Welcome to the 15th 2020 edition of The Nett Report. Given the uncertainty of the coronavirus crisis, we are 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 fourteen 2020 reports can be found here.
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Trick or Treat – Should kids go out this Halloween?
The Washington Post on September 28, 2020, addressed the important question “should kids go trick-or-treating during a pandemic?” Here’s what the experts said in the article:
- Figure out how much health risk your household is comfortable assuming.
- Figure out the general risk level in your community. Some form of trick-or-treating would be acceptable so long as your community's daily rate of positive tests does not exceed 10 percent.
- Weigh the amount of covid-19 risk your family can afford to take on against your kids' mental health and the infection level in your community,
If you do go trick-or-treating, the article has a list of safety tips:
- Have kids wear a face mask. (Many costumes could easily incorporate one).
- Adhere to social-distancing guidelines by standing six feet apart.
- Have a parent accompany children, regardless of age, to hold them accountable with mask-wearing and social distancing.
- Avoid congregating around doorsteps and porches.
- Use hand sanitizer after receiving candy from each house.
- Do not eat candy while trick-or-treating: Parents should make certain hands are clean before kids start touching their faces and eating candy.
- Make sure kids wash their hands as soon as they get home.
- Have kids remove their costumes and shower.
- No need to disinfect candy wrappers.
If you get through Halloween, a pandemic pod could help you get through winter
The Washington Post follows up with its Halloween advice by writing on October 14, 2020, about how to get through the winter by forming a pandemic pod or bubble. "Also known as a 'quaranteam,' the strategy has been adopted by a number of families — especially those with young children — and close-knit friend groups. It requires people in the pod to follow strict safety protocols, such as mask-wearing and social distancing, when they are in public or interacting with others outside the group. Ideally, pod members can then socialize together in person in settings where the rules can be relaxed, without increased risk of contracting or spreading the virus."
And for the holidays - an interactive guide to traveling safely
On October 5, 2020, the Washington Post published an interactive guide to holiday travel. The Post reports that “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to warn that travel increases your chance of getting and spreading the virus that causes covid-19, and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others. But for those who choose to travel during the holiday season, we have gathered advice from experts on how to do it as safely as possible.”
How will travel be different post-pandemic?
National Geographic reported on October 5, 2020, about traveling in a post-pandemic world through the eyes of Elizabeth Becker, author of Overbooked and National Geo’s early report on how hard the pandemic will hit the travel industry. Here are eight ways Becker says that travel will be different.
- Sustainability will be a driving force.
- Our journeys will become more inclusive.
- Small communities will play a bigger role.
- We’ll seek quality over quantity.
- The road trip will kick into high gear.
- Travel advisors will become essential.
- We’ll appreciate staying closer to home.
- Planning trips will become joyful again.
Big changes in business predicted for the post-pandemic world
Its not just travel that will change, Fortune reported on October 14, 2020, that there will be big changes in the post-pandemic world. According to Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, whose company serves hundreds of large companies in 120 countries, with a half million employees and more than $40 billion in revenues, these three big changes will mark the post-pandemic world.
- A shift around the value of tech. We are no longer spending time talking about whether technology is good or bad and what are the risks. Tech became the lifeline for individuals, societies, business and government.”
- Speed. The most successful economies, countries, companies are those whose speed is as fast as possible. We are seeing that every day.”
- The opportunity to accelerate the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs - the UN’s attempt to identify and address societies’ biggest needs).
Fortune says the increasing embrace of those goals by business is indicative of a major change that was already underway before the pandemic, but has been accelerated by it. “We definitely have passed the tipping point,” Sweet says. “The pandemic has highlighted the interconnection around the globe. The risks around climate seem much more imminent. The risks of a pandemic in the future are real.”
