Monthly Archives: March 2022

Inflation, Tax, And The COVID-19 Economy – Forbes

Posted: March 8, 2022 at 10:10 pm

Dollar moving up. Money finance growth chart graph stock market

Martin A. Sullivan, Tax Analysts chief economist, provides an overview of the U.S. economy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, explaining the drastic increase in inflation and what is needed to curb it.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I'm David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International. This week: the road to inflation.

Over the last two years, as the United States has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy has seen its share of lows and highs. At the beginning, when everything was shut down, experts were predicting a coming recession. But, as things opened up again and relief was passed, the economy seemed to bounce back rather quickly.

So much so, that now the U.S. is facing a different problem: inflation. In fact, the U.S. just posted the highest inflation number in four decades. As the country looks to emerge on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic, one question keeps popping up: What, if anything, needs to be done to keep inflation in check?

Here to talk more about this is Tax Analysts' chief economist and contributing editor Martin Sullivan. Marty, welcome back to the podcast.

Martin A. Sullivan: Thanks for having me, David.

David D. Stewart: Before we delve into the economy since the COVID-19 pandemic, let's take a step back. Could you tell us what the economy looked like before COVID-19?

Martin A. Sullivan: It's really important to do that because you really can't understand what's going on with COVID-19 until you understand what was going on before COVID-19.

Let's review some amazing facts about the economy before COVID-19. Before COVID-19, interest rates were incredibly low. They dropped from 12 percent to 14 percent in the mid 1980s to about 2 percent in the current environment. The economy was growing at a much slower rate than over the historical post-war period.

Instead of growing at 3.3 percent and 1.5 percent, as it did from 1945 to 2010, it was growing at 2 percent. That was very strange because we had very expansionary fiscal policy. We were running huge deficits, and also we had very expansionary monetary policy. The Fed was buying bonds all over the place.

What was going on, and what was very hard to understand, was that we were stepping on the gas with fiscal policy and monetary policy, but we were still going only 15 miles an hour. This caused a lot of top economists to start thinking, "Maybe we're entering an era of long term stagnation like Japan had."

If you recall, Japan had two decades of zero growth. The low interest rates are an indication of that. A very important factor that people forget about are low birth rates equals low population growth. Economic growth depends on capital, it depends on productivity, but also depends on people, and when there are less people in the workforce, economic growth slows down.

Where did that leave us before COVID-19? Well, we were looking at a high debt-to-GDP ratio. The federal debt was very high, but interest rates were very low. The net cost of supporting our debt actually went down. What economists were talking about was the need to greatly expand fiscal policy. To increase deficits contrary to what you always hear you need to reduce the deficit, because the Fed couldn't reduce interest rates any lower.

On the eve of COVID-19, which was March 2020, we were looking at slow growth. We were looking at if anything increasing our deficit in order to expand the economy, but then came COVID-19.

David D. Stewart: Let's turn to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We actually had you on the podcast in March 2020, just at the beginning of the pandemic, right at the time our offices shut down. You did say you saw a recession coming. How did your prediction play out?

Martin A. Sullivan: Well, I don't remember the timing on my prediction, but what I would like to emphasize is that the economic events that took place in March 2020 were absolutely unprecedented. The reduction in jobs was 25 million people were out of work. The reduction in GDP was enormous. We had in 2007 to 2009 what we called, "The Great Recession." That was one-third the size of the job losses and the reduction in GDP that you saw during COVID-19.

It's just absolutely amazing, unprecedented, and it should not be swept under the rug that the economic effects of COVID-19 were just like nothing we'd ever seen before. But then we had the government response, which was also like nothing we've ever seen before.

Concept of economic recession during the coronavirus crisis, downtrend stock and man with mask ... [+] background

David D. Stewart: Let's look at that. We saw Congress react in a big way with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in April 2020. Looking back now, what was the impact of that historical package on the economy?

Martin A. Sullivan: It's actually a very interesting story, or as interesting as economics can be. When you go to economic school, they teach you government is usually so slow about responding to recessions. There's a recession in March and maybe by December they'll get around to doing something.

Not this time. Congress and the president acted with remarkable swiftness with the CARES Act and other associated legislation, which greatly increased transfer payments and support to businesses very, very quickly. You have to give the government very, very high marks for the rapidity of their response to the recession.

David D. Stewart: Looking toward the end of that year, it seemed the economy was bouncing back. Could you tell us about how things looked at that point? Were we seeing inflation then?

Martin A. Sullivan: Right. Let's just remember it was March 2020 when COVID-19 hit and we all left our offices and so forth. During 2020, Congress passed a series of four or five laws pumping lots of money into the economy. The snapback was almost as remarkable as the decline.

The 25 million jobs that were lost almost entirely came back. Employment levels were still low, but most of that deficit in employment snapped back. Same thing with GDP; it snapped back at an incredibly high rate.

Immediately following the monumental amazing shock to the economy, the economy snapped back most of the way. The stock market, which declined by 30 percent with COVID-19, by November 4, 2020, had entirely bounced back. Before COVID-19, the Dow was at about 30,000 high, and it's about 34,000 now.

We have housing prices up, we have stock market up, we have the economy almost back to normal. There was an amazing comeback right after the initial shock.

David D. Stewart: Were there signs of inflation at that point?

Martin A. Sullivan: Very interesting. I was making a presentation to a class at Georgetown, and I was surprised to see that there was no significant increase in inflation in 2020. It didn't happen. It didn't really start to kick in until a little later.

Here's the other amazing fact that I stumbled upon. Remember I told you that there was this enormous decline in employment and this enormous decline in GDP, which is the way we normally measure the economy? But you know what didn't decline was personal income.

What is personal income? Personal income is money that people have, disposable income that households have. During the great contraction caused by the pandemic, personal income actually went up. It was just so stunning to me that could possibly be true. The reason it was true was that personal income has two components.

