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Delivery of Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) [Updated October 6, 2020]
From the Document: "To mitigate the financial hardship many Americans are experiencing during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136). A critical element of the aid package is direct payments to certain individuals in 2020. The payments are referred to as 'recovery rebates' in Section 2201 of the act, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) refers to them as 'economic impact payments' (EIPs) in the information about the payments it sends to the general public. [...] This Insight summarizes the delivery of EIPs so far and identifies issues that have delayed the delivery of payments to certain low-income individuals."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Guenther, Gary L.
2020-10-06
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Federal Oil and Gas Revenue: Actions Needed to Improve BLM's Royalty Relief Policy, Statement of Frank Rusco, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives
From the GAO (Government Accountability Office) Highlights: "BLM [Bureau of Land Management] manages the federal government's onshore oil and gas program with the goals of facilitating safe and responsible energy development while providing a fair return for the American taxpayer. In April 2020, oil and gas producers faced financial challenges from a drop in demand for oil during the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic. If oil and gas prices decline, it places financial stress on oil and gas companies, thereby increasing bankruptcies and the risk of wells being shut down. BLM developed a temporary policy to provide oil and gas companies relief from royalties that they owe to the federal government when they sell oil and gas produced on federal lands. This testimony discusses (1) BLM's development of the temporary policy for royalty relief and what is known about the policy's effects, and (2) BLM's implementation of this policy across relevant states. To do this work, GAO reviewed BLM documents; analyzed royalty data; and interviewed BLM officials from headquarters and the five BLM state offices with jurisdiction over states that account for 94 percent of royalties from oil and gas production on federal lands."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-10-06
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COVID-19 Relief Assistance to Small Businesses: Issues and Policy Options [Updated October 6, 2020]
From the Summary: "The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) administers several types of programs to support small businesses, including direct disaster loan programs for businesses, homeowners, and renters; loan guaranty and venture capital programs; management and technical assistance training programs; and contracting programs. Congressional interest in these programs has always been high, primarily because small businesses are viewed as a means to stimulate economic activity and create jobs, but it has become especially acute in the wake of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic's widespread adverse economic impact on the national economy. This report provides a brief description of the SBA's programs and examines congressional action to assist small businesses during and immediately following the Great Recession (2007- 2009) and during the COVID-19 pandemic."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Dilger, Robert Jay, 1954-; Lindsay, Bruce R.; Lowry, Sean
2020-10-06
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Long Covid: Reviewing the Science and Assessing the Risk
From the Overview: "There is still much we don't know about the risk of Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019]. We know people who are poor, elderly or have underlying conditions have higher risks of death. Public understanding of the risks, combined with the style and content of the messaging and the perceived trustworthiness of the source of the information, will all improve the level of compliance with measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing. [...] In this paper, we combine data from the Covid Symptom Study with emerging evidence from the broader scientific community to understand what we do and - as importantly - don't know about those suffering with long-term symptoms of Covid-19. The Covid Symptom Study is unique as it has one of the largest sample sizes of Covid-19 studies with more than 4 million participants, but it is important to note that the data is collected and analysed based on self-reported symptoms recorded through an app. New findings from the study, which will be published in full by King's College later this month, indicate that around 10 per cent of those taking part in the survey had symptoms of long Covid for a month, with between 1.5 and 2 per cent still experiencing them after three months."
Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
Sleat, Daniel; Wain, Ryan; Miller, Brianna
2020-10-05
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Potential FEMA Emergency Sheltering Options During the COVID-19 Pandemic [Updated October 5, 2020]
From the Document: "Some hazards (e.g., hurricanes, wildfires) may result in evacuations and displacement of survivors. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), state, local, tribal, and territorial governments (SLTTs) are responsible for coordinating emergency sheltering after a declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act; 42 U.S.C. §§5121 et seq.). However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and FEMA acknowledge that the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may complicate efforts to provide emergency sheltering. This Insight discusses emergency sheltering models used by FEMA, COVID-19-related emergency sheltering policies, and challenges faced by SLTTs supporting emergency sheltering during the COVID-19 pandemic, and policy considerations for Congress."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Webster, Elizabeth M.; Lee, Erica A.
