Managers Index for the U.S.—a measure of activity in the private sector—was 54.4 in September, down slightly from 54.6 in August. A reading above 50.0 indicates that activity is increasing, while a reading below points to a decline in activity.

Growth in the services sector slowed slightly to 54.6 in September from 55 in August, while in the manufacturing sector it accelerated to 53.5 from 53.1.

Read more at the WSJ

Immunity Discrimination: What Employers Need to Know

Legal experts are warning employers to be mindful of the potential for “immunity discrimination” — favoring certain job candidates because they’ve survived COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. This new type of bias involves recruiters who favor job candidates who have already contracted and survived COVID-19. Research suggests that coronavirus reinfection is doubtful. So, unlike applicants who haven’t had the virus, survivors likely won’t need time off work to recover from any future infection and can safely travel, meet with clients or work with others to complete tasks or long-term projects.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled such moves as unlawful and employers are advised to avoid COVID-19 discussions during the hiring process and to be mindful of other situations where discrimination could arise, such as promotion decision-making.

Read more at HR Executive

The U.S. Department of Labor Issues Revised FFCRA Regulations in Response to District Court Decision

In its August 3 decision, the District Court ruled that four parts of the Temporary Rule were invalid: (1) the requirement that an employee may only take FFCRA leave if there is work available from which to take leave; (2) the requirement that an employee may take intermittent FFCRA leave only with employer consent; (3) the definition of a “health care provider” whom an employer may exclude from taking FFCRA leave; and (4) the requirement that employees who take FFCRA leave must provide certain documentation to their employer prior to taking leave.

The USDOL reconsidered the portions of the Temporary Rule that the District Court held were invalid. It reaffirmed the regulations in part, revised the regulations in part, and provided further explanation of its rationale for its regulations.

Read more at Bond, Schoeneck and King

J&J Advances its Covid-19 Vaccine

Daily Briefing – 153

Manufacturers Struggle to Recruit, Win Over Talent

Even as America struggles to recover from a deep economic decline and the rapid loss of tens of millions of jobs, manufacturing CEOs are still greatly concerned about training, retaining and finding the best people. That’s because, despite the new prospect of double-digit U.S. unemployment stretching into 2021, many firms are still starved for good workers.

There is a growing chorus of other CEOs whose main concerns about the availability and quality of workers seemed to belie the sudden availability of vast new pools of job candidates across most of the country. They worried about labor-related challenges that pre-dated the pandemic and that would still be there afterward, such as hanging on to skilled and experienced workers, training them in new technologies and continuing to build workplace cultures that appeal to demanding new generation.

• Read more at Chief Executive
• Learn more about the Council of Industry Collaborative Recruiting Platform
• Learn more about the Council of Industry Apprentice Program

Governor Cuomo: 0.98 Percent Positive, One Death

Governor Cuomo issued a press release yesterday providing an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Sunday, September 20th. The State’s infection rate remains below one percent at 0.98 percent. One New Yorker passed away yesterday, which is the lowest number since the pandemic started. The Governor reiterated that New York will not stop until that number is zero.

Read the press release

Global Trade Returns Faster Than Expected

When the new coronavirus hit earlier this year, international trade in goods suffered the biggest year-over-year drop since the Great Depression. Economists warned of rising protectionism, and some companies said they would reassess overseas supply chains that were vulnerable to unexpected shocks.

Trade remains below pre-pandemic levels. Still, it has snapped back robustly—and had recovered about half of this year’s historic loss by June, according to calculations by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank.

Read more at the WSJ

Manufacturing Economic Report: Real Median Household Income Soared to a New Record in 2019

Real median household income soared to a new record, up 6.8% from $64,324 in 2018 to $68,703 in 2019. The average American working full-time, year-round earned $52,000 in 2019. The official poverty rate was 10.5% in 2019, down for the fourth straight year and down from 11.8% in 2018. For real median household income data by state.
Manufacturing production increased 1.0% in August, easing from the 3.9% gain seen in July but rising for the fourth straight month. Despite recent progress, output in the sector remained 6.7% below the pre-pandemic pace in February. Manufacturing capacity utilization was 70.2% in August, up from 69.5% in July but still down from 75.2% in February.