One is market income. That is wages, what you get from working, and what you might get from dividends and so forth. That went down. But more than compensating for that were government transfer payments. The government pumped into the economy over $650 billion in one quarter.

Certainly not everybody was better off, but if you look at the economy as a whole, the economy was better off because of the incredible injection of this massive amount of money into the economy. This is all happening in 2020, and there's no inflation yet. That's a remarkable turn of events for a nine-month period.

David D. Stewart: All right, so then turning to last March. A new president is in office and we have the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, which we also had you on the podcast to discuss.

A year ago you said that additional stimulus was needed, but you said that maybe it was too much for the economy. What are your thoughts on that package now looking back a year later?

Martin A. Sullivan: Well, the CARES Act, the 2020 assistance, injected a great amount of stimulus into the economy and increased personal income. So then we get to the beginning of 2021 with the Biden administration, and now the economy's almost recovered, depending on where you look at it, and now we do another massive injection into the economy.

US President Joe Biden speaks about the Child Tax Credit relief payments that are part of the ... [+] American Rescue Plan during an event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, July 15, 2021. - The payments are schedule to start going out to families on July 15, 2021. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

What happens is even though the economy is recovering, we have another massive injection, and there's so much money in the economy that people aren't able to spend it. People are saving it. There was a massive increase in savings that occurred during this period. That is at the beginning of 2021, and this is when inflation started.

The story you can tell is that the first round of relief from the pandemic, the CARES Act and associated legislation, was sort of necessary to get the economy back on its feet and did not create inflationary pressure. But then ARPA gave us another jolt, but it was in the aggregate. Certainly many individuals needed it, but in the aggregate was too much for the economy, and that's what caused inflation.

Before COVID-19, the average U.S. citizen man, woman, and child on average had about $3,000 of cash, let's say in the checking accounts. After these injections from the CARES Act in 2020 and from ARPA in 2021, the average American had $11,000 in their checking account.

Trying to put it in plain human terms, again, this is an average, obviously there's a lot of variation around that average, but if you were walking around saying, "Oh, I need about $3,000 in my account. That's the buffer I like to have." Then all of a sudden you have $11,000, something's going on.

The story that you can tell, which makes sense when you look at all of the data, is that people have more money than they can spend on average, and that's what's driving inflation up. In an incredible development, the amount of checkable deposits held by households in the United States in a 12-month period went from $1 trillion to $3 trillion after being at $1 trillion consistently for a decade. Just an enormous increase.

This pent-up savings is creating this inflationary pressure, and until those savings are dissipated, we probably will continue to have the inflationary pressure. What could cause that to dissipate is that people need to be able to spend that money.

I use the example, I was cleaning my stove a few months ago, and somehow, when I turned on the automatic cleaning button, basically my stove blew up. Now I don't have a stove. I want to order a new stove, but I can't get one. I can't even see one until next April. There's just pent-up demand. The stove manufacturers are not going to reduce their prices in that circumstance.

That's a case study, but the data reflects that throughout the economy. People have a lot of spending power, they don't have any place to spend it, and that's driving up prices.

Again, I want to stress, obviously low-income families may not be in this situation, where they need every dollar they have and they're spending every dollar that they have because they're living hand to mouth. But in general, there is this pent-up inflationary demand.

David D. Stewart: Is the microchip shortage that we heard a lot about part of this problem?

Workers assemble laptop computer on the assembly line at Hasee Computer company's manufacturing ... [+] center in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. Hasee Computer Company is ranked third among China's domestic PC makers and has ambitious plans of being number one after a period of rapid expansion since shifting in to PC manufacturing after years of being a components producer for several large global PC makers. Hasee is just one of many companies in the Pearl River Delta that is attempting to shift in to higher end production, which in turn is rejuvenating the region as not just a sweat shop for export, but a high tech manufacturing center. (Photo by Ryan Pyle/Corbis via Getty Images)

Martin A. Sullivan: Yeah. All of the shortages the microchip, gasoline it all contributes.

What we have going on with the pandemic is both the supply side and the demand side problem. The demand side is we have too much demand. That's what I was talking about, where the average person went from $3,000 to $11,000 in their bank account, and that is a lot of extra demand in the economy.

Then we have supply chain shortages, like the chips, which actually predated the pandemic, that's also going to contribute to inflation. You have both of those things going on at the same time.

The way out of this is either to reduce demand, so let's have a big tax increase. No, I'm just kidding. Obviously that's not going to happen.

The way out of this is for the supply chains to get fixed to allow me to buy my oven, to get those computer chips to the car manufacturers in Detroit. Until folks are able to use up that extraordinary excess amount of saving that's been built up, we'll probably continue to have inflationary pressures.

David D. Stewart: Now, you jokingly mentioned a tax solution to this problem, but are there policy measures that can be implemented that would reduce these inflationary pressures? Maybe not confiscating $8,000 out of everybody's bank account in order to get us back to the original number, but what sort of policy measures can be taken to get us out of this inflationary cycle?

Martin A. Sullivan: Of course, you just turn on your business news station, you will immediately hear about the Fed going to increase interest rates, and that will almost certainly happen throughout the remainder of this year. That will somewhat reduce demand because for folks who are buying on credit, the interest rate will be lower. Folks who are buying houses, the interest rate will be lower. Also, the stock market wealth will go down and people will have less money to spend.

But the other way, and I think the more important but politically impossible way, is to actually increase taxes that would reduce consumption, or absorb that savings.

So, as you say, again, massively oversimplifying in the aggregate, but if we confiscated that $8,000 in everybody's bank account, then that would probably eliminate the inflationary pressure that we're now experiencing. But again, that's just not going to happen.

David D. Stewart: Right. What are you expecting out of the next few years for inflation? I know at the beginning we were told this is transient. This is not going to last very long. Are we looking at a period of 7-percent-plus inflation for a few years, or is this something that will come back to normal levels?

