Weekly COVID-19 News Update

$2 Trillion Stimulus

On March 27, the President signed the $2 trillion CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) of 2020 to “provide emergency assistance and health care response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.” This stimulus package is designed to help the ailing economy and ease the burden on families and workers. 

For economic developers, the bill contains many items of interest. Restore Your Economy has a breakdown of the bill and the programs it funds that will affect economic developers. (You can also view this breakdown as a PDF here).  

Federal Social Distancing Guidelines Extended

The President announced over the weekend that social distancing guidelines will be extended to April 30.  The measure was taken after Dr. Anthony Fauci – the country's leading expert on infectious diseases – warned that the US could face more than 100,000 deaths and millions of COVID-19 infections. Over the weekend, the CDC also issued an advisory, encouraging residents of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut not to travel domestically.

Instacart and Amazon Strike 

Workers who are on the front lines of delivering goods to consumers do not feel as if they are being protected and are striking for safer working conditions along with hazard pay. Instacart workers are striking across the country, while Amazon workers at a distribution center in New Jersey are striking to protest what they see as unclean conditions. Delivery services are an important link in the supply chain especially for those who cannot leave their home, like the elderly or immunocompromised. 

Industries Impacted Differently 

A global pandemic impacts different industries in different ways, as consumer’s tastes and behaviors change, and markets fluctuate. News outlets are covering brighter stories like the boom in the plant nursery industry, and looking at more stark realities such as the distress that smaller community banks are going through. 

The Wall Street Journal explains,  

“As the downturn squeezes more industries, community banks must balance helping these businesses with protecting their own bottom lines. ... The relief package also loosens the rules around community banks’ leverage ratios, which bankers say will let them free up resources during the pandemic. But that looser regulation also ‘increases the fragility of the community bank sector and makes it less likely that it can withstand another economic shock,’ said Jeremy Kress, an assistant professor of business law at the University of Michigan who researches financial regulation.”