2020-10-05
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Small Businesses and COVID-19: Relief and Assistance Resources [Updated October 5, 2020]
From the Document: "This CRS [Congressional Research Service] Insight presents selected websites and CRS products potentially relevant to small businesses that are directly affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and seeking economic relief and assistance."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Kreiser, Maria
2020-10-05
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MMWR Early Release: Adolescent with COVID-19 as the Source of an Outbreak at a 3-Week Family Gathering -- Four States, June-July 2020
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [It] is the agency's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations. This early release issue of MMWR contains the following article: "Adolescent with COVID-19 as the Source of an Outbreak at a 3-Week Family Gathering - Four States, June-July 2020." Notifiable Diseases and Mortality Tables from this issue can be accessed at the following link [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index2020.html].
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
2020-10-05
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Executive Order 13954: Saving Lives Through Increased Support for Mental- and Behavioral-Health Needs
From Section 1: "My Administration is committed to preventing the tragedy of suicide, ending the opioid crisis, and improving mental and behavioral health. Before the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic, these urgent issues were prioritized through significant initiatives, including the President's Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS), expanded access to medication-assisted treatment and life-saving naloxone, and budget requests for significant investments in the funding of evidence-based treatment for mental- and behavioral-health needs."
United States. Office of the Federal Register
Trump, Donald, 1946-
2020-10-03
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COVIDView: A Weekly Surveillance Summary of U.S. COVID-19 Activity, Week 40, [October 3, 2020]
From the Document: "Nationally, indicators that track COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] activity continued to decline or remain stable (change of ≤0.1%). However, one region reported a slight increase in the percentage of specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2] and four regions reported slight increases in the percentage of visits for influenza-like illness (ILI). Mortality attributed to COVID-19 declined but remains above the epidemic threshold."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
2020-10-03
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By the Numbers: Lost Wages Assistance Totals [October 2, 2020]
From the Document: "On August 8, 2020, President Trump made available up to $44 billion from FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to Americans who have lost wages due to the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic." This document contains a break down of funds awarded by state.
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2020-10-02
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MMWR Early Release: Case Series of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adults Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Infection -- United Kingdom and United States, March-August 2020
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [It] is the agency's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations. This early release issue of MMWR contains the following article: "MMWR Early Release: Case Series of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adults Associated with SARS-CoV-2 [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2] Infection -- United Kingdom and United States, March-August 2020." Notifiable Diseases and Mortality Tables from this issue can be accessed at the following link [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index2020.html].
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
2020-10-02
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FEMA Advisory: By the Numbers: Coronavirus Pandemic Whole-Of-America Response (October 2, 2020)
From the Document: "[1] As of Sept. 27, FEMA, HHS [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] and the private sector coordinated delivery of or are currently shipping: 249 million N95 masks, 1.1 billion surgical and procedural masks, 46.7 million eye and face shields, 432 million gowns and coveralls and over 28.6 billion gloves. [2] As of Aug. 7, FEMA delivered 30,458 medical supplies to nursing homes to 52 states and territories. One hundred percent of scheduled shipments have been made."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2020-10-02
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FEMA Advisory: Coronavirus Pandemic Whole-Of-America Response 'By the Numbers' Update (October 2, 2020)
From the Document: "[This] is the third of three 'By the Numbers' updates, this week, for the Whole-of-America coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic response underway. This 'By the Numbers' update relates to Medical Supplies and Equipment; Testing; Federal Funding; and Additional Federal Support as well as the latest Lost Wages Assistance Totals."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2020-10-02
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MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, October 2, 2020
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [It] is the agency's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations. This issue of MMWR contains the following: "Infant Homicides Within the Context of Safe Haven Laws -- United States, 2008-2017"; "Influenza and Tdap Vaccination Coverage Among Pregnant Women -- United States, April 2020"; "CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] Deployments to State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Health Departments for COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] Emergency Public Health Response -- United States, January 21-July 25, 2020"; "Changing Age Distribution of the COVID-19 Pandemic -- United States, May-August 2020"; "COVID-19 Trends Among School-Aged Children -- United States, March 1-September 19, 2020"; "Multiple COVID-19 Clusters on a University Campus -- North Carolina, August 2020"; "Recent Increase in COVID-19 Cases Reported Among Adults Aged 18-22 Years -- United States, May 31-September 5, 2020"; "'Notes from the Field': Botulism Type B After Intravenous Methamphetamine Use -- New Jersey, 2020"; "Correction and Republication: Deaths and Years of Potential Life Lost From Excessive Alcohol Use -- United States, 2011-2015"; and "'QuickStats:' Age-Adjusted Pedestrian Death Rates, by Race/Ethnicity -- National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2009 and 2018." Notifiable Diseases and Mortality Tables from this issue can be accessed at the following link [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index2020.html].
