Tag Archives: coronavirus

GDP Sets Record for Growth During Q3

The annualized rate for the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached a record of 33.1% during July, August, and September. The historic growth came immediately after one of the worst slumps in history, the second quarter’s annualized shrinkage of 33.4%.

The see-saw like behavior of the US economy can be accounted for by the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, which forced a lockdown during the second quarter which shuttered many businesses, causing widespread job loss and business closures. In June stay-at-home orders lifted and the economy began to re-open, accounting for the rapid rebound of the economy in Q3.

Yet, even such a strong rebound has not resulted in a full recovery, which some analysts believe could take years, especially since the rate of GDP growth is expected to significantly slow down during Q4 of 2020.

Much of the growth is attributed to money set loose into the economy via the CARES Act, which distributed $2.2 trillion to every eligible American.

“Not only was the US economy enjoying the immediate bounce as a result of economic re-openings, but it was basking in significant fiscal stimulus support schemes,” said Seema Shah, the chief strategist at Principal Global Investors. “Now, the path forward will inevitably be an uphill struggle.”

Masks Mess with Facial Recognition Systems

Woman wearing face mask.

Now that we are out of lockdown and cautiously venturing back into society, masks have become a new fact of life. Although some people are refusing to wear them despite a study showing that when the mask order went into effect in New York City the new coronavirus case rate began to plunge by 3% per day, the vast majority are complying.

Along with social distancing and frequent hand washing, mask-wearing has proven the best way to prevent rampant COVID-19 infections, however, masks have some disadvantages. Many people are finding it difficult to recognize what otherwise would be familiar faces among the masked multitude. In addition to thwarting human facial recognition, masks are making it almost impossible for computer facial recognition systems to function.

The National Institute for Standards and Technology began a study to understand how facial recognition programs perform when faces are partially masked. In the meantime, some companies have tried to deal with the new situation.

A few companies that work with law enforcement agencies have experimented with creating algorithms that home in on eyebrows and eyes.

The NIST says under ideal conditions the best facial recognition systems fail only 0.3% of the time. This rate changes radically when conditions are not ideal, for instance when the face belongs to someone who is not the “ideal” race, age, or gender. With masks the ideal recognition failure rate skyrockets to 5% or more. The agency added that when asked to deal with masked faces, “many otherwise competent algorithms failed between 20% to 50% of the time.”

Apple Stores Coming Back After Corona Lockdown

Apple Inc., the mega consumer-tech company, will be reopening 25 of its stores in the United States during the week of May 18. This is a continuation of a re-opening process that is beginning slowly at Apple, and all over the country, to bring commerce back and get the economy back in gear. As of mid-May, Apple has re-opened about 20% of its stores worldwide.

The innovative company closed all its stores outside of Greater China in mid-March in response to the coronavirus pandemic that was wreaking havoc throughout the world.

“Our commitment is to reopen our stores when we are confident the environment is safe,” wrote Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s head of retail, on the company’s website.

Although the stores will re-open, they will not go back to business the way it was before the pandemic started. Stores will limit the number of customers in at any one time; social distancing—maintaining a distance of at least 2 meters between customers—will be enforced, and some stores will have only curbside or storefront pickup.

Apple openings began last week with five stores in the US. Customers and employees were required to wear masks and have their temperatures checked before entering the stores.
The company has 271 stores in the United States and 239 outside the US. It was reported that Apple will also open 10 stores in Italy, beginning on May 19.

Senate to Open on Schedule May Fourth

Mitch McConnel. Courtesy of Gage Skidmore

Mitch McConnel, the Republican Senate majority leader, announced that Senators will be returning to Washington to get back to the business of governing. McConnel is determined to move forward with the opening despite the continued health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that has so far killed almost 60,000 Americans in the two months of March and April this year.

McConnell released a written statement addressing those fears about the opening:

“We will modify routines in ways that are smart and safe, but we will honor our constitutional duty to the American people and conduct critical business in person.”

He added that the importance of this moment requires that Senators pull their weight when others in the country are doing so.

“If it is essential for doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, truck drivers, grocery-store workers, and many other brave Americans to keep carefully manning their own duty stations, then it is essential for Senators to carefully man ours and support them,” McConnell said.

One of the urgent issued McConnel plans on addressing when the lawmakers once again meet is whether to shield businesses from lawsuits that could arise from businesses opening and people contracting corona as a result.

“We cannot let that happen,” McConnell said, referring to lawsuits against businesses. “Our nation is facing the worst pandemic in over a century and potentially the worst economic shock since the Great Depression. Our response must not be slowed, weakened, or exploited to set up the biggest trial lawyer bonanza in history.”

President Trump agreed with McConnel on this issue, that businesses should be protected from lawsuits.

“We just don’t want that because we want the companies to open and to open strong,” Mr. Trump said earlier this month.

No details were offered on how the legislatures will protect themselves from infection when they meet, except to say that changes will be made to keep people, including staff, police, security, reporters, and the Senators safe.

World’s Largest Medical Mask Maker Ramping Up Production

A NIOSH N95 particulate respirator by 3M that can filters at least 95% of airborne particles. Photo courtesy of Banej

President Donald Trump called into play what is known as the Defense Production Act in order to confront the ever-worsening coronavirus pandemic with increased production of desperately needed personal protective equipment (PPEs). This act requires private industry to re-purpose their factories and to greatly step-up production for the singular effort of producing the needed supplies to properly face the deadly pandemic that is wreaking havoc on the country, especially in New York City.

One such manufacturer is 3M, the world’s largest producer of respirator masks. One day after President Trump invoked the DPA 3M said it is ready and willing to comply with the order to supply more N95 masks for the US. They added, however, that they will not stop exporting masks to other countries that also desperately need them.
3M released the following statement:

“3M and its employees have gone above and beyond to manufacture as many N95 respirators as possible for the US market.”

The DPA also requires that companies supply the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the equipment ordered by the agency. 3M said it is working closely with FEMA to supply the requested masks while at the same time enlarging the number of masks it is importing into the US from its offshore factories, including from China.

The company said that it must continue to supply masks to Canada and Latin America, despite the administration’s additional request to halt the sale of US-made respirators to countries other than the USA.

A statement from 3M explained that:

“There are significant humanitarian implications of ceasing respirator supplies to healthcare workers in Canada and Latin America, where we are a critical supplier of respirators,” the statement said. Ceasing delivery of masks to these countries would “likely cause other countries to retaliate and do the same.”

The company warned that retaliation on the part of other countries would most certainly lead to the total number of respirators available for use in the US to decrease.

“That is the opposite of what we and the administration, on behalf of the American people, both seek,” 3M said.