TIA Daily COVID-19 Update: April 22

As TIA continues to monitor the situation surrounding COVID-19 and it’s impact on the 3PL and transportation industries, here is your Daily Update for April 22. As a reminder, you can find all the latest information, resources, guidance, and news from TIA’s COVID-19 Response Center.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT UPDATE:
Last night the Senate approved the latest relief package that would provide an additional $310 billion for the SBA PPP loans. The House is expected to take up the package tomorrow and approve it, thus sending the bill to President Trump for his signature. Additionally, we have received inquiries regarding what “utilities” are included as accepted costs under the PPP loan. The language mentions “transportation,” which has been interpreted to mean fuel costs for business vehicles. This cannot be used for business activities related to the arrangement of transportation.

LUNCH & LEARN UPDATE:
Be sure to join us tomorrow at 12:00 PM ET for the latest Virtual Lunch & Learn – Sales Strategies for Uncertain Times. Presented by Bill Bartlett, this webinar will review five strategies to keep your business on track during the difficult times we are facing. Participants will be able to employ these strategies and tactics immediately, directly impacting their bottom line and positioning their business for success. Register now.

TIA UPDATE:
TIA is excited to announce the launch of our new Finance 101 online course. In recognizing the unprecedented disruptions to all aspects of business and life caused by the COVID-19 crisis – as well as looking ahead to the expected boom in business once the economy reopens – TIA is offering complimentary registration to TIA Members through April 30, 2020. Once registered for the Finance 101 online course, users will have full access for 60 days.

NOËL PERRY UPDATE:
Yesterday was a great day for U.S. new cases, dropping 2,138 on a weekday when the number usually goes up. It was not a good day for deaths, which reached a new peak, 865 above the previous day.

You can see the difference between the history of cases and deaths in exhibit 2. Both series have a distinct weekday pattern, although the death line has a much greater variation weekday to weekend. While the case numbers are influenced by the number of tests, counting them is simple. Does the test show positive? Not so with deaths, where there is considerable interpretation as to whether COVID-19 was the causal factor.

Apparently, states are handling the classification chores during the weekdays, hence the 30% to 40% increases in reports compared to weekend days. Still, the lack of a clear inflection in the death count is disappointing. We got that in cases more than two weeks ago. In Western Europe inflection for deaths occurred twelve days after inflection in cases. We are thus due this week for the death’s inflection, perhaps today.

We’ll be back tomorrow with COVID-19 updates and information that came through overnight.

Please enjoy the Andrew Sisters as they sing the “Pennsylvania Polka.”