Martin A. Sullivan: Let's break it into two parts. The first thing I would say is that over time, that mythical $11,000 I'm talking about will get spent. When I can buy my oven, as the supply chains loosen up and meet people's demand, as restaurants open up again, as people start taking vacations again, that will reduce that inflationary pressure.

I played with some ballpark calculations. In a year or two that will sort of work its way out of the economy. It all depends on how fast the economy can fix the supply side problems. The good news is we don't need any government policies to do that because business wants to figure out how to fix these problems. The free market will fix these problems. As soon as that happens, inflation should settle down.

What we haven't mentioned so far is this problem from the 1970s, my era, when we had what was called a "wage price spiral." Let's say all the inflationary pressure goes away that I was talking about, but people just start getting so used to inflation that when I'm setting my prices at my local store, I'm just always increasing them by 5 percent or 10 percent because I expect that to happen. When I'm negotiating my wages, I'm always negotiating 5 percent or 10 percent more because I just expect that to happen.

What we don't want is inflation to last so long that people have this sort of built into their expectations. That would be a very bad development. There's no reason necessarily to expect that, but that could happen.

David D. Stewart: Well, Marty, this has been fascinating. Thank you for joining me.

Martin A. Sullivan: Hey, thank you for having me.

COVID 19 Guidance – The Seattle U Newsroom – News, stories and more

Posted: at 10:10 pm

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

With Omicron cases continuing to decline, we are seeing an easing of COVID-related restrictions in our county and state. As you know, the State of Washington is lifting its indoor face covering mandate for schools and businesses on Saturday, March 12. As we continue to follow public health guidance, the university likewise has decided to end its indoor masking requirement. However, this change will not go into effect until Monday, March 21. Until then, the universitys current face covering policy must be followed.

Following are more specifics on the coming change to our masking guidelines, as well as updates to our Safe Start Health Check requirement, guidance on gatherings and entry testing.

Face coverings

- For Seattle University, this applies to the Student Health Center, on-campus COVID testing sites and at clinical sites where masking requirements will remain in effect.

- In addition, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Disability Services and the Athletic Training Room will continue to require face coverings after March 21.

- Otherwise, no departments or offices should put in place face covering protocols that are more restrictive than the universitys policy.

Members of the SU community are encouraged to evaluate their personal level of risk in determining whether to wear a face covering. As a reminder, community members can access masks through the university, including KN95s, through their designated contact.

Updates to Safe Start Health Check, event guidelines and entry testing for Spring Quarter

Entering a new phase with hope and vigilance

While many welcome the opportunity to remove face coverings and lift other COVID-related guidelines, we all know that COVID is and will continue to be a part of our lives for the foreseeable future. The hope is that by continuing to do our part we can help manage it in a way that does not disrupt our daily lives. Staying up to date on vaccinations is one of the most effective measures we can take to keep the virus and its most serious effects at bay. If you havent done so already, please register your booster. The deadline is April 1.

And while the current numbers are trending in the right direction, the virus has been known to change course and impact our plans. If a new variant emerges, it may require us to pivot and reinstate policies and guidelines in such areas as face coverings, health screenings and events. As has been true for the past two years, we will continue to prioritize the well-being of our campus community, follow the latest public health guidance and make any adjustments that are needed to our COVID response.

Thank you for continuing to care for one another and for all that you do for Seattle University.

Sincerely,

Shane P. Martin, PhD, ProvostCo-Chair, Seattle University Opening Task Force

Timothy P. Leary, PhD, Executive Vice PresidentCo-Chair, Seattle University Opening Task Force

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Official COVID-19 death toll tops 6 million as pandemic ebbs in many places but roars on in others – CBS News

Posted: at 10:09 pm

The official global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 6 million on Monday - underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.

The milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is the latest tragic reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe.

Remote Pacific islands, whose isolation had protected them for more than two years, are just now grappling with their first outbreaks and deaths, fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Hong Kong, which is seeing deaths soar, is testing its entire population of 7.5 million three times this month as it clings to mainland China's "zero-COVID" strategy.

As death rates remain high in Poland, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries, the region has seen more than 1.5 million refugees arrive from war-torn Ukraine, a country with poor vaccination coverage and high rates of cases and deaths.

And despite its wealth and vaccine availability, the United States is nearing 1 million reported deaths on its own.

Death rates worldwide are still highest among people unvaccinated against the virus, said Tikki Pang, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore's medical school and co-chair of the Asia Pacific Immunization Coalition.

"This is a disease of the unvaccinated - look what is happening in Hong Kong right now - the health system is being overwhelmed," said Pang, the former director of research policy and cooperation with the World Health Organization. "The large majority of the deaths and the severe cases are in the unvaccinated, vulnerable segment of the population."

It took the world seven months to record its first million deaths from the virus after the pandemic began in early 2020. Four months later another million people had died, and 1 million have died every three months since, until the death toll hit 5 million at the end of October. Now it has reached 6 million - more than the populations of Berlin and Brussels combined, or the entire state of Maryland.

But despite the enormity of the figure, the world undoubtedly hit its 6 millionth death some time ago. Poor record-keeping and testing in many parts of the world has led to an undercount in coronavirus deaths, in addition to excess deaths related to the pandemic but not from actual COVID-19 infections, like people who died from preventable causes but could not receive treatment because hospitals were full.

Edouard Mathieu, head of data for the Our World in Data portal, said that, when countries' excess mortality figures are studied, as many as nearly four times the reported death toll have likely died because of the pandemic.

An analysis of excess deaths by a team at The Economist estimates that the number of COVID-19 deaths is between 14.1 million and 23.8 million.

"Confirmed deaths represent a fraction of the true number of deaths due to COVID, mostly because of limited testing, and challenges in the attribution of the cause of death," Mathieu told The Associated Press. "In some, mostly rich countries, that fraction is high and the official tally can be considered to be fairly accurate, but in others it is highly underestimated."

The United States has the biggest official death toll in the world, but the numbers have been trending downward over the last month.