Monday Economic Report 2020-0921

Democrats Are Holding Out for a Bigger Stimulus Agreement from Trump

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats were holding out for a larger stimulus deal from President Donald Trump, who recently prodded Republicans to back a larger package that includes a second round of direct payments.

In an interview published Monday on the “Sway” podcast hosted by the New York Times opinion writer Kara Swisher, the California Democrat blasted the GOP’s opposition to substantial federal spending, charging that Trump is interested only in printing his name on stimulus checks.

Read more at Business Insider

40% of Working Parents Cut Hours or Quit Amid Pandemic

Nearly half of working parents have had to quit or reduce hours because of the pandemic, according to FlexJobs’ survey of than 2,500 parents with children 18 and younger living at home. Forty percent have had to change their employment situation by either voluntarily reducing their hours (25%) or quitting entirely (15%). An additional 5% said their partner has had to either reduce their hours or quit their jobs.

Read more a Human Resource Executive

Last Chance: Your Need For Skilled Workers – Please Complete this Short Survey

The Council of Industry is working with the Manufacturers Alliance of New York and SEMI, an association compromised of electronics manufacturing and the design supply chain to further develop and implement programs that will match the demand of manufacturers for skilled workers with supply of  people seeking meaningful careers.

In order to measure the need for skilled labor, we are asking you to please complete a shore ten (10) minute survey.

The information collected will assess workforce needs, both regionally and statewide. It will provide data necessary to substantiate the Alliance’s requests for new funding opportunities. Once acquired, these funds will be used to meet our objective of providing skilled workers for you and other New York State manufacturers.

Take the Survey (Manufacturers Only Please)  – If link doesn’t work cut and paste into your browser

Schumer Proposes “America LEADS Act” 

Citing China’s present treat to the U.S. economy and national security, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer today unveiled the America Labor, Economic competitiveness, Alliances, Democracy and Security (America LEADS) Act . The legislation proposes to provide over $350 billion in new investments nationally, especially to Upstate New York, which will help rebuild the U.S. economy and provide Upstate workers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and manufacturers with the skills and support needed to out-compete China.

“Bold, aggressive action is required to confront the clear and present threat China poses to our economic prosperity and national security,” said Senator Schumer. “We cannot continue to underinvest in our workers, manufacturing communities, science, technological research, and trade enforcement or cede our leadership in the international community and expect to confront this threat.”

America LEADS Act Section-by-Section

Daily Briefing – 152

Record-High Number of COVID-19 Tests Reported to New York State, Weekend Numbers Remain Below One Percent

In a press release Saturday Governor Cuomo announced that a record-high number of tests were reported Friday – 110,444. The State’s infection rate remains below one percent at 0.89 percent.  In Sunday’s release the number of tests were 100,355 with 862 positive.

• Read Saturday’s press release
• Read Sunday’s press release
• Visit the daily metrics dashboard

CDC Reverses Course on Testing for Asymptomatic People Who Had Covid-19 Contact

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says that close contacts of people with Covid-19 should be tested, regardless of whether they have symptoms — reversing controversial recommendations it made last month, reportedly over the advice of agency scientists.

CDC’s testing guidelines now bluntly counsel people who have been within six feet of a person “with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection” for at least 15 minutes to get screened. “You need a test,” reads the latest version of the document, released Friday.

• Read more in Politico
• Read the updated CDC guidance

Manufacturers Are Scaling up Fast Virus Tests

US manufacturers could be producing 100 million fast coronavirus tests each month by the end of 2020. These antigen tests will be less accurate than current tests but are designed to allow workplaces and schools to test quickly.

Makers of the four recently-approved antigen tests have the capacity to make around 40 million per month, but expect to more than double that by year end, according to a Reuters analysis that includes proprietary figures shared by companies. Unlike the $100 and up molecular diagnostics currently dominating U.S. testing that must be sent to a lab and often take several days for results, antigen tests can cost as little as $5. They can be performed anywhere and produce results in minutes.

