COVID 19 Update 82
Mid-Hudson Enters Phase Two Day Today, Statewide Testing Will Increase
Today is the day for Phase two! Phase two industries include offices, real estate, essential and phase two in-store retail, vehicle sales and rentals, retail rental, repair and cleaning, hair salons and barbershops, and commercial building management. It is important that all phase two businesses to read and affirm the detailed guidelines for your sector.
Guidance for these industries can be found here.
Reminder – even if you have been open as “essential” all through the pandemic you still must have a reopening plan and certify with the the state.
• VIEW SUMMARY GUIDELINES
• READ AND AFFIRM DETAILED GUIDELINES
• PRINT BUSINESS SAFETY PLAN TEMPLATE
The State performed 58,054 tests yesterday which resulted in 702 positives cases (1.2%). The State is consistently performing 58,000 or more tests per day and the positive results per day have been below 1.6% for the last four days. Just a few weeks ago New York City was finding 59% of tests returning positive results. The Governor said that with this progress he is confident in reopening New York City. In order to track the spread of the virus, the State is launching an initiative to increase testing and build more test sites. The State will conduct 35,000 tests per day in New York City alone. Anyone who has attended a protest recently should get tested. The State is also focusing on the most impacted zip codes in the City where infection rates are unusually high.
Trump Signs Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act
In a rare display of bipartisanship, on June 5, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (PPPFA) in an attempt to address many concerns expressed by the small business community around the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) aimed at providing COVID-19 relief.
On May 27, 2020, the House passed the PPPFA by 417-1 and the Senate approved it by unanimous consent on June 3. The new law addresses flaws in the original PPP program created under the CARES Act.
Read what you need to know in Forbes
Monday Economic Report
Manufacturers added 250k jobs in May. Other data point to recovery but how fast and how far remains uncertain.
Monday Economic Report 2020-0608
Recession in U.S. Began in February
The U.S. economy entered a recession in February, the group that dates business cycles said Monday, ending the longest American economic expansion on record. Monthly economic activity “reached a clear peak” in February, marking the end of the 128-month expansion that began in June 2009, said the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research. It was the longest expansion in records back to 1854.
World Bank Forecasts World Economy will Shrink by 5.2%
The World Bank predicted that the global economy will shrink by 5.2% this year because of the covid-19 pandemic. Output will fall most in rich countries, by 7%, whereas that of poor countries will decline by around 2.5%. The bank warned that the figures could be even worse if lockdown measures are not lifted by the second half of the year.
Over the longer horizon, the deep recessions triggered by the pandemic are expected to leave lasting scars through lower investment, an erosion of human capital through lost work and schooling, and fragmentation of global trade and supply linkages.
Read the press release and report
How Is COVID-19 Impacting Your Community? The Federal Reserve Wants to Hear From You
In April, the Federal Reserve System conducted a survey to better understand the range of challenges facing under-resourced and low-income communities as an effect of COVID-19. The findings are available in Perspectives from Main Street: The Impact of COVID-19 on Communities and the Entities Serving Them and helped us understand how the pandemic is impacting organizations, like yours, supporting community needs.
The Fed is committed to fielding this survey every eight weeks to report on how the effects of COVID-19 are changing within communities over time. Please take this survey today. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete.
Sourcing Delays Hamper Electronics Manufacturers
The electronics industry is grappling with coronavirus-related component shortages and delays, which are keeping leading manufacturers from launching products, according to a study by Dimensional Research and Supplyframe. The findings emphasize the need for supply chain resilience and “enabling effective collaboration across sourcing, engineering, and manufacturing,” Supplyframe CEO Steve Flagg said.
Read the full story at Supply Chain Quarterly
Learn more and/or attend the Council of Industry’s Strategic Supply Chain Seminar
Review of OSHA Guidance
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) continues to provide guidance to assist employees and employers with maintaining safe and healthy working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic. This guidance will be particularly useful as states continue to re-open. We have collected below a list of existing documents, both general and industry-specific, for your use.
Both OSHA and CDC regularly update their webpages with reopening guidance relevant to the business community. We encourage you to regularly check for updated guidance at:
- https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/businesses-employers.html
In addition to the general guidance above, OSHA frequently issues specific guidance tailored to specific industries. To date, OSHA has released specific guidance for the following industries relevant to Council Members:
- Stockroom and Loading Dock Workers (Spanish)
- Social Distancing at Work (Spanish)
- Construction Workforce (Spanish)
- Manufacturing Industry Workforce (Spanish)
