Good evening,
Please find today's Daily COVID-19 Update for June 17th below and attached. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Thank you,
Jeff Cohen
INFORMS Members in the News
Member: Anna Nagurney
Member: Julie Swann
U.S. Federal Policy Update
- The Treasury Department and Small Business Administration released a revised "EZ Full Loan Forgiveness Application," aiming to be more borrower-friendly and easy-to-use.
- White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced that President Trump will resume bringing foreign leaders to the White House, starting next week with a visit from Polish President Andrzej Duda. She stated that the President Duda's visit is happening at a "critical time as we reopen our country."
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before the House Financial Services Chairman and urged lawmakers to pass more economic recovery legislation. He emphasized that "the economy is just now beginning to recover," and "it's critical that support would be well-placed at this time."
- Five Democratic leaders from the House sent a letter to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza, requesting that the SBA act immediately to provide information to the Government Accountability Office in order to comply with their oversight of the CARES Act. The five members – Oversight & Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, Small Business Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez – Coronavirus Crisis Select Subcommittee Chairman Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey, and Financial Services & General Government Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Quigley (D-IL) – wrote that the SBA has not complied with GAO's requests for information for the past two months – which is essential "in assessing economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic."
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) asked committee chairs late last night to require masks in all hearing rooms, stating that "chairs will ultimately have the option of not recognizing members in committee proceedings that fail to comply with the mask requirement."
Global Response
- World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus released a statement encouraging that the steroid dexamethasone is "the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support."
- The European Union announced that they would create the Emergency Support Instrument – a 2.7 billion euro fund – that would allow the European Commission to purchase "a specified number of vaccine doses in a given timeframe and at a given price" to be distributed across their 27 member countries.
- Panama extended its ban on international travel for 30 additional days due to the pandemic, with only humanitarian or healthcare-related flights exempted from the restriction.
- Australian Tourism and Trade Minister Simon Birmingham announced that it is extremely likely that they will keep their borders closed to international travel through the end of this year.
- Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calviño told the parliament that the country's "economic recovery phase has already begun," and they expect "strong growth next year."
- Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
State Update
- The following are the 21 states that have seen an upward trend in newly reported cases from last week to this week: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Oregon, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York City is "on track" to move into the next phase of their reopening process next Monday.
- Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that they will enter phase 2 of the reopening process if the current trends continue.
- New Jersey's Higher Education Secretary Zakiya Smith Ellis announced guidance for reopening schools and colleges in the fall. The guidance included a mandate to wear masks in all indoor spaces, to observe six-feet social distancing, to establish testing protocols, and other safety measures.
- Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that schools in Michigan will be permitted to reopen in-person in the fall, and stated that they will release a "Michigan Return to School Roadmap" on June 30th.
- Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced that the state will provide personal protective equipment to voters at the primary elections next Tuesday – allocating 20,000 gloves, 5,800 face shields, 5,000 masks, and 4,000 gallons of hand sanitizers spread across their 120 counties.
Economic Update (as of close of the markets)
- U.S. stocks were volatile today, as the three indices closed with mixed results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.7% and the S&P 500 by 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose by 0.2%.
Latest Impact Data
- In the United States: Over 2,233,111 cases and 119,930 deaths in 50 states, 4 territories, and Washington, D.C.
- Worldwide: Over 8,389,495 million cases and 450,397 deaths in at least 204 countries and territories.
In the News
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Jeffrey M. Cohen, MBA
Director, Public Affairs & Marketing
INFORMS
jeff.cohen@informs.org------------------------------