INFORMS Open Forum

5-15 Daily COVID-19 Update

  • 1.  5-15 Daily COVID-19 Update

    Posted 05-15-2020 20:59
      |   view attached
    Good evening,

    Please find today's Daily COVID-19 Update for May 15th below and attached. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

    Thank you, and have a nice and safe weekend.

    Jeff Cohen


    INFORMS Members in the News

    Members: David Simchi-Levi & Stephen Chick

    Member: David Simchi-Levi

    Member: Sheldon Jacobson

    Member: Pinar Keskinocak

    Member: Soroush Saghafian

      

    U.S. Federal Policy Update 

    • The House of Representatives voted today on rules changes allowing for remote votes during the coronavirus pandemic, and also on the $3 trillion Democratic package for coronavirus relief – the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800). Both measures are expected to pass the House later this evening. However, the HEROES Act is unlikely to advance in the Senate, where the Republican-led majority is wary of the broad spending provisions contained in the legislation. 
    • President Trump announced the formation of an "Operation Warp Speed" vaccine initiative at an afternoon press conference. The effort will be led by General Gustave Perna as the Chief Operating Officer, and Moncef Slaoui as the Chief Scientist. General Perna was formerly the Commanding General of the Army's Materiel Command, while Slaoui was formerly the Vaccines Chairman for GlaxoSmithKline. 
    • The Trump administration also announced five new additions to the White House Coronavirus Task Force: Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, Health Resources and Services Administrator Thomas Engels, and FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation Director Thomas Engels. 
    • The White House released a fact sheet detailing the Trump administration's efforts to "ensure that there is a strong national stockpile and industrial base" needed to address the coronavirus pandemic.
    • The White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Jim Carroll announced that the office would be opening a comment period from May 15th to June 30th, aiming to "evaluate emerging drug trends and receive input from policy experts and people on the ground experiencing the firsthand impacts of the drug crisis, particularly as we face new challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic."
    • The Census Bureau released new data, showing that retail sales declined by 16.4% in the month of April – a record drop as compared to March's 8.3% decline.

     

    Global Response

    • After almost two months of lockdown, Australia reopened today with businesses and restaurants allowed to resume operations in the country's first phase of the government's plan. 
    • The Spanish government announced that all of Spain would be able to progress towards reopening by Monday, May 18th, except Madrid and Barcelona will remain in lockdown. 

     

    State Update 

    • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that beaches in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware would be allowed to reopen for Memorial Day weekend. He stated that the state's authorities reached the agreement because if "one state doesn't open beaches" and "another state does open beaches," then "people will flood to that state."
    • Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that the state was creating a council that will work to determine how the state "can begin planning for when and how students and staff can be safely returning back to school buildings in the fall."
    • Arizona's stay-at-home order expired today.
    • Delaware Governor John Carney announced that the state would begin reopening on a rolling basis starting on June 1st. 
    • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that gyms would be permitted to reopen in the state on Monday, May 18th.
    • Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced that all retail stores in Arkansas would be allowed to resume business operations, also on Monday. 
    • Some businesses and beaches were permitted to reopen in Hawaii.
    • Idaho Governor Brad Little announced that more of the state's businesses would be allowed to reopen for business tomorrow, with restaurants, salons, and gyms being allowed to resume operations.
    • While Washington, DC's stay-at-home restrictions are going to stay in place, restrictions in both Virginia and Maryland started to expire today.
    • The Colorado Tourism Office launched a "Waiting to CO" campaign, which aims to "keep the state top of mind as a beloved vacation destination," while encouraging out-of-state visitors to stay home. 

     

    Economic Update (as of close of the markets)

    • U.S. stocks experienced a volatile day as stocks rebounded at the close of the session after declines earlier in the day – leading to overall moderate increases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.3%, the S&P 500 by 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite by 0.8%.

    Latest Impact Data 

    • In the United States: Over 1,478,870 cases and 88,194 deaths in 50 states, 4 territories, and Washington, D.C.
    • Worldwide: Over 4,607,656 million cases and 307,376 deaths in at least 204 countries and territories.

     

    In the News                



    Please visit the following Signal webpage for more resources and updates on the coronavirus pandemic: https://covid.signaldc.com/.






    ------------------------------
    Jeffrey M. Cohen, MBA
    Director, Public Affairs & Marketing
    INFORMS
    jeff.cohen@informs.org
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    5-15 update.pdf   106 KB 1 version