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Welcome to the 19th 2020 edition of The Nett Report. Given the uncertainty of the coronavirus crisis, we began publishing this report to provide our clients and friends with new perspectives and insights in hopes of stimulating creative thinking in the weeks and months to come. Feel free to share with friends! Links to the first twenty 2020 reports can be found here.
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Quotable
Pressed Rat and Warthog have closed down their shop.
They didn't want to, 'twas all they had got….
Sadly they left, telling no one goodbye….
Went straight round the corner and never came back.
“Pressed Rat and Warthog," Cream, 1968
Help for the holidays, what can you do?
No matter who or what is to blame for the pandemic and for the economic calamity that has resulted, many small business owners have closed down their shops, and millions of people are hurting as we enter the holiday season. While financial assistance from the federal government appears to be near, and state and local governments and philanthropies are doing their best to help, the fact remains that none of it will be enough. We encourage you to consider donating to any of the many charitable organizations working to help people and small businesses in their time of need.
A better 2021? CFO’s more optimistic about outlook for U.S. economy
According to Fortune’s CEO Daily on December 9, 2020, CFO’s are more optimistic than they have been about the outlook for the U.S. economy. Based on Deloitte’s quarterly CFO Signals survey “the percentage of CFOs rating the North American economy as “good” or “very good” rose to 18% in the latest survey from 7% a quarter earlier.” In Europe, only 5% of respondents rate the current economy as “good” or “very good,” while in China 47% or respondents see it as “good” or “very good.” Looking a year out, a full 59% of CFOs expect the U.S. economy to be better.
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Vaccines
Vaccines are like a fire hose, but bigger fires take longer to put out
On December 8, 2020, the New York Times published a story that asked the authors of a new Health Affairs study to interpret in understandable language the report they published. The response was fascinating. “A vaccine is like a fire hose. A vaccine that’s 95 percent effective is a powerful fire hose. But the size of a fire is still a bigger determinant of how much destruction occurs.” At the current level of infection in the U.S. (about 200,000 confirmed new infections per day), a vaccine that is 95 percent effective would result in almost 10 million Americans contracting the virus, and more than 160,000 would die. In a scenario where the vaccine was only 50 percent effective but the infection rate was about 35,000 new daily cases (as it was in September), the death toll in the next six months would be kept to about 60,000.
What does “the vaccine is 90% effective” mean?
The Covid vaccines that are emerging have been described as having a certain percentage of effectiveness. What does that mean? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a vaccine’s efficacy simply measures “the proportionate reduction in cases among vaccinated persons,” as compared to the group that got a placebo in the same study. The Washington Post provided this example: “Pfizer/BioNTech announced last month that out of more than 43,000 volunteers in their study, 170 people contracted covid-19. Of those 170, only eight people had received the real vaccine, and 162 had taken a placebo. Thus, the vaccine was estimated to be about 95 percent effective. In other words, the rate of disease was 95 percent lower among the vaccinated group than among the placebo group.
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Symptoms and Spread
“Long Haulers” have symptoms caused by Covid months later
The November 22, 2020, edition of CBS’s 60 Minutes aired a disturbing story about “long-haulers,” people who have recovered from Covid but are having serious symptoms months later. Doctors can’t nail down the cause, but an overactive immune system is one of the suspected culprits.
Military-grade camera shows risks of airborne coronavirus spread
A fascinating video from a Washington Post story on December 11, 2020, contains a video that uses a military grade infrared camera to show how tiny droplets can spread, both with and without a mask. You can see the video here.
Closing outdoor restaurants designed to keep people at home
The Voice of San Diego is a respected San Diego non-profit news source. On December 10, 2020, Editor Scott Lewis wrote a piece about the reasons for closing outdoor dining and the complexity behind this and other restrictions imposed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Lewis wrote that there didn’t appear to be data that outdoor restaurants were a significant source of spread and suspected that there was another reason, which California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Mark Ghaly confirmed in a December 8, 2020, press briefing. “The decision to include among other sectors outdoor dining and limiting that — turning to restaurants to deliver and provide takeout options instead — really has to do with the goal of trying to keep people at home, not a comment on the relative safety of outdoor dining.”
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Healthcare Workers
London healthcare workers are seven times as likely to have severe Covid-19
The Economic Times’ Healthworld.com website reported on December 9, 2020, that healthcare workers in London are seven times more likely to have severe Covid-19 symptoms as those in “non-essential” jobs. Jobs in social care and transportation are twice as likely to have severe infections.
A shortage of healthcare workers that’s getting worse
An article in Fortune on December 8, 2020, reported “the most dire and difficult-to-address of shortages is only getting worse—that of the health care workers needed to tend to patients.” According to AMN Healthcare CEO Susan Salka, “In terms of the number of open positions that we have for nurses, they are roughly four times the levels that we saw during the first phase of the pandemic. Then it was pretty much all just ICU and COVID-related; now it's that plus just normal positions that can't get filled.”
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The NettReport – a liberal bias?
One reader expressed concerns that although he found our “information useful at times,” he said this: “I have noticed your sources are primarily Liberal in nature. With all the bias in the media and tech companies, one is not sure the information from one political view is not fulfilling a full and diverse take on what is going on.” I am not sure how he determined that our sources are liberal. The NettReport strives to only publish stories we believe to be accurate and factual using reputable sources with professional journalistic procedures in place. We appreciated the input and the chance to clarify and continue to improve.
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Nettleton Strategies - Helping You Navigate the Big Reset
This is a challenging time for all of us, in a way we have never experienced before. Here are some things you can do to move forward.
Take this time to imagine your future. We encourage you to imagine a post-coronavirus future when you can begin to realize your dreams in a sustainable way.
Assess your current and future status . At Nettleton Strategies, our philosophy has always been that we need to know two things to find solutions and move forward:
- A clear understanding of the status of the current situation.
- A clear vision of how you want your world to be in the future.
With those two benchmarks, you can create a path from your current status to the future imagined status, eliminating the obstacles and identifying processes and resources needed to reach the future state.
Let Nettleton Strategies help! We long ago discarded our flip charts and have facilitated client needs using digital tools. Now we have successfully facilitated client strategy sessions on Zoom. We can do the same for you! Let us help you:
- Clarify your unique value proposition as an organization.
- Identify clear goals that are measurable,
- Align what you do with available funding.
- Determine who should be responsible for next steps
- Help you to emulate best practices in your field
If you would like help navigating your way forward, contact us to learn more about how we can help!
Carl Nettleton is an award-winning writer , acclaimed speaker , facilitator, and a subject- matter expert regarding water, climate, sustainability, the ocean, and binational U.S. Mexico border affairs. Founded in 2007, Nettleton Strategies is a trusted source of analysis and advice on issues at the forefront of public policy, business and the environment.
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