Good evening.
The World Trade Organization warned of a Great Depression. The body’s worst-case scenario sees global trade could shrink by 32%, a level similar to that seen in the 1930s. And WTO chief Roberto Azevêdo said protectionist measures will only make things worse.The Guardian
Tracking the pandemic
Scientists race to find a ‘bridge to a vaccine’. The world is not likely to see a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 until next year, but some antibody-based drugs designed to fight Covid-19 could be available as soon as this fall.Quartz
A new exponential curve enters the arena. Since Jan. 21, the number of scientific papers on the novel coronavirus has doubled every 14 days to nearly 3,000 studies.Quartz
Cameroonians are worried about coronavirus, but also about an absent president. President Paul Biya, 87, has not publicly addressed his compatriots since the country registered its first case on March 6.Quartz Africa
South Africa is working on producing 10,000 ventilators by the end of June. The country is evaluating proposals to develop ventilators to help the country—and others in the region—cope with the expected deluge of severe Covid-19 cases.Quartz Africa
This number can guide how societies ease coronavirus lockdowns. The basic reproductive number, R-naught, refers to how many other people will catch the disease from a single infected person. The actual or “effective” version of the reproductive number is known as Rt—that is, the virus’s actual transmission rate at a given time.Quartz
What Gen Z wants
How will Gen Z be shaped by coronavirus? What kind of effect will the pandemic, and the accompanying slew of school closings, quarantines, and sky-high unemployment rates, have on today’s teenagers and young adults? Historical evidence and psychological and economic research hint at a few possibilities. ✦Quartz
The world’s financial health
Further deep discounting is set to slam retailers. The 2008 recession got shoppers addicted to discounts. Now the coronavirus downturn—along with mountains of unsold seasonal inventory—will keep prices low for years to come.Quartz
Coronavirus has led to Kraft Heinz’s first good news in years. The packaged food company is enjoying a return to the spotlight with share prices up around 15% over the last five days.Quartz
Covid-19 has shut down parts of the hyper-consolidated US meat industry. A Tyson-owned meat processing plant that churns out 2% of the US pork supply ground to a halt this week after workers became infected.Quartz
Coronavirus has given Tesco a big boost—well, sort of. Grocery sales in the UK are now at record levels. But the pandemic has also introduced a lot of other costs, such as sanitization and paying absent workers, that Tesco estimates could cost up to £925 million this year.Quartz
Last month, grocery sales in the UK hit a record £10.8 billion, 20% up from the same time last year, due to higher demand because of Covid-19.
You'd think that would be nothing but good news for Tesco, Britain's largest grocery chain. But the pandemic has introduced other costs—like paying absent workers
Last month, grocery sales in the UK hit a record £10.8 billion, 20% up from the same time last year, due to higher demand because of Covid-19.
You'd think that would be nothing but good news for Tesco, Britain's largest grocery chain. But the pandemic has introduced other costs—like paying absent workers and increased cleaning measures.
The company thinks coronavirus could cost it up to £925 million this year.
Our new reality
Florida man who spit in a cop’s face was hit with federal bioweapons charges. The US Justice Department declared Covid-19 could be a “biological agent” in March. Not long after, charges were brought against a suspect who allegedly spit into an officer’s face.Quartz
Do we want our leaders to stay strong in a crisis, or do we want them to survive it? The case of Boris Johnson, the highest-profile world leader to be suffering serious consequences of contracting coronavirus, shows us that the imperative to appear decadently invincible when you’ve sick can be terribly counterproductive.Quartz at Work
What’s the general WFH mood? A new Qualtrics study talked to 1,000 US adults who had to set up their new home offices overnight because of the pandemic. The firm found there was an overall sense of stress and anxiety—but with a couple of silver linings.Quartz at Work
The COVID-19 crisis has created unprecedented changes to how businesses operate. Seemingly overnight, a significant portion of the world’s commerce has shifted from offices to homes, as businesses have been forced to transition to Work From Home on a massive scale. As this survey shows, the uncertainty
The COVID-19 crisis has created unprecedented changes to how businesses operate. Seemingly overnight, a significant portion of the world’s commerce has shifted from offices to homes, as businesses have been forced to transition to Work From Home on a massive scale. As this survey shows, the uncertainty and rapid changes have been enormously stressful for employees, forcing workers to merge their personal and professional lives on the fly while dealing with the isolation of social distancing and concerns around contracting the illness.
This sudden shift to WFH has been tough. At Deloitte, we’ve put considerable thought into how to best handle this unique challenge. Deloitte India has produced a guide to cybersecurity best practices when working from home; Deloitte’s Resilient podcast dedicated a full episode to the switch to remote work, interviewing leaders from across Deloitte’s Human Capital, Future of Work, and Cyber practices; and Deloitte Australia has blogged on how to stay sane during these uncertain times. This is just a sampling of the content we’re already produced, and more is on the way.
In other news
This is likely the last generation to see the Great Barrier Reef as humans have known it. Bleaching has hit the last relatively untouched section of the Great Barrier Reef. The key to saving it is to slow global warming.Quartz
Zoom is everywhere. And yet, its booming stock has just been downgraded. Credit Suisse analyst Brad Zelnick shared the news with investors with sorrow in his voice, Quartz’s Michelle Cheng reports. The rating went from “neutral” to “underperform,” a rare sight on Wall Street, and a particularly tough call now, as the app has become wildly popular.Quartz at Work
Scientists are trying to preserve years of research in Alzheimer’s lab mice. Modeling Alzheimer's disease is painstakingly difficult and scientists hope quarantine measures will end before their mouse models expire.Quartz
Most research has come to a halt -- but some lines of work that have taken years to develop must go on. Consider the mice that model Alzheimer's, which are still being maintained even when labs are totally shut down.
We’re obsessed with unicorns
Unicorns may not exist, but they’re everywhere. In ancient legends, horned horses were fearsome, awe-inspiring beasts associated with royalty and power. But today, they’ve become the ultra-cute, rainbow-colored playthings of children and the symbol of extravagantly valued startups. Why are the mythical creatures once again having a moment?Quartz
“Mister Kid” by Ioan, age 5, remote co-worker of Quartz Associate Director of AdOps Michael O’Brien
This is likely the last generation to see the Great Barrier Reef as humans have known it
Quartz
A ‘bridge to a vaccine’: The race to roll out antibody-based Covid-19 drugs
Quartz
Covid-19 is going to make fashion’s discounting problem much worse
Quartz
Apocalyptic sci-fi is helping me cope with the Covid-19 crisis—yes, really
Quartz
Cameroonians are worried about coronavirus but also about an absent president
Quartz Africa
Florida man who spit in cop’s face now hit with federal bioweapons charges
Quartz
The number of scientific papers on the novel coronavirus is doubling every 14 days
Quartz
Coronavirus has led to Kraft Heinz’s first good news in years
Quartz
Scientists are keeping some Alzheimer’s lab mice alive in the midst of Covid-19
Quartz
Covid-19 has shut down parts of the hyper-consolidated US meat industry
Quartz