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
2020-10-02
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Small Business Administration: COVID-19 Loans Lack Controls and Are Susceptible to Fraud, Statement of William B. Shear, Director, Financial Markets and Community Investment, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations, Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives
From the Highlights: "SBA [Small Business Administration] has made or guaranteed more than 14.5 million loans and grants through PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] and EIDL [Economic Injury Disaster Loans], providing about $729 billion to help small businesses adversely affected by COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019]. However, the speed with which SBA implemented the programs may have increased their susceptibility to fraud. This testimony discusses fraud risks associated with SBA's PPP and EIDL programs. It is based largely on GAO's reports in June 2020 (GAO-20-625) and September 2020 (GAO-20-701) that addressed the federal response, including by SBA, to the economic downturn caused by COVID-19."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Shear, William B.
2020-10-01
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COVID-19 Vaccine Predictions: Using Mathematical Modelling and Expert Opinions to Estimate Timelines and Probabilities of Success of COVID-19 Vaccines
From the Abstract: "We collected publicly available information, interviewed experts, and used our diverse range of expertise to analyse and model the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] vaccine portfolio. There is significant uncertainty surrounding the development, approval and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines. We find that the chances of developing a safe and efficacious vaccine are high but it will not occur in the immediate future, and it is unlikely to be the silver bullet that resolves the pandemic and returns our world to normal. Using inputs generated from expert interviews, our modelling suggests that there is a 50 percent chance that by the end of April 2021 there will be a vaccine safe and efficacious enough to win approval from a stringent regulator; by the end of 2021, this rises to 85 percent. Inputs more optimistic or pessimistic than those we gained through expert interviews lead to very different results."
Center for Global Development
McDonnell, Anthony; Van Exan, Robert; Chalkidou, Kalipso . . .
2020-10
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Face Masks, Public Policies and Slowing the Spread of COVID-19: Evidence from Canada
From the Abstract: "We estimate the impact of mask mandates and other non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) on COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] case growth in Canada, including regulations on businesses and gatherings, school closures, travel and self-isolation, and long-term care homes. We partially account for behavioral responses using Google mobility data. Our identification approach exploits variation in the timing of indoor face mask mandates staggered over two months in the 34 public health regions in Ontario, Canada's most populous province. We find that, in the first few weeks after implementation, mask mandates are associated with a reduction of 25 percent in the weekly number of new COVID-19 cases. Additional analysis with province-level data provides corroborating evidence. Counterfactual policy simulations suggest that mandating indoor masks nationwide in early July could have reduced the weekly number of new cases in Canada by 25 to 40 percent in mid-August, which translates into 700 to 1,100 fewer cases per week."
National Bureau of Economic Research
Karaivanov, Alexander; En Lu, Shih; Shigeoka, Hitoshi . . .
