Good evening,
Please find today's Daily COVID-19 Update for May 19th. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Thank you,
Jeff Cohen
INFORMS Members in the News
Member: Julie Swann
Member: Julie Swann
Member: Sheldon Jacobson
U.S. Federal Policy Update
- President Trump issued an executive order requiring federal agencies to provide regulatory relief in order to facilitate the recovery of the U.S. economy. In the order, President Trump urges agencies to "address this economic emergency by rescinding, modifying, waiving, or providing exemptions from regulations and other requirements that may inhibit economic recovery."
- The closure of the U.S.-Canada border – which was set to expire on May 21st – has been extended by an additional 30 days.
- Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) met this morning to discuss future coronavirus stimulus legislation. Following this, President Trump met with Senate Republicans in the afternoon. After the meetings, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that they're planning to "discuss a way forward in the next couple of weeks."
- Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf announced that the CDC has extended Title 42 public health restrictions on U.S. borders.
- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared remotely before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to deliver their quarterly report on distribution of funding from the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. During the hearing, Secretary Mnuchin warned that "there is a risk of permanent damage" if states don't reopen quickly enough, but stated that "the country will emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever."
- Late last night, President Trump tweeted a letter he sent to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus stating that he would make permanent the temporary suspension of U.S. WHO commitments, unless the WHO "commits to major substantive improvements in the next 30 days." He emphasized that "the only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China."
- The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced that they would be sending almost 4 million Economic Impact Payments via prepaid debit card this week.
Global Response
- Germany and France released a proposal for a 500 billion euro recovery fund, which would award grants to areas in Europe that have been impacted the most by the coronavirus pandemic. In order to be implemented, the proposal will need to be agreed upon by all European countries.
- In response to the aforementioned letter from President Trump to the WHO Director-General, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian stated that "the unilateral U.S. move to stop funding is a violation of its own international obligations," and "supporting the WHO is upholding multilateralism and supporting international anti-pandemic cooperation to save lives."
- The World Bank released a statement warning that "the pandemic and shutdown of advanced economies could push as many as 60 million people into extreme poverty - erasing much of the recent progress made in poverty alleviation."
- Qatar announced new restrictions due to an uptick in cases – mandating that all nonessential stores remain closed and that all citizens download a virus tracking application.
State Update
- All states in the U.S. will be engaged in some level of reopening their respective states as of tomorrow, when Connecticut will begin loosening its restrictions tomorrow.
- The White House released a readout on a meeting yesterday between President Trump, Vice President Pence, and all 50 of the nation's governors.
- Ohio Governor Mike DeWine removed the last of the state's mandatory restrictions, stating that they "are now moving from orders to strong recommendations."
- The state of California officially launched a cash assistance fund for undocumented immigrants that are experiencing financial hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic. The website crashed for several hours, due to overwhelming demand.
- Los Angeles County officials announced that they're planning to reopen businesses by July 4th weekend.
Economic Update (as of close of the markets)
- U.S. stocks declined today, with all three indices reporting losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid by 1.6%, the S&P 500 by 1.0%, and the Nasdaq Composite by 0.5%.
Latest Impact Data
- In the United States: Over 1,569,187 cases and 93,451 deaths in 50 states, 4 territories, and Washington, D.C.
- Worldwide: Over 4,979,923 million cases and 324,417 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------------------------------