Daily Briefing – 130
Cuomo: Gyms in NY Can Reopen August 24 – Masks Mandatory…
Governor Cuomo outlined the parameters for reopening gyms in New York state during a briefing Monday. Gyms can reopen on August 24 at the earliest, however localities must open them no later than September 2.
Gyms will have a 33% capacity limit, and masks must be worn at all times. Visitors will have to sign in, so that in the event of an outbreak, officials can perform contact tracing. The governor said the guidelines were developed with the help of health and physical spacing experts.
The Governor added that experts are warning of a dangerous flu season due
Read the press release with the guidelines
….Warns of a Dangerous Flu Season Ahead
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday state health authorities are “very concerned” about the upcoming flu season, warning it will make the coronavirus pandemic more complicated “in many ways. You’re in the flu season, everybody is sneezing, everybody is coughing and everybody has a runny nose, they all could have the flu or could possibly Covid positive. It becomes a much more difficult calculus,” Cuomo said during a news briefing.
Cuomo said many of the testing facilities that are being used during the pandemic are the same ones used during the flu season. “They are going to turn around and say to me, ’I can’t do 100 Covid tests anymore. I can only do 60 Covid tests because I have to do 40 flu tests,” he said.
Empire State Manufacturing Survey – Activity Edged Slightly Higher
After increasing significantly in July for the first time since the pandemic began, manufacturing activity in New York State grew only slightly in August. The general business conditions index fell fourteen points to 3.7. Thirty-four percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 30 percent reported that conditions had worsened. The new orders index fell sixteen points to -1.7, indicating that orders leveled off, and the shipments index fell twelve points to 6.7, pointing to a modest increase in shipments. Delivery times were steady. Unfilled orders and inventories declined
Monday Manufacturing Economy Report
Manufacturing production rebounded for the third straight month, rising by 3.4% in July. Despite progress over the past few months, output in the sector has fallen 7.7% year-over-year, with durable and nondurable goods output down 9.3% and 5.4%, respectively. Manufacturing capacity utilization rose 69.2% in July, although that is still down from 75.2% in February.
There were 336,000 manufacturing job openings in June, up from 306,000 in May, which had been the slowest pace since October 2016. Overall, job postings have drifted significantly lower over the past year—a trend that began before the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, there were 486,000 and 360,000 job openings in the sector in June 2019 and December 2019, respectively.
Monday Economic Report 2020-0817
GM, Ford Report Success in Making Ventilators
Ford and General Motors have made tens of thousands of ventilators under separate federal contracts. General Motors’ Indiana facility will be handed off to its project partner, Ventec Life Systems, after the companies meet their contract terms.
“While there is not currently a shortfall of ventilators in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), the new ventilators procured during the COVID-19 response will ensure the United States is prepared to respond to any hotspots in the coming months as well as any future public health emergency response that might require these devices for lifesaving care,” said Amber Dukes, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in an email to the Free Press.
Read the full story at Detroit Free Press
NY Will Close Individual Schools if Coronavirus Starts to Spread
The state will step in to close individual schools in New York if the coronavirus begins to spread in a building, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today. There’s no precise numerical standard for when that would happen, Cuomo said. It depends on the size of the school and numerous other facts in each case. “It would be about a spread,” Cuomo said during a press conference in New York City. “We’re going to be aggressively conservative.”
Biden Leads Trump, 50% to 41%, in Poll Ahead of Party Conventions
President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden start their nominating conventions this month with Mr. Trump struggling to reach a level of job approval that would make re-election more likely and his challenger drawing soft support that could present turnout challenges, the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows.
Less than three months before November’s election, 50% of registered voters nationally say they would vote for Mr. Biden if the election were held now, while 41% back Mr. Trump. That is essentially unchanged from Mr. Biden’s 11-point lead a month ago and is similar to his advantage much of this year.
United Way Report: 10% of Hudson Valley Households Below Federal Poverty Line
The ALICE project by United Way is an effort to quantify and describe the number of households that are struggling financially but not typically captured by traditional measures of poverty. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. In other words, “ALICE households” represent working families who earn enough to be above the federal poverty line, but are still struggling to afford basic living essentials.
The most recent data from the ALICE project, released in August 2020, shows that many households in the Hudson Valley are struggling to make ends meet. In the nine-county region of the Hudson Valley, 39% of households are below the ALICE threshold including 10% that are below the federal poverty line.
Pattern Report – The ALICE project by United Way