INFORMS Open Forum

  • 1.  12-3 COVID-19 Update

    Posted 12-03-2020 19:41
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    Good evening,

    Please find today's COVID-19 Update for December 3rd below and attached. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

    Thank you,
    Jeff Cohen


     

    INFORMS Members in the News 

    Member: Sheldon Jacobson

    Member: Jagpreet Chhatwal

    Member: Jagpreet Chhatwal

    Member: Julie Swann

    Member: Ken Fordyce

     

    Federal Policy Update                                                               

    • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated on the Senate floor this morning that a "compromise [on a coronavirus relief package] is within reach." Following this statement, President Trump indicated while at a White House event that he would sign the measure currently under consideration.  
    • House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) published a statement regarding next year's congressional calendar, which also included an announcement that Congress should not depart DC for the holidays until they've enacted COVID-19 relief legislation.  
    • The Labor Department published its weekly unemployment data, finding that an additional 712,000 Americans filed for first-time jobless benefits this past week.
    • President-elect Joe Biden announced that Jeff Zients would serve as his administration's COVID-19 Response Coordinator, and that former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy would return to that role. President-elect Biden also stated this evening that he would issue a "standing order" for all Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days of his administration.
    • National Institutes of Allergy & Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci encouraged that the U.S. is being more careful with vaccine authorization as opposed to the UK – stating that "we have the gold standard of a regulatory approach with the FDA," while "the UK did not do it as carefully."
    • The Department of Defense announced that the agency would distribute vaccine record cards for hospitals and clinics to help easily track their Covid-19 vaccinations.

      

    State Update                                                                     

    • Given that the uptick in coronavirus cases has led to the state's ICU capacity dropping to 15%, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) indicated that the state government is considering announcing new COVID-19 protocols.
    • Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) published the state's new advisory system map, adding that all residents of the state should stay home except for necessary reasons.
    • Delaware Governor John Carney (D) has issued a stay-at-home advisory, which will run from December 14th through January 11th. The advisory will halt all in-person learning in schools, require people to wear masks indoors, and prohibit winter sports competitions.

     

     Global Response

    • The United Nations General Assembly kicked off a special session today focused on the global COVID-19 response. General Assembly Spokesman Brenden Varma explained that "the real point of this special session is to galvanize concrete action to approach our response to COVID-19 in a multilateral and collective way."
    • Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz announced that the country would begin to loosen its lockdown starting this upcoming Monday. However, their bars and restaurants will remain closed through January 7th and the traveler quarantine time would be extended from 7 to 10 days.
    • The Russian government announced that they would begin opening mass COVID-19 vaccination centers to distribute their Sputnik V vaccine, starting this Saturday.
    • Germany officially extended its lockdown measures, keeping all bars and restaurants closed until January 10th.
    • Greece's national lockdown – which was set to expire on December 7th – has also been extended, and will now last through December 14th.
    • French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that the country will begin its free-for-all vaccination campaign in "a matter of weeks."
    • Portuguese health officials announced that the government is planning to begin a free universal vaccination program, and would begin the first phase of its vaccine rollout in January.

     

    Economic Update

    • U.S. stocks were volatile today, with the three indices closing with mixed results. The Nasdaq Composite rose by .23%, while the S&P 500 fell by 0.06% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to 0.29%

      

    Latest Impact Data 

    • In the United States: Over 14,481, 076 cases and 282,051 deaths in 50 states, 4 territories, and Washington, D.C.
    • Worldwide: Over 65,416,463 cases and 1,509,410 deaths in at least 204 countries and territories.

     

    In the News             

     

     



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

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