The world has seen more than 445 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and new weekly cases have been declining recently in all regions except the Western Pacific, which includes China, Japan and South Korea, among others, the World Health Organization reported this week.

Although the overall figures in the Pacific islands seeing their first outbreaks are small compared to larger countries, they are significant among their tiny populations and threaten to overwhelm fragile health care systems.

"Given what we know about COVID ... it's likely to hit them for the next year or so at least," said Katie Greenwood, head of the Red Cross Pacific delegation.

Tonga reported its first outbreak after the virus arrived with international aid vessels following the Jan. 15 eruption of a massive volcano that was followed by a tsunami. It now has several hundred cases but - with 66% of its population fully vaccinated - it has so far reported people suffering mostly mild symptoms and no deaths.

The Solomon Islands saw the first outbreak in January and now has thousands of cases and more than 100 deaths. The actual death toll is likely much higher, with the capital's hospital overwhelmed and many dying at home, Greenwood said.

Only 12% of Solomon Islanders are fully vaccinated, though the outbreak has provided new impetus to the country's vaccination campaign and 29% now have at least one shot.

Global vaccine disparity continues, with only 6.95% of people in low-income countries fully vaccinated compared to more than 73% in high-income nations, according to Our World in Data.

In a good sign, at the end of last month Africa surpassed Europe in the number of doses administered daily, but only about 12.5% of its population has received two shots.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still pressing for more vaccines, though it has been a challenge. Some shipments arrive with little warning for countries' health systems and others near the expiration date - forcing doses to be destroyed.

Eastern Europe has been particularly hard hit by the omicron variant, and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new risk has emerged as hundreds of thousands of people flee to places like Poland on crowded trains. Health officials there have been offering free vaccinations to all refugees but have not been making them test upon arrival or quarantine.

"This is really tragic because great stress has a very negative effect on natural immunity and increases the risk of infections," said Anna Boron-Kaczmarska, a Polish infectious disease specialist. "They are in very high stress, being afraid for their lives, the lives of their children, their family members."

The Biden administration plans to begin stockpiling millions of at-home tests and pills for COVID treatment, as part of a new96 page planthat charts the future of the federal efforts to confront the pandemic.

"We've reached a new moment in the fight against COVID-19. Because of the significant progress we've made as a country, the determination and resilience of the American people, and the work we've done to make tools to protect ourselves widely available, we are moving forward safely, getting back to our more normal routines," White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters last week.

The plan, first outlined by President Biden during hisState of the Union address, aims to strike a balance between efforts to ease restrictions imposed to curb the virus while ramping up efforts to address the danger future variants could pose. Zients has discussed the White House's work on the new playbook in recent weeks; he told reporters that the administration was consulting a wide array of public health experts, local governments, and agencies to finalize the plan.

--Alex Tin contributed to this report

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now – Reuters.com

Posted: at 10:09 pm

A nurse helps with treatment of a COVID-19 patient in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at Milton Keynes University Hospital, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Milton Keynes, Britain, January 20, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

March 8 (Reuters) - Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:

China says Hong Kong must stick to "dynamic zero" COVID strategy

A top Chinese health official rallied embattled Hong Kong on Tuesday to stick with a "dynamic zero" coronavirus strategy and warned that the city's "lifeline" health system was at risk and the situation had to be turned around as soon as possible.

Hong Kong reported more than 43,100 new cases on Tuesday after the launch of an online platform for people to record infections in a surge that has seen the city suffering the most deaths globally per million people in the week to March 6, according to the Our World in Data publication.

China has championed the "dynamic zero" strategy that involves stamping out infections with strict mitigation measures as opposed to the approach adopted in other places of relying on high vaccination rates and moderate mitigation like masks in an effort to "live with COVID". read more

Scientists identify new gene differences in severe COVID patients

Scientists have pinpointed 16 new genetic variants in people who developed severe COVID-19 in a large study published on Monday that could help researchers develop treatments for very sick patients.

The results suggest that people with severe COVID have genes that predispose them to one of two problems: failure to limit the ability of the virus to make copies of itself, or excessive inflammation and blood clotting.

The scientists said their discoveries, published in the journal Nature, could help prioritise the likely treatments that could work against the disease. read more

COVID can cause brain shrinkage, memory loss - study

COVID-19 can cause the brain to shrink, reduce grey matter in the regions that control emotion and memory, and damage areas that control the sense of smell, an Oxford University study has found.

The scientists said that the effects were even seen in people who had not been hospitalised with COVID, and whether the impact could be partially reversed or if they would persist in the long term needed further investigation. read more

Florida breaks with CDC, recommends no COVID vaccine for healthy children

Florida's top health official said on Monday the state would recommend against the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children, breaking with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In announcing the move during press briefing convened by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the state's surgeon general Dr. Joseph Lapado cited studies that showed few COVID fatalities among healthy children and elevated risk among young boys receiving the vaccine of side effects such as myocarditis. read more

Malaysia to reopen borders from April with quarantine waiver

Malaysia will reopen its borders fully from April 1 and allow entry without quarantine for visitors vaccinated against COVID-19, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Tuesday.

Malaysia has since March 2020 maintained some of the tightest entry curbs in Asia to try to contain coronavirus outbreaks, with most foreign nationals barred from entry and returning Malaysians required to undergo quarantine. read more

Bali welcomes first foreign tourists after COVID quarantine rule lifted

Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Monday welcomed its first foreign tourists under relaxed coronavirus rules that no longer require arrivals to quarantine, part of a broader easing of curbs in the Southeast Asian country after infections declined. read more

Compiled by Linda Noakes

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California coronavirus updates: Black-owned businesses dropped 41% during the start of the pandemic, study shows – Capital Public Radio News

Posted: at 10:09 pm

Find an updated count of COVID-19 cases in California and by county on our tracker here.