Read more a Reuters

Stimulus: White House backs $1.5 Trillion Package

“I agree with a lot of it,” the president said in a press conference Wednesday when asked about a $1.5 trillion stimulus proposal unveiled by a bipartisan group of House members this week. “I think the things I don’t agree, we can probably negotiate. But I think we’ve made some progress over the last week.” (Earlier on Wednesday, the president urged the Republican Party to “go for the much higher numbers.”)

On Thursday morning, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News that President Trump was “certainly willing to embrace the 1.5 trillion-dollar number that was put out in the last day or so.” At another point, Meadows added: “At least let’s use this $1.5 trillion new recommendation as a foundation for new negotiations.”

Read more at Yahoo Finance

US DOL Releases Leaver Related Coronavirus Public Service Announcements

the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor last week launched a public awareness campaign concerning workplace rights amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  The campaign includes a series of public service announcements with information about the new paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave benefits available under the FFCRA and other worker protections.  

View the PSAs

National Geographic: Millennials and Gen Z are Spreading Coronavirus—But Not Because of Parties and Bars

When it comes to Millennials and Generation Z—defined by the Pew Research Center as people born after 1982 and 1996 respectively—stories of crowded beach gatherings and house parties where guests try to infect each other with COVID-19 have made headlines. But those stories obscure the more complicated circumstances of people shaped by economic and societal inequality. An August 18 briefing from the World Health Organization announced that people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are now driving the virus’s spread, but that’s because most are just trying to do their jobs.

“In the past few decades, we’ve seen a shift in the economy toward more service jobs,” including retail, food service, hospitality, and childcare, says Sharon Sassler, a professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University. “Young people in those service jobs are now at a greater risk of being exposed.” What’s more, emerging research is confirming what many experts have observed with natural disasters: economic vulnerability severely impairs a person’s ability to cope with catastrophe, and this burden falls heavily on younger generations.

Read more at National Geographic

Liberty Street Economics: Did State Re-Openings Increase Consumer Spending?

In March, most states imposed severe restrictions on households and businesses to slow the spread of COVID-19. This was followed by a gradual loosening of restrictions (“reopening”) starting in April. Taken together, these measures raise the question of how closures and reopenings affect consumer spending. The authors investigate how much consumer spending increased after the reopenings but do not assess whether or how states should loosen or tighten restrictions.

Short Answer – Yes.

Read more at the NY Fed’s Liberty Street Economics

The Economist: Revisiting the 90 Percent Economy

Calculations by Goldman Sachs, a bank, suggest that social-distancing measures continue to reduce global gdp by 7-8%—roughly in line with what The Economist argued in April, when we coined the term “90% economy” to describe what would happen once lockdowns began to be lifted. Yet although the global economy is operating at about nine-tenths capacity, there is a lot of variation between industries and countries. Some are doing relatively—and surprisingly—well, others dreadfully.

Read more at The Economist

Daily Briefing – 151

Cuomo Covid Update: 3 deaths, 0.98 Percent Positive Test Rate

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Thursday announced that New York State’s COVID-19 infection rate remained below one percent. Yesterday, a total of 896 new cases were reported – a 0.98 positive test rate. There were 3 deaths reported. Other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.

• Read the press release
• Visit the Covid metrics dashboard

U.S. Unemployment Claims Held Steady at 860,000 Last Week

Weekly initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 33,000 to a seasonally adjusted 860,000 in the week ended Sept. 12, the Labor Department said Thursday. The number of people collecting unemployment benefits through regular state programs, which cover most workers, decreased by 916,000 to about 12.6 million for the week ended Sept. 5.

After sharply falling later in the spring and early summer, new applications have largely held steady since early August. The declining number of people receiving state benefits likely reflects that workers are finding new jobs, or are being recalled to old ones. But it also shows some workers who applied for benefits in March have hit the six-month limit set in many states.

