Good evening,
Please find today's Daily COVID-19 Update for October 13th below and attached. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Thank you,
Jeff Cohen
INFORMS Members in the News
Federal Policy Update
- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) published an update on coronavirus relief negotiations and the Senate's schedule – writing that the Senate will reconvene next week with the "first order of business" to be voting on a narrow relief measure focused on supplemental funding for the Paycheck Protection Program.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) published a Dear Colleague letter, with statements from each committee of jurisdiction on the Trump administration's most recent coronavirus proposal. Overall, the Democratic leaders urge that "significant changes must be made to remedy the Trump proposal's deficiencies."
- The Departments of Defense and Health & Human Services awarded a $481 million Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) to start-up Cue Health, with an aim "to expand U.S. production capacity of point-of-care COVID-19 tests."
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted that the U.S. government "should know by November or December whether or not [there is] a safe and effective vaccine," but it is also "conceivable that the U.S. might even know before then."
State Response
- New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced that the state would begin rolling back some of its COVID-19 reopening due to a rise in coronavirus cases, effective Friday. This includes bars and restaurants closing by 10 PM, hotels reducing capacity to 60%, and other measures.
- Utah Governor Gary Herbert warned that the state is experiencing "one of the worst outbreaks in the country," stating that their cases have surged to the highest they've ever been.
- Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) cautioned that the state is getting closer to overwhelming their healthcare system, as they reached the "grim milestone" of 150,000 confirmed positive cases over this past weekend.
- After having previously tested positive for coronavirus, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) stated today that he has been cleared by health professionals to depart isolation and return to work.
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced that the city's coronavirus positivity rate is currently 1.90%.
Global Response
- The World Bank executive board approved a $12 billion plan aimed towards providing funds for developing nations to be able to finance the purchasing of coronavirus vaccines and tests for these countries' citizens.
- The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control announced a new system for travel within the member bloc through a "traffic light" system – with red countries marked as high risk and requiring quarantine on arrival, orange countries indicating a medium risk and mandated testing, and green countries as low risk with no restrictions.
- The South Korean government announced a new measure requiring all citizens to wear masks in public.
- Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that all restaurants and bars are required to close their doors as of tomorrow evening, due to a rise in coronavirus infections.
- El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele warned that the country is experiencing "a confirmed resurgence of COVID-19 cases," but offered assurance that "the pandemic is still relatively under control."
Economic Update
- U.S. stocks were on the decline today, with all three indices closing with losses. The Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.10%, the S&P 500 by 0.63%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 0.55%.
Latest Impact Data
- In the United States: Over 8,087,847 cases and 220,802 deaths in 50 states, 4 territories, and Washington, D.C.
- Worldwide: Over 38,345,086 cases and 1,090,148 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------------------------------