Wednesday, March 25 saw dramatic highs and lows in the global fight against the international coronavirus epidemic. Fiat-Chrysler reported that two employees who had been diagnosed with the virus died today, and infections in the United States continued to climb. Congress, on the other hand, appeared to reach a tipping point on a substantial stimulus bill that would provide billions to affected businesses and citizens, while the situation in China slowly makes its way towards a return to normalcy. Here are today's stories on COVID-19.
Congress Compromises on $2 Trillion Stimulus Bill
March 25 saw Democrats and Republicans in Congress declare broad support for an enormous stimulus bill of $2 trillion to help businesses and citizens cope with fallout from the COVID-19 crisis. The bill, which saw setbacks earlier in the week due to House Democrat objections, subsidizes $500 billion in loans for businesses impacted by the crisis as well as direct payouts to American citizens.
The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later today. Read the full story here.
Chinese Recovery Continues, Albeit Slowly
Supply chains in China appear to be recovering at a steady pace, according to Stanley Chao. In his article on the state of supply chains in the country, Chao notes that quarantines and transportation delays inside China are still causing producers there headaches. In particular, businesses in and around Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province, where the disease was first identified, are still struggling due to ground transportation bottlenecks and quarantines.
Still, Chao, says, “of 80 or so factories I deal with in China, half are operating at 80% or higher capacity, while the remaining range from 50 to 70%,” and while the situation appears to be on its way to a long-term recovery, Chao questions how many will decide to divest their supply chains from the country altogether. Read the full story here.
Plant Closures
Manufacturers across the world are currently making the difficult decision to suspend production in order to avoid transmission of COVID-19 among their employees. So far, GM, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, Honda, Goodyear, Boeing, PACCAR Inc., Foxconn and others have suspended production entirely at one or more of their facilities around the world.
Thus far, at least three employees of major manufacturing companies have died to the virus: One was employed by Boeing, and the other two, UAW employees, by Fiat-Chrysler. The UAW confirmed the deaths of the two Fiat-Chrysler employees this morning. Boeing and FCA have both suspended production at the facilities where the employees worked. Read the full story here.
Manufacturers Doing Their Part
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced via Twitter today that his company had sourced and purchased ten million masks to donate to medical professionals in the United States. In a video address, Cook said that medical professionals, as well as warehouse and delivery workers, “deserve our debt of gratitude.”
America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, announced a partnership with the Food and Drug Administration today to enable 3D printers to connect with health care providers and address urgent demand for medical supplies. According to their website, America Makes will “connect the capabilities of the additive manufacturing industry with specific needs of health care providers.”
And medical device company Nu-Med Plus, Inc., in a statement, announced that their company was closely monitoring clinical trials of a therapy for COVID-19 using inhaled nitric oxide. The human Phase 2 clinical trials were announced at the beginning of the month and are being jointly conducted by Xijing Hospital in China and Massachusetts General Hospital. According to the statement, the treatment has shown promise in diseases with a similar genetic code to that of COVID-19. Nu-Med is reportedly in communication with the FDA on the prospect of getting the treatment on the market more quickly in case the treatment succeeds at alleviating symptoms of the infection.