Read more at the WSJ

Hudson Valley Region Employment Numbers

For the 12-month period ending August 2020, the private sector job count in the Hudson Valley fell by 98,300, or 12.0 percent, to 720,700.  Job losses were greatest in leisure and hospitality (-41,300),

Manufacturing in the region employed 4,400 fewer people than August 2019 a decline of 10%.  

The August 2020 over-the-year job losses continue to reflect the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  At 720,700, private sector job count has reached its lowest August level since 1999.

Press Release #1 August 2020

Survey Shows Ongoing Financial Insecurity for New Yorkers

Nearly 30 percent of all New York households expect a loss of employment income within the next four weeks, according to new data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.

Among adult New Yorkers pursuing a postsecondary education, 83 percent said their plans for classes this fall have been canceled or changed significantly.

Visit the Survey site

DiNapli: State Tax Revenues Continued Declines in August – State has $4 Billion CARES Act Balance

Total tax receipts of $4.3 billion were $219 million or 4.8 percent below those of August 2019. For the first five months of the fiscal year, tax revenues have totaled $3.2 billion below the previous year. These latest figures again highlight the severe budgetary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, presenting difficult choices for policy makers if the State does not receive significant additional relief from the federal government.

Total State spending through August was $2.5 billion below the same period in 2019. Year-over-year declines in Local Assistance disbursements totaling $1.9 billion include $591 million in Medicaid (reflecting a lower State share offset in part by a higher federal share), $368 million in education and $321 million in transportation.

The State’s General Fund balance was $12.8 billion as of September 11, an increase of $34.6 million from a week earlier. Among other factors contributing to that balance are $4.5 billion in proceeds from short-term borrowing that is anticipated to be repaid before the end of the fiscal year, and more than $1.9 billion in delayed payments to local governments, nonprofit organizations and other entities.

The federal CARES Act provided $5.1 billion to New York State through the Coronavirus Relief Fund. As of September 11, the State’s CARES Act Fund held a balance of just under $4 billion. A total of $1.1 billion had been spent as of that date.

Read More at the Comptroller’s website

Empire Center: New York State Has Dug Itself Into Its Deepest Hole On Record

The Center’s E.J. McMahon writes: “In the pre-dawn hours of April 3—with much of the state’s economy shut down in response to the pandemic, state and local tax receipts drying up, and the COVID-19 death toll climbing—the New York State Legislature completed passage of a budget that authorized state operating funds spending of more than $103 billion, a slight spending increase over fiscal 2020.

Within hours, Cuomo held a news conference in which he praised the budget as “an extraordinary accomplishment” — and, in almost the next breath, acknowledged that the state faced a revenue shortfall of $10 billion, which he blamed on the coronavirus crisis.”

Read more at the Empire Center

“Clear as Mud” – What Can Employers Do if Workers Refuse a Vaccine?

Employers could face a legal quandary if — as a COVID-19 vaccine is released — they attempt to mandate vaccines, since 35% of Americans say they would refuse to get an FDA-approved, free shot, according to a Gallup poll. Lieser Skaff Alexander attorney Alissa Kranz says HR’s path is as “clear as mud” and warns of state-specific termination laws and the potential for workers’ compensation claims if they have a bad reaction to a vaccine.

Read more ant HR Executive

OSHA Issues Citations for COVID-19 Violations

On Sept. 12, OSHA announced a number of citations to companies across the countries due to violation of COVID regulations. Violations included failing to ensure employees wore proper protective equipment, the general duty clause for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that can cause death or serious harm, and respiratory protection standards.

Read more at EHS Today

CDC Director: Face Masks May Provide More Protection than Coronavirus Vaccine

Face coverings are “the most powerful public health tool” the nation has against the coronavirus and might even provide better protection against it than a vaccine, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told lawmakers Wednesday. 

“We have clear scientific evidence they work, and they are our best defense,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said. “I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine.”  A 50% effective vaccine would be roughly on par with those for influenza but below the effectiveness of one dose of a measles vaccination, which is about 93% effective, according to the CDC.  “If I don’t get an immune response, the vaccine’s not going to protect me. This face mask will,” Redfield told lawmakers while holding up a blue surgical face mask.