Black-owned businesses dropped 41% during the start of the pandemic, study shows

WHO says booster shots are now needed, in reverse from last years stance

Hong Kong experiences COVID-19 surge, could lead to lockdowns again

Global COVID-19 death toll surpasses 6 million

NFL and NFL Players Association drop face masking rules

10:02 a.m.: Black-owned businesses dropped 41% during the start of the pandemic, study shows

Recent research from UC Santa Cruz shows a dramatic drop in small businesses early in the pandemic, especially those owned by people of color.

In particular, there was a loss of about 450,000 Black-owned businesses, a 41% drop.

The Inclusivity Project aims to raise $100 million to help 1,000 Black entrepreneurs in California.

Jay King, president and CEO of the California Black Chamber of Commerce,, is involved in this effort.

My hope is that what it does is, it starts to build those micro and mini-micro businesses into a small business that can house two to four employees and then scale it up, King said on CapRadios Insight.

He said the goal of the Inclusivity Project is to provide mentorship and business development expertise.

9:56 a.m.: WHO says booster shots are now needed, in reverse from last years stance

An expert group convened by the World Health Organization said it strongly supports urgent and broad access to coronavirus vaccines, including booster doses, according to the Associated Press.

The call caps a reversal from the U.N. health agencys previous insistence that booster doses werent necessary and contributing to vaccine inequity.

In a statement on Tuesday, WHO said its expert group concluded that immunization with authorized COVID-19 vaccines provide high levels of protection against severe disease and death amid the global circulation of the hugely contagious omicron variant.

Last year, WHOs director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for a moratorium on booster doses, pleading with rich countries to donate their vaccines instead.

9:32 a.m.: Hong Kong experiences COVID-19 surge, could lead to lockdowns again

Hong Kong has reported more than 34,000 new coronavirus infections on Monday a record as authorities assess the possibilities of locking down the city.

According to the Associated Press, Hong Kong is grappling with a coronavirus surge driven primarily by the omicron variant. Daily cases have more than quadrupled from a week ago.

Health authorities say the government could implement measures that may involve asking people to stay at home.

Several supermarkets' shelves were wiped bare as residents stockpiled daily necessities after rumors of a lockdown circulated on social media. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has called for calm, saying that food supplies were normal.

9:47 a.m.: Global COVID-19 death toll surpasses 6 million

The death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 6 million, according to the Associated Press.

The tragic number confirmed on Monday is believed to be a vast undercount and shows that the pandemic in its third year is far from done. Its also a reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic, even as people are shedding masks, traveling and moving around the globe.

The last million deaths of the tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University were recorded over the previous four months.

Thats slightly slower than the previous million but highlights that many countries are still struggling with the coronavirus. Overall, some 450 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded.

9:39 a.m.: NFL and NFL Players Association drop face masking rules

The NFL and NFL Players Association recently announced that they have agreed to suspend all COVID-19 protocols going into the 2022 football season, effective immediately.

NPR reports that both the NFL and the players association announced the suspension, which means the NFL will no longer conduct mandatory testing for any of its players or staff.

With the change in protocols, players and staff will no longer have to wear face coverings at team facilities, regardless of vaccination status. However, each club can require face coverings if they elect to do so.

While no NFL games were canceled during the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to COVID-19, many teams ended up moving games during the 2020 schedule, according to the Associated Press. Nearly 95% of NFL players and about 100% of NFL staff were fully vaccinated.

9:23 a.m.: China sees new COVID-19 cases despite 'zero-tolerance policy'

China is seeing a new surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, despite its zero tolerance approach to dealing with outbreaks.

According to the Associated Press, the mainland reported 214 new cases in 24 hours on Monday. The southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, reported the most cases at 69.

Hong Kong has been recording tens of thousands of cases per day. No new cases were reported in Beijing, which was essentially back to normal.

In his annual report to the national legislature on Saturday, Premier Li Keqiang said China needs to constantly refine epidemic containment but gave no indication that Beijing may switch up its current zero tolerance strategy.

10:59 a.m.: UC Davis will no longer require masks in most indoor settings

On March 19, UC Davis will drop their current masking policies and follow the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions guidelines to no longer require masking in most indoor settings.

This change will apply to both the Davis and Sacramento campuses. However, masks will still be required in clinical settings and on public transit, following federal, state and local guidelines.

Despite this change, masks are still strongly recommended by public health officials and by the school for vaccinated and unvaccinated people alike. The school said it will support those who continue to wear masks indoors for any reason.

Employees and students who are not fully vaccinated must continue testing every four days. Davis campus employees and fully vaccinated students must continue testing every 14 days.

As a reminder, people who are up to date on their vaccinations have a much lower risk to their health.

Further updates will be provided in Chancellor Gary S. Mays next letter to the community on March 11.

10:50 a.m.: Senators introduce bill to fund research into long COVID

Nearly two years after getting COVID-19, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said he still has mild symptoms, according to the Associated Press.

The Washington Post reports thats why Kaine joined fellow Democratic senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois in introducing a bill to fund research aimed at better understanding long COVID.

The little-understood phenomenon in which symptoms linger for weeks or months after a coronavirus infection could affect thousands.

The Comprehensive Access to Resources and Education (CARE) for Long COVID Act would centralize data about patient experiences and fund research into the effectiveness of treatments.

It would also expand resources to help those with lingering symptoms.

10:44 a.m.: Heres why vaccine rates are still low in some countries.

Experts say there are several reasons why COVID-19 vaccination rates are still low in some countries, in addition to limited supplies.

Other challenges now include unpredictable deliveries, weak health care systems and vaccine hesitancy. According to the Associated Press, many countries with low vaccination rates in Africa. Other places include Yemen, Syria and Haiti.

For most of last year, developing nations were struggling with a lack of supplies, but other setbacks have emerged, such as poor infrastructure to distribute the shots and a lack of materials like syringes.

At the same time, rich countries were hoarding doses, while many countries didnt have the facilities to make their own vaccines. COVAX, the initiative to distribute vaccines equally around the world, faltered in delivering shots to countries that needed them.