2020-10
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Open Data: Agencies Need Guidance to Establish Comprehensive Data Inventories; Information on Their Progress is Limited, Report to Congressional Addresses
From the GAO (Government Accountability Office) Highlights: "Federal agencies create and collect large amounts of data in support of fulfilling their missions. Public access to open data--data that are free to use, modify, and share--holds great promise for promoting government transparency and engendering public trust. Access to open data is particularly important in the current pandemic environment as government agencies, scientists, and the public work to understand and respond to COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] using data-focused approaches. The OPEN [Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary] Government Data Act includes a provision for GAO to report on federal agencies' comprehensive data inventories. This report examines the extent to which 1) OMB [Office of Management and Budget], GSA [General Services Administration], and NARA [National Archives and Records Administration] met their statutory requirements to facilitate the establishment of federal agencies' comprehensive data inventories; and 2) CFO [Chief Financial Officer] Act agencies developed data inventories in accordance with OMB guidance. GAO reviewed agencies' websites and related documentation, and interviewed OMB staff and GSA and NARA officials."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-10
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Fighting Inequality in the Time of COVID-19: The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2020
From the Summary: "This is the third edition of the CRI [Commitment to Reducing Inequality] Index, which ranks 158 governments across the world on their commitment to reducing inequality. It measures government policies and actions in three areas that are proven to be directly related to reducing inequality: 1. Public services (health, education and social protection); 2. Taxation ;3. Workers' rights. While these three thematic pillars remain unchanged, the 2020 CRI Index has seen significant changes in methodology from 2018. Each pillar now contains three levels of indicator: 1. Policy commitment indicators: these measure the commitment of governments through their policies (which may not always be implemented in practice); 2. Coverage or implementation indicators: these look at who is covered (or not) as a result of policy actions, or how well a government puts policies on paper into practice; 3. Impact indicators: these measure the impact of policy actions on levels of inequality. These changes to the index's methodology mean that a straight comparison between the scores of a country in the 2020 index and those for 2018 may not give an accurate picture of that country's performance. For this reason, our analysis of change focuses on concrete policy changes since the 2018 index."
Oxfam International; Development Finance International (Organization)
Martin, Matthew; Walker, Jo, 1976-; Lawson, Max (Policy scientist)
2020-10
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EMR-ISAC: InfoGram, Volume 20 Issue 40, October 1, 2020
The Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center's (EMR-ISAC) InfoGram is a weekly publication of information concerning the protection of critical infrastructures relevant to members of the Emergency Services Sector. This issue includes the following sections: "White powder envelope sent to city council member contains fentanyl"; "Fire Adapted Communities can reduce firefighter fatalities and injuries"; "FEMA requests public feedback on NIMS [National Incident Management System] EMS [Emergency Medical Services] resources"; "Examining Housing and Shelter Systems in Disasters During COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019]"; "FBI says hackers want to stoke doubt about the 2020 election"; "National Cybersecurity Awareness Month: #BeCyberSmart"; and "911 lines down in 14 states this week, technical cause unknown."
Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (U.S.)
2020-10-01
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What Can the United States Do to Prevent Another Pandemic? Commit to Modernizing Influenza Vaccines
From the Issue: "The Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has laid bare the acute vulnerabilities in the United States' health security policies and capacities. While the Covid-19 crisis is far from over, we cannot afford to be complacent about what has long been understood to be a principal health security threat: influenza viruses. [...] To address this threat, there are concrete steps the United States should take to combat chronic challenges with influenza vaccines. The United States should strongly support universal influenza vaccine (UIV) development. Until UIV is achieved, the United States should take specific steps to embrace the modernization of seasonal influenza vaccine production, boost vaccine demand and confidence, and ensure close collaboration with partners in the global influenza system."
Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, D.C.)