Read more  at CNBC

Daily Briefing – 147

Extra $300 Unemployment Checks Start Arriving This week in New York

Unemployed New Yorkers who qualify will get an extra $300 a week as part of the Lost Wages Assistance program, according to an announcement Thursday from the New York Department of Labor. The extra money is only available to people who are out of work due to Covid-19. Roughly two million New Yorkers are pre-qualified for benefits and will start receiving payments next week, according to the Department of Labor.

On Aug. 8, President Donald Trump signed an executive order setting aside $44 billion from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to help Americans who have lost wages due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s been up to individual states to administer those benefits.

Read more at Syracuse.com

37th Day Under 1 Percent…Barely

The Governor issued a press release Sunday detailing New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Saturday, September 12th. New York’s rate of positive tests was below one percent for the 37th straight day. Of the 72,668 test results reported to the State, 0.99% (725) were positive. The 725 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bring the statewide total to 444,365 confirmed cases in New York State. 

Read the press release

U.S. Producer Prices Rise

Prices for U.S. producers increased slightly more than expected in August. The U.S. Department of Labor announced a 0.3% increase in the producer price index for final demand – above the 0.2% economists anticipated.

Producer prices were led by a 0.5% increase in services. Nearly 20% of the rise in services was attributed to a 1.1% increase in margins for machinery, equipment, parts, and supplies wholesaling. Prices for goods edged up 0.1%.  Excluding the volatile food, energy and trade services components, producer prices rose 0.3% in August, advancing by the same margin for three straight months. In the 12 months through August, the core PPI gained 0.3%. The core PPI edged up 0.1% on a year-on-year basis in July.

Read more at Reuters

Consumer Prices Too

The consumer-price index—which measures what consumers pay for everyday items including groceries, clothing and electricity—climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in August, the Labor Department said Friday. That marked the third straight month of gains for consumer prices, after sharp declines at the pandemic’s onset.

Excluding the often-volatile categories of food and energy, so-called core prices increased 0.4%. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected a 0.3% increase for both the overall consumer-price index and the core index.

Read more at the WSJ

OECD Report: The Economic Impacts of Learning Losses

A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that the worldwide school closures in early 2020 led to losses in learning that will not easily be made up for even if schools quickly return to their prior performance levels. These losses will have lasting economic impacts both on the affected students and on each nation unless they are effectively remediated.

While the precise learning losses are not yet known, existing research suggests that the students in grades 1-12 affected by the closures might expect some 3 percent lower income over their entire lifetimes. For nations, the lower long-term growth related to such losses might yield an average of 1.5 percent lower annual GDP for the remainder of the century.

Read the report at OECD.org

Your Need For Skilled Workers – Please Complete this Short Survey

The Council of Industry is working with the Manufacturers Alliance of New York and SEMI, an association compromised of electronics manufacturing and the design supply chain to further develop and implement programs that will match the demand of manufacturers for skilled workers with supply of  people seeking meaningful careers.

In order to measure the need for skilled labor, we are asking you to please complete a shore ten (10) minute survey.

The information collected will assess workforce needs, both regionally and statewide. It will provide data necessary to substantiate the Alliance’s requests for new funding opportunities. Once acquired, these funds will be used to meet our objective of providing skilled workers for you and other New York State manufacturers.

Take the Survey (Manufacturers Only Please)

The Southern Hemisphere Skipped Flu Season in 2020

Although 2020 has been a difficult year in many ways for Aussies and Kiwis, it has not necessarily been bad for their physical health. This winter only around 0.4% of people in the two countries said they were suffering from flu-like symptoms, down by four-fifths compared with last year. Other countries in the southern hemisphere have reported similar slowdowns in the spread of influenza.

The cause for this steep decline in infections is clear. Governments all around the world have enacted costly lockdowns to fight the novel coronavirus. In doing so, not only have countries in the southern hemisphere slowed the spread of covid-19, but they also appear inadvertently to have stopped the proliferation of another deadly disease: the flu.

Read more in The Economist

Robots Addressing Safety Issues Receive Green Light

The ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) Institute announced the selection of nine technical projects that will be led by members of its national consortium to help with COVID-19 recovery. Special funding for this project call was provided by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. 