Vaccine hesitancy has also contributed to low uptake.

9:43 a.m.: Some of Nevadas school districts have lowered the bar for substitute teacher hiring during states of emergency

In a move prompted by the pandemic, the state has cleared the way for Nevadas largest school districts to hire substitute teachers with only a high school diploma during states of emergency.

According to the Associated Press, the Legislative Commission on Monday unanimously approved a permanent rule change covering school districts with over 9,000 students attending district schools or public charter schools within a districts geographic boundaries.

The covered districts include Las Vegas, Clark and Washoe counties.

The new permanent regulation replaces a temporary measure that expired Nov. 1. It was put in place during the pandemic because of Clark Countys severe staffing shortage.

9:39 a.m.: As demand for COVID-19 vaccines drop, states scramble to figure out what to do with soon-to-expire doses

As demand to get COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. collapses in many areas, states are scrambling to use stockpiles of doses before they expire.

Millions of doses have already gone to waste across the nation, as reported by the Associated Press.

From the least vaccinated states like Indiana and North Dakota to some of the most vaccinated states like New Jersey and Vermont, public health departments are shuffling doses around their states in hopes of finding providers that can use them.

In California, the percentage of wasted doses is only about 1.8%, but in a state thats received 84 million doses and administered more than 71 million of them, that's about 1.4 million wasted doses.

All this comes only about a year after the vaccines were released, and people such as hospital board members, their trustees and donors jumped the line to get early access before those deemed a higher priority.

9:34 a.m.: Pfizers COVID-19 pill treatment takes months to produce

Pfizers new COVID-19 treatment came with a catch when it debuted late last year it can take months to make tablets.

According to the Associated Press, company leaders said they have since expanded production and expect big gains in the next several months. That could help if another wave of cases develops later this year.

The drugmaker uses more than 20 different sites in over 10 countries to produce Paxlovid, however making the complex drug involves chemical reactions that need time to develop. Pfizer said it has reduced production time from nearly nine months to about seven.

9:56 a.m.: California man allegedly stole $1 million in COVID-19 tests

Authorities say they are seeking a Southern California warehouse manager who is accused of stealing more than $1 million worth of COVID-19 tests from his employers clinic.

Santa Ana police say 33-year-old Carlitos Peralta had access to his employers shipping and delivery system, according to the Associated Press.

His employer has seven warehouses nationwide that are used to store and ship COVDI-19 tests to customers, including clinics, pop-up testing sites, schools, and hotels.

Police say Peralta diverted nearly 100 separate shipments from multiple warehouses to his home.

The police department asked the public on Thursday to contact the agency with information about his whereabouts.

9:51 a.m.: Pfizers COVID-19 vaccines protect young kids against omicron, report shows

A new government report shows Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine gave children 5 and older strong protection against hospitalization and death even during the omicron surge.

As reported by the Associated Press, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the new data on Tuesday.

A day earlier, a study from New York raised the question of whether the vaccine is less effective in children ages 5 to 11, especially against milder infections, particularly since younger kids get an even smaller dose than teens.

However, CDC data from additional states doesnt suggest any age-related issues with the vaccine. While vaccines are generally less effective against omicron, they still protect against severe outcomes.

9:40 a.m.: Los Angeles County set to drop indoor mask mandate this week

Los Angeles County is set to lift its indoor mask mandate this week as coronavirus case rates and hospitalizations plummet, according to the Associated Press.

Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said Tuesday that California's most populous county would likely issue a revised health order that would take effect Friday and along with new state guidelines.

Ferrer told the county's Board of Supervisors that it would still be recommended but not required for vaccinated and unvaccinated residents to wear face coverings in public indoor settings.

9:41 a.m.: Sacramento County public health officer to virtually attend State of the Union

Sacramento County Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye will be a virtual guest, due to safety protocols, at tonights State of the Union address.

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) made the announcement Monday night. The address will cover some of the achievements of the Biden presidency, from the economy to the government's COVID-19 response.

I am thrilled to have Dr. Olivia Kasirye join as my virtual guest and thank her for her guidance, vigilance and service for the Sacramento community, Matsui said in a press release.

Kasirye said that shes worked together with Matusi to provide the people of the Sacramento region with timely and accurate information and the resources they need to stay safe during the battle with COVID-19.

CapRadio will broadcast the speech live at 6 p.m. You can also watch it live on our website.

9:06 a.m.: US Treasury Department says overwhelming amount of federal rental assistance during pandemic went to low-income tenants

The U.S. Treasury Department has concluded that more than 80% of the billions of dollars in federal rental assistance went to low-income tenants during the pandemic.

According to the Associated Press, the Treasury also found that the largest percentage of tenants receiving pandemic aid were Black households, in which many were led by women.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the Treasury also found that more than 40% of tenants getting help were Black and 20% were Latino, while two-thirds were woman-headed households.

Lawmakers approved $6.5 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance last year, and through 2021, the government body said more than $25 billion has been spent or allocated, representing 3.8 million payments to households.

Find older coronavirus updates on our previous blog page here

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

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California coronavirus updates: Black-owned businesses dropped 41% during the start of the pandemic, study shows - Capital Public Radio News

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How the Coronavirus Steals the Sense of Smell – The New York Times

Posted: at 10:09 pm

Few of Covid-19s peculiarities have piqued as much interest as anosmia, the abrupt loss of smell that has become a well-known hallmark of the disease. Covid patients lose this sense even without a stuffy nose; the loss can make food taste like cardboard and coffee smell noxious, occasionally persisting after other symptoms have resolved.

Scientists are now beginning to unravel the biological mechanisms, which have been something of a mystery: The neurons that detect odors lack the receptors that the coronavirus uses to enter cells, prompting a long debate about whether they can be infected at all.

Insights gleaned from new research could shed new light on how the coronavirus might affect other types of brain cells, leading to conditions like brain fog, and possibly help explain the biological mechanisms behind long Covid symptoms that linger for weeks or months after the initial infection.