Hayes, Madison
2020-10
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Race, Health, and COVID-19: The Views and Experiences of Black Americans
From the Introduction: "Racial disparities in health and health care have been longstanding and persistent in the United States. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, African Americans were experiencing lower rates of health insurance coverage, increased barriers to accessing health care, and worse health outcomes compared to their White counterparts. Black adults in the U.S. also face social and economic inequities, including higher rates of unemployment, that play a major role in shaping health. Beyond these factors, research shows that historic abuse and mistreatment of communities of color by the medical system and ongoing racism and discrimination drive disparities in health, contributing to lower quality of care, distrust of the health care system, and stress and trauma. Reflecting these experiences, KFF [Kaiser Family Foundation] surveys dating back to 1999 have documented a gap in trust of health care providers between Black and White Americans. The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has drawn new attention to and compounded these existing disparities in health and health care. [...] This work builds on KFF's long history of documenting racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care, as well as our history of using surveys to document the views and experiences of African Americans on broader issues of race, culture, and discrimination in partnership with media organizations like CNN [Cable News Network] and The Washington Post."
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Hamel, Liz; Muñana, Cailey; Artiga, Samantha . . .
2020-10
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COVID-19 and the US Criminal Justice System: Evidence for Public Health Measures to Reduce Risk
From the Introduction: "Since its recognition as a pandemic in early 2020, novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has touched nearly every corner of US society. However, some populations and environments have been affected far more severely than others. [...] This report, from scholars at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is intended to summarize the current state and future projections of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, detail the impact that the pandemic has already had on the US criminal justice system, and provide evidence-based recommendations on how to reduce COVID-19 risks to people in the system. This document was requested by the National Commission on COVID-19 and the Criminal Justice System to inform their discussion and deliberation on this topic."
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Center for Health Security; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Center for Public Health and Human Rights
Watson, Crystal; Warmbrod, Lane; Cicero, Anita . . .
2020-10
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Our Vote 2020: 20 Ways to Secure a Full and Fair Election During the Coronavirus Pandemic
From the Summary: "The 2020 General Election is just over a month away. As the ongoing coronavirus pandemic jeopardizes the safety of in-person voting and President Trump raises unfounded objections to absentee voting, the American promise of free and fair elections is under threat. This report outlines 20 things that individual voters, employers, local governments, and state governments can still do now to secure the upcoming election."
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Oversight and Reform. Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
2020-10
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Effective Resilience and National Strategy: Lessons from the Pandemic and Requirements for Key Critical Infrastructures
From the Executive Summary: "The coronavirus pandemic has generated enormous health and economic costs to the United States and exposed significant security vulnerabilities, particularly in the cyber and biological arenas. The resilient capabilities of the health, economic, and security sectors have been inadequate to the challenges. American deaths from the pandemic have far exceeded the combined total of lives lost in the conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The economy has suffered the greatest reverses since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The long-standing US strategies of overseas engagement and forward defense have had little relevance to a pandemic that is here in the United States affecting individuals, businesses, and governance. While the National Security Strategy identifies combating pandemics and promoting resilience as strategic objectives, the costs from the coronavirus have been far higher than the United States would have expected or should tolerate. The enormous challenges presented by the virus are reflective of a broader spectrum of resilience risks facing the United States. Since the turn of the century, three converging factors--the ever-increasing reliance on information and communications technology, the globalization of supply chains, and the rise of China as a competitor--have created vulnerabilities that have put the United States at increasing risk. Along with the biological and health risks that the pandemic has exposed, these vulnerabilities call for an expanded focus on resilience as a key element of US strategy."
Atlantic Council of the United States
Kramer, Franklin D., 1945-
2020-10
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COVID-19 and the Future of US Fertility: What Can We Learn from Google?
From the Abstract: "We use data from Google Trends to predict the effect of the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic on future births in the United States. First, we show that periods of above-normal search volume for Google keywords relating to conception and pregnancy in US states are associated with higher numbers of births in the following months. Excess searches for unemployment keywords have the opposite effect. Second, by employing simple statistical learning techniques, we demonstrate that including information on keyword search volumes in prediction models significantly improves forecast accuracy over a number of cross-validation criteria. Third, we use data on Google searches during the COVID-19 pandemic to predict changes in aggregate fertility rates in the United States at the state level through February 2021. Our analysis suggests that between November 2020 and February 2021, monthly US births will drop sharply by approximately 15%. For context, this would be a 50% larger decline than that following the Great Recession of 2008-2009, and similar in magnitude to the declines following the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 and the Great Depression."