These projects address the needs of the manufacturing industry and the Department of Defense (DoD) in response to the national emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific applications of the selected projects have been identified by the Department of Defense as areas of urgency, such as diagnostics, medical care, medical countermeasures, non-medical personal protective equipment (PPE), and other supplies. The projects are explicitly linked to COVID-19 mitigation, demonstrating an ability for the United States and the Department of Defense to prevent, prepare for, and respond to this and future pandemics.

Read more and view the nine projects at EHS Today

Designing a vaccine against covid-19: Cautious optimism and lessons from HIV

Jerome Kim is the director-general of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and an international expert on the evaluation and development of vaccines. He wrirtes in The Economist that “The vast majority of the 12,000,000 people infected with covid-19 have had mild or asymptomatic infection (80%), 15% were hospitalized, around 2-3% died. The remainder have protective immune responses that control and eliminate infection, and—we think—protect against re-infection. ‘Immunity’ against re-infection is now supported by three studies in monkeys. Like hepatitis A, measles, and polio, covid-19 is defeated by infection-induced antibodies and killer cells, and these responses protect against re-infection. While we do not fully understand covid-19 immunity, early observations provide hope that a vaccine may be practicable.”

Read more at the Economist

Compressing the Vaccine Development Process 

Historically, the average timeframe to bring a vaccine to market is measured in years (often ranging between 10 to 16 years) not months. And, with Covid-19, the global population is putting pressure on the industry to buck the system and create a market-ready vaccine in 18 months or less. 

To a large extent, government funding has provided much needed fuel for companies to work towards compressing each stage, often conducting sequential stages in parallel. For instance, running phase two and three trials simultaneously, while also building out manufacturing lines in existing facilities to be able to produce vaccines while they are still in clinical trials.

Read more at IndustryWeek

Daily Briefing – 145

Cuomo: 33rd Straight Day with COVID-19 Infection Rate Below 1 Percent

Governor Cuomo yesterday announced the 33rd straight day that New York State’s COVID-19 infection rate has been below 1 percent. Tuesday 0.91 percent of tests reported to the state were positive. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.

The Governor also announced that indoor dining in New York City will be allowed to resume beginning September 30th with a 25 percent occupancy limit. All restaurants that choose to reopen will be subject to strict safety protocols, including temperature checks, contact information for tracing, face coverings when not seated and other safety protocols. Bar service will not be permitted, and restaurants will close at midnight.

• Read the press release
• Guidance for indoor dining in New York City is here

Senate’s Pared Down COVID Relief Package

Senate Republicans unveiled a pared-down coronavirus relief on Tuesday, as they returned to Washington after the August recess. Negotiations over the next round of aid have been stalled for weeks on Capitol Hill and there is still little evidence of bipartisan progress. 

The proposed legislation likely will include the following elements:

• A federal unemployment benefit
• Another round of Paycheck Protection Program funding
• More funding for COVID-19 testing and for schools
• Liability protections

 The package is expected to come in at around $500 million, which is far short of the $1 trillion bill Republicans supported at the end of July and even further short of the $3 trillion bill the House approved. The Senate will consider the bill this week.

Read more at Yahoo Finance

Biden Proposes a Tax Penalty for Offshoring and New Credits for Manufacturing Investments

The proposal has three chief components:

• ​An offshoring tax penalty​: This part calls for a 28% corporate tax rate and an additional 10% “offshoring penalty surtax” on profits for manufactured goods and for services such as call centers, if American companies produce them overseas and then sell them back to the U.S. market. According to a briefing paper from the Biden campaign, ​“companies will pay a 30.8% tax rate on any such profits.”
• A “Made in America” tax credit​: A 10% advanceable tax credit for companies on a broad range of investments designed to create manufacturing jobs in the United States. Eligible projects include revitalizing closed or closing factories, increasing domestic production, modernizing manufacturing facilities, expanding manufacturing payrolls and any expense or investment related to onshoring jobs.
• Elimination of offshore tax loopholes: Biden’s plan would close several tax loopholes in the 2017 tax law that permit U.S. companies to shield their foreign profits from full taxation. 