The new work, along with earlier studies, settles the debate over whether the coronavirus infects the nerve cells that detect odors: It does not. But the virus does attack other supporting cells that line the nasal cavity, the researchers found.

The infected cells shed virus and die, while immune cells flood the region to fight the virus. The subsequent inflammation wreaks havoc on smell receptors, proteins on the surface of the nerve cells in the nose that detect and transmit information about odors.

The process alters the sophisticated organization of genes in those neurons, essentially short-circuiting them, the researchers reported.

Their paper significantly advances the understanding of how cells critical to the sense of smell are affected by the virus, despite the fact that they are not directly infected, said Dr. Sandeep Robert Datta, an associate professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the study.

Its clear that indirectly, if you affect the support cells in the nose, lots of bad things happen, Dr. Datta said. The inflammation in the adjacent cells triggers changes in the sensory neurons that prevent them from working properly.

Indeed, many complications of Covid appear to be caused by the immune systems friendly fire as it responds to infection by flooding the bloodstream with inflammatory proteins called cytokines, which can damage tissue and organs.

This might be a general principle: that a lot of what the virus is doing to us is a consequence of its ability to generate inflammation, Dr. Datta said.

March 8, 2022, 6:53 p.m. ET

The new study is based on research carried out at Zuckerman Institute and Irving Medical Center at Columbia University in New York; the New York University Grossman School of Medicine; the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York; Baylor Genetics in Houston; and the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis. The research was published online in Cell in early February.

The scientists examined golden hamsters and human tissue specimens from 23 patients who succumbed to Covid. After the hamsters were infected with the original coronavirus, scientists tracked the damage to their olfactory systems over time.

(How do you know a golden hamster has lost its sense of smell? You dont feed it for several hours and then bury Cocoa Puffs in its bedding, said Benjamin tenOever, a professor of microbiology at NYU Langone Health and an author of the new research. Hamsters that can smell will find the cereal in seconds.)

The virus did not invade neurons, the researchers learned, only the cells that play supporting roles in the olfactory system. But that was enough to alter the function of the nearby neurons, leading to a loss of smell.

The immune response altered the architecture of genes in the neurons, disrupting production of odor receptors, said Marianna Zazhytska, a postdoctoral fellow at the Zuckerman Institute and one of the papers first authors, along with a graduate student, Albana Kodra.

It is not the virus itself causing all this reorganization its the systemic inflammatory response, Dr. Zazhytska said. The nerve cells are not hosting the virus, but they are not doing what they did before.

The ability of the olfactory receptors to send and receive messages is disrupted. But the neurons dont die, and so the system can recover after the illness resolves.

Earlier work at the Zuckerman Institute showed that neurons that detect smells have complex genomic organizational structures that are essential to the creation of odor receptors, and the receptor genes communicate among themselves very intensively, said Stavros Lomvardas, one of the papers corresponding authors.

We saw early on that upon infection, the genomic organization of these neurons changes completely theyre unrecognizable compared to how they normally are, Dr. Lomvardas said.

There is a signal released from the infected cells that is received by the neurons that normally detect odors, and tells them to reorganize and stop expression of olfactory receptor genes, he said.

He suggested this may represent an evolutionary adaptation that offers a form of antiviral resistance and whose main purpose may be to prevent the virus from entering the brain. That was a relief for us, he said. That was one piece of good news.

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Coronavirus in Minnesota: Cases dropping as Minnesota passes two years of the COVID-19 pandemic – MinnPost

Posted: at 10:09 pm

On Tuesdays, MinnPost provides weekly updates that cover COVID-19 developments in Minnesota from the previous Wednesday to present.

Well, we are officially two years into this pandemic: Two years ago on Sunday, Minnesota marked its first case of COVID-19.

Do you remember what you were doing when you found out about the first Minnesota case? I do. It was an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon, at 3:26 p.m. when the press release announcing the first case landed in my inbox.

I was on my way to happy hour with friends at Stellas Fish Cafe in Uptown. Over drinks, we talked about booking tickets to a festival John Prine was headlining in the summer. None of us knew this would be our last happy hour in a long time, or that Prine would die of COVID-19 a month later.

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In brighter news: Two years in, data suggest COVID-19 transmission rates continue to decline in Minnesota. Both case counts and wastewater concentrations of the virus are down.

Last week, President Joe Biden announced a new coronavirus response plan that would take steps toward living with the virus as well as preparing for variants. Requiring funding from Congress, the plan includes measures for protecting against and treating Covid-19; preparing for new variants; avoiding shutdowns; and fighting the virus abroad, the New York Times reported.

U.S. households can order more free COVID-19 tests. Households can order eight tests, so households that have ordered none so far can order eight, while households that have already ordered four can get an additional four, delivered via the U.S. Postal Service, per NPR.

In a reversal of opinion, the World Health Organization is now supporting wider access to COVID-19 booster shots. Previously, the global health organization held that they werent necessary for people who were healthy and had concerns that booster shots were contributing to vaccine inequity, the Associated Press reports.

Amid lower community transmission and updated CDC masking guidelines, Duluth Public Schools, where masks had been required, have shifted to a masks-optional approach, says Dan Kraker of MPR. Last week, Kraker said Duluth schools were the largest district in the state to switch to a masks-optional policy.

Data from the Minnesota Department of Health show the state added 4,497 new COVID-19 cases between March 2 and March 8, averaging 642 new cases per day. Last week (which included 10 days worth of data due to reporting delays over Presidents Day), the average was 900 cases per day.

The most recent seven-day case positivity average or the average share of positive cases out of total COVID-19 tests is 4.0 percent, down from 5.6 percent the week prior. You can find the seven-day case positivity average here.

Minnesota has reported 90 COVID-19 deaths since last Wednesday. (Deaths did not necessarily occur in the week in which they were reported because deaths are not always reported and confirmed immediately.)