IZA Institute of Labor Economics
Wilde, Joshua; Chen, Wei; Lohmann, Sophie
2020-10
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Gender Gap in Aversion to COVID-19 Exposure: Evidence from Professional Tennis
From the Abstract: "We study the gender differences in aversion to COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] exposure. We use a natural experiment of the 2020 US Open, which was organized in the country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, and was the first major professional tennis tournament that was held after the season had been paused for six months. We analyze the gender gap in the propensity to voluntarily withdraw because of COVID-19 concerns among players who were eligible and fit to play. We find that female players were significantly more likely than male players to have withdrawn from the 2020 US Open. While players from countries characterized by relatively high levels of trust and patience and relatively low levels of risk-taking were more likely to have withdrawn than their counterparts from other countries, female players exhibited significantly higher levels of aversion to pandemic exposure than male players even after cross-country differences in preferences are accounted for. About 15% of the probability of withdrawing that is explained by our model can be attributed to gender."
IZA Institute of Labor Economics
Lewandowski, Piotr; Kowalik, Zuzanna
2020-10
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Work, Care and Gender During the COVID-19 Crisis [October 2020]
From the Abstract: "We explore impacts of the pandemic crisis and associated restrictions to economic activity on paid and unpaid work for men and women in the UK. Using data from the Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] supplement of Understanding Society, we find evidence that labour market outcomes of men and women were roughly equally affected at the extensive margin, as measured by the incidence of job loss or furloughing, but if anything women suffered smaller losses at the intensive margin, experiencing slightly smaller changes in hours and earnings. Within the household, women provided on average a larger share of increased childcare needs, but in an important share of households fathers became the primary childcare providers. These distributional consequences of the pandemic may be important to understand its inequality legacy over the longer term."
IZA Institute of Labor Economics
Hupkau, Claudia; Petrongolo, B. (Barbara)
2020-10
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Determinants of the Community Mobility During the COVID-19 Epidemic: The Role of Government Regulations and Information
From the Abstract: "This paper studies the dynamics of human mobility during the initial stage of the COVID19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic in countries around the world. The main goal of the analysis is to empirically separate voluntary reductions in mobility driven by the information about the location-specific pandemic trends from the effects of the government-imposed social distancing mandates. Google human mobility dataset is used to track the dynamics of mobility across a wide range of categories (e.g. workplace, retail and recreational activities, etc), while information on country-specific counts of COVID-19 cases and deaths is used as a proxy for the information about the spread of the pandemic available to the population. A detailed index of stringency of the government-imposed social distancing policies in around 100 countries is used as a measure of government response. We find that human mobility does respond in a significant way to the information about the spread of the pandemic. This channel can explain about 14% of the overall reduction in mobility across the affected countries. At the same time, our results imply that government-imposed policies account for the majority of the reduction in the mobility observed during this period."
IZA Institute of Labor Economics
Mendolia, Silvia; Stavrunova, Olena; Yerokhin, Oleg
2020-10
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How to Remove the Testing Bias in CoV-2 Statistics
From the Abstract: "Public health measures and private behaviour are based on reported numbers of SARS-CoV-2 [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2] infections. Some argue that testing influences the confirmed number of infections. [...] Do time series on reported infections and the number of tests allow one to draw conclusions about actual infection numbers? A SIR [susceptible-infectious-removed] model is presented where the true numbers of susceptible, infectious and removed individuals are unobserved. Testing is also modelled. [...] Official confirmed infection numbers are likely to be biased and cannot be compared over time. The bias occurs because of different reasons for testing (e.g. by symptoms, representative or testing travellers). The paper illustrates the bias and works out the effect of the number of tests on the number of reported cases. The paper also shows that the positive rate (the ratio of positive tests to the total number of tests) is uninformative in the presence of non-representative testing."
IZA Institute of Labor Economics
Wälde, Klaus
2020-10