Read more at CNBC

AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine Study Put on Hold Due to Suspected Adverse Reaction in Participant in the U.K.

A large, Phase 3 study testing a Covid-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford at dozens of sites across the U.S. has been put on hold due to a suspected serious adverse reaction in a participant in the United Kingdom.

A spokesperson for AstraZeneca, a front runner in the race for a Covid-19 vaccine, said in a statement that the company’s “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data.” In a follow-up statement, AstraZeneca said it initiated the study hold. The nature of the adverse reaction and when it happened were not immediately known, though the participant is expected to recover, according to an individual familiar with the matter. 

Read more at STAT

EU Enters Final Talks for BioNTech-Pfizer Vaccine

The European Commission said on Wednesday it had entered final stage talks with BioNTech-Pfizer to purchase up to 300 million doses of a potential vaccine against COVID-19.

EU supply would be produced by BioNTech’s sites in Germany and Pfizer’s manufacturing site in Belgium, with deliveries starting by the end of the year, the companies said in a statement. The proposed agreement with the European Commission would be the largest initial order of doses for Pfizer and BioNTech to date.

Read more at Reuters

Regeneron Expects to Report Biomarker Data for COVID-19 Therapy by End of September

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday it expects to report biomarker data for its COVID-19 antibody cocktail by the end of this month.

The drugmaker last month struck a partnership with Roche AG to make and supply the COVID-19 antibody cocktail, which is being tested on several hundreds of patients after it prevented and treated the respiratory disease in animals. Regeneron’s cocktail, REGN-COV2, contains an antibody made by the company and another isolated from recovered COVID-19 patients.

Read more at Yahoo Finance

Ford Wants to Add Data Services to Commercial Vehicles

Ford CEO Jim Farley says Ford can unlock revenue by offering data-based services with its commercial vehicles much like John Deere, from which Ford has hired a key artificial intelligence executive Alex Purdy.  At Deere, Purdy led efforts to deliver artificial intelligence (AI) on the farm through smart equipment and founded John Deere Labs to help build a “sticky” relationship with customers. Deere’s aftermarket parts and services business accounted for about 15% to 20% of $35 billion in sales last year.

“So now the total addressable market, instead of being just new-vehicle sales, is the entire process — parts, service, accessories, connected services,” says Ford commercial vehicle executive Ted Cannis.

Read more at Reuters

Daily Briefing – 143

Cuomo Announces Online COVID-19 Testing Dashboard for Schools and another one for SUNY

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that New York state will launch an online dashboard to track COVID-19 tests in school districts. Districts will be required to provide the State Department of Health with daily data on the number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus in each of their schools. They must also provide a link to the dashboard on their websites. The requirement will take effect on Tuesday.

The Governor and SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras Monday announced the launch of a SUNY system-wide COVID-19 case tracker dashboard. The centralized dashboard will provide real time, up-to-date information on COVID-19 cases, testing, and quarantine and isolation space availability across SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities to more efficiently monitor, respond to, and contain the virus.

• The School district dashboard will be here  beginning Wednesday, 9/9
• Here is the SUNY Dashboard

Positive Covid 19 Test Rate Below 1 percent for 31 Days, 2 Deaths Sunday 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced for one month, or 31 days, that New York State’s COVID-19 infection rate has remained below 1 percent. Yesterday, 0.88 percent of tests reported to the state were positive. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.

“Thanks to the hard work of New Yorkers, our state has now gone a full month with our COVID infection rate remaining below one percent,” Governor Cuomo said.

• Read the press release
• Visit the metrics dashboard

Testing SWAT Team Deployed to Oneonta

In response to a high number of positive test results in Oneonta the State deployed a testing SWAT team. Over the past 5 days, 1,965 tests were performed which found 91 positive cases. Test results have shown the increase in cases is connected to spread among college students with 85 of the 91 positives cases being individuals aged 18-24. In this age bracket, 738 individuals were tested and 11.5 percent were positive. Outside of this age bracket the positivity rate was 0.48 percent. The State, in partnership with local health departments, is utilizing contact tracing for positive cases.