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COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to drop in Minnesota. As of Tuesday, 44 people are in intensive care with COVID-19, while 322 are hospitalized and not in intensive care. Last Tuesday, 75 were in intensive care and 437 were hospitalized and not in intensive care. More information on Minnesotas current hospitalizations here.

The most recent data show 65.9 percent of Minnesotans, (3.7 million people), had completed a COVID-19 primary vaccine series. A week ago, 65.8 percent of Minnesotans had completed the vaccine series. This week, MDH added data on the number of people who are up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines, meaning they have completed the primary series and received a booster if recommended. That stands at 2.5 million people, or 45.7 percent of the population. More data on the states vaccination efforts can be found here.

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Number of Michiganders hospitalized with COVID-19 drops below 1,000 – WXYZ 7 Action News Detroit

Posted: at 10:09 pm

(WXYZ) The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Michigan is now below 1,000, less than two months after the state set a record.

According to the latest information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, there are 777 adults hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and another 64 with suspected cases of COVID-19. That's as of March 7.

The state dropped below 1,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 last Friday, and the numbers have continued to decrease.

Compare that to Jan. 10, when the state set a record with 4,580 people in the hospital with confirmed cases of COVID-19. In less than two months, the number of hospitalizations has dropped more than 80%.

According to the state, metro Detroit still has the most people hospitalized with 120 people hospitalized in Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties and 234 people hospitalized in Detroit, Monroe, Washtenaw and Wayne counties.

The number of children in the hospital with confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 29 cases. It peaked at 117 on Jan. 14.

COVID-19 cases have continued to drop significantly from the peak earlier this year with the omicron surge. On Monday, the state reported an average of 552 new cases per day over the weekend, the lowest daily case average since the summer of 2020.

Additional Coronavirus information and resources:

View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.

See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.

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New COVID variant: Will the next COVID outbreak happen soon? – Deseret News

Posted: at 10:09 pm

Public health experts are warning local leaders to prepare for a future COVID-19 outbreak as cases continue to drop.

Whats happening: The seven-day average for COVID-19 cases in the United States hovered around 59,000 cases per day last week, a sign that the coronavirus outbreak is still here, though dropping compared to winter peaks.

What to expect: Public health experts recently told The Guardian that leaders should use the ongoing lull period to prepare for future outbreaks.

What theyre saying: Abraar Karan, an infectious disease physician at Stanford University, told The Guardian the pandemic isnt over and that officials should use the time right now to prepare for the next COVID-19 variant, which could be more transmissible.

The bottom line: Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida College of Public Health, told The Guardian: We need to expect the unexpected with COVID-19.

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New COVID variant: Will the next COVID outbreak happen soon? - Deseret News

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COVID started everything: Jury set in trial of 4 men accused of plotting Gov. Whitmers kidnapping over cor – MLive.com

Posted: at 10:09 pm

GRAND RAPIDS, MI In the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping trial, COVID-19 and Whitmers pandemic response, which allegedly set off the would-be kidnappers wasnt far from prospective jurors thoughts.

There was a man struggling with its after-effects after he was hospitalized around Thanksgiving. There was another who lost his 46-year-old brother to the coronavirus.

And there was a woman whose husband lost his job during the pandemic. She sobbed as she told a judge that a previous illness left him unable to find new work.

Whos going to hire him? she asked.

Related: Man who admits Gov. Whitmer kidnap plan says co-defendants claims of FBI entrapment are false

After a long day of jury questioning, attorneys on Tuesday, March 8, settled on a dozen jurors and six alternates to hear the case against four men suspected of plotting to kidnap the governor.

Opening statements are set for Wednesday morning.

The defendants, Brandon Michael-Ray Caserta of Canton, Barry Croft Jr. of Bear, Delaware, Adam Fox of Wyoming and Daniel Harris of Lake Orion, are accused of plotting the governors kidnapping over her shutdown orders.

They had sympathizers among those in the jury pool.

Several said they were so upset by Whitmers pandemic orders they could not be fair judges.

Related: I think theyre guilty: Prospective jurors share thoughts on Gov. Whitmer kidnap case

COVID started everything, lets face it, a prospective juror, who was later dismissed, told Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker.

And I think people enjoyed the little power they got from COVID.

The judge said the focus of the trial will be the defendants alleged actions. COVID-19 will only play a part.

It was a triggering event that brings us here, but its not the issue, the judge said.

Related: FBI agents must reveal true names at Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot trial, judge rules

Caserta, Croft, Fox and Harris were charged in October 2020. Two others, Ty Garbin of Livingston Countys Heartland Township and Kaleb James Franks of Waterford, have pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy.

Garbin has been sentenced to seven years, three months in prison, while Franks awaits sentencing. In their plea deals, they agreed to testify against the others.

The government says they were part of a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, whose members conspired to kidnap the governor at her Northern Michigan summer home.

Eight others are facing state charges.

The defendants say that undercover FBI special agents and paid informants pushed the defendants to take part in crimes.

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COVID started everything: Jury set in trial of 4 men accused of plotting Gov. Whitmers kidnapping over cor - MLive.com

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Monthly Archives: March 2022

Inflation, Tax, And The COVID-19 Economy – Forbes

COVID 19 Guidance – The Seattle U Newsroom – News, stories and more

Official COVID-19 death toll tops 6 million as pandemic ebbs in many places but roars on in others – CBS News

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now – Reuters.com

California coronavirus updates: Black-owned businesses dropped 41% during the start of the pandemic, study shows – Capital Public Radio News

How the Coronavirus Steals the Sense of Smell – The New York Times

Coronavirus in Minnesota: Cases dropping as Minnesota passes two years of the COVID-19 pandemic – MinnPost

Number of Michiganders hospitalized with COVID-19 drops below 1,000 – WXYZ 7 Action News Detroit

New COVID variant: Will the next COVID outbreak happen soon? – Deseret News

COVID started everything: Jury set in trial of 4 men accused of plotting Gov. Whitmers kidnapping over cor – MLive.com

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