Good evening,
Please find today's Daily COVID-19 Update for October 7th below and attached. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Thank you,
Jeff Cohen
INFORMS Members In The News
Member: Tinglong Dai
Federal Policy Update
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke this evening regarding a "standalone airlines bill," and the "two have agreed to talk again tomorrow" – according to a tweet from Speaker Pelosi's spokesperson Drew Hammill.
- The Food & Drug Administration published a COVID-19 Vaccine webpage, which it will update with information as it becomes available.
- The National Institutes of Health announced a third round of contracts for their RADx program – totaling $98.35 million for the "scaling-up and manufacturing of new COVID-19 testing technologies."
- The White House published a memorandum from White House Physician Sean Conley with a morning health update on President Trump.
State Update
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced that he is permitting bars in the state to reopen at 50% capacity, with other businesses (such as movie theaters) able to operate at 75% - effective October 14th.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) confirmed that the state's theme parks will remain closed for the time-being.
- Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) is strongly encouraging the state's residents to get their flu shots, due to the possibility of a "twindemic" of the flu and coronavirus this winter.
- Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D) announced that he is planning to push back the reopening of the city's schools by one week – to October 22nd.
Global Response
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi tweeted that he has tested positive for Covid-19.
- World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that governments around the world should focus on ensuring that a future vaccine is available to "some in all countries, rather than all people in some countries."
- World Health Organization Health Emergencies Director Mike Ryan urged countries to support coronavirus patients in staying home, stating that "if people who were sick stayed at home, and were supported in doing that, we could break the back of this disease."
- The United Kingdom government announced that they are planning to lower the number of required self-isolation days for international visitors, but have not yet announced how much the current 2-week isolation period would be reduced by.
- The Icelandic government announced that they will impose new coronavirus protocols in their capital of Reykjavik, due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.
- The Jordanian government is planning to implement a lockdown this upcoming weekend, as COVID-19 cases have sharply increased in the country.
- Nearly all members of Brussels' regional government are quarantining after Finance Minister Sven Gatz tested positive for coronavirus yesterday evening.
Economic Update
- U.S. stocks were on the rise today, with all three indices closing with gains. The Nasdaq Composite climbed by 1.88%, the S&P 500 by 1.74%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 1.91%.
Latest Impact Data
- In the United States: Over 7,750,104 cases and 216,314 deaths in 50 states, 4 territories, and Washington, D.C.
- Worldwide: Over 36,289,328 cases and 1,058,012 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------------------------------