Read the press release

U.S. Unemployment Rate Fell to 8.4% in August as Hiring Continued

Employers added 1.4 million jobs last month, helping push down the unemployment rate to 8.4% from 10.2% in July, Friday’s Labor Department report said. The jobless rate’s decline—it has dropped from near 15% in April at the beginning of the pandemic—put it below the peak from the 2007-2009 recession. That puts unemployment in line with past major recessions, though it is significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. 

Manufacturers added 29,000 jobs in August continuing gains from the previous 3 month but are sill more than 700,000 below pre-pandemic highs.

Read more at the Reuters

Pelosi, Mnuchin Agree to Avoid Government Shutdown in October

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have agreed to work to avoid a government shutdown right before the election, and not let the stalemate over virus-relief legislation hold up a vital stopgap spending bill.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress, seeking to avert a politically damaging government shutdown just before the Nov. 3 election, had been planning a bill to extend funding at least until mid-November. There was a risk, however, that either side would try to leverage the need to pass such a stopgap to achieve their goals for an economic stimulus.

Read more at Bloomberg

Stimulus Pessimism

In the same article Bloomberg reports that Congressional Democrats and the Trump administration have been at an impasse over stimulus since talks broke off on Aug. 7. The sides are about $1 trillion apart, with Democrats pushing for $915 billion in aid to states and localities and insisting on $600 per week federal supplemental unemployment benefits.

During the Tuesday call, Mnuchin and Pelosi weren’t able to bridge that gap — even after the Treasury chief had signaled fiscal aid was urgent for parts of the U.S. economy. Pelosi later pointed out that Democrats had already pared their earlier $3.4 trillion demand down to $2.2 trillion.

Negotiations are expected to resume today.

Read more at Bloomberg

Virtual Classrooms – Studies Find Significantly Reduced Test Scores in Every Subject

The Economist Intelligence Podcast discusses the millions of schoolchildren heading back to classes, many of them online. They examine the evidence on virtual learning and how it is creating a “learning gap” and deepens inequalities.

Listen Here

Vaccine Trial Results Could Come Early

Pfizer says that the company could have results from its phase three trial as soon as October.

The company has already been enrolling thousands of participants in its late-stage trial, and the results will determine whether Pfizer submits the drug for regulatory approval by the FDA. Ultimately, the company hopes to include about 30,000 people around the world in the trials.

The Trump administration has agreed to pay Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, nearly $2 billion to develop and deliver 100 million doses of their vaccine if it is successful. Even if the drug is found to be safe and effective, we’ll need to clear some major hurdles like access and distribution. 

Read more at CNBC

Russian Vaccine Shows Signs of Immune Response

Russian scientists have published the first report on their coronavirus vaccine, saying early tests showed signs of an immune response.  The report published by medical journal The Lancet said every participant developed antibodies to fight the virus and had no serious side effects.

Two trials of the vaccine, named Sputnik-V, were conducted between June and July. Each involved 38 healthy volunteers who were given a dose of the vaccine and then a booster vaccine three weeks later. The participants – aged between 18 and 60 – were monitored for 42 days and all of them developed antibodies within three weeks. Among the most common side effects were headaches and joint pain

Experts say the trials were too small to prove effectiveness and safety.

Read more at the BBC

Covid-19 Vaccine Developers Prepare Joint Pledge on Safety, Standards

A number of companies developing coronavirus vaccines intend to put forward a public pledge that they will not seek government approval unless they’ve concluded their shots are completely safe.

A draft of the rare joint statement, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, commits all of the companies, including Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc., to ensuring that the safety of vaccinated people is their top priority. Two people familiar with the matter told the Journal that the pledge could be issued as soon as early next week. 

“We believe this pledge will help ensure public confidence in the Covid-19 vaccines that may ultimately be approved and adherence to the rigorous scientific and regulatory process by which they are evaluated,” the draft statement says.

Read more at the WSJ