Daily Business Report-March 20, 2020
Resident Martha Kapla, right, holds a sign during a rally in front of an assisted-living home in San Pablo, Calif., in December. Nearly 80 elderly and disabled residents were told to be out of the building by the end of January. (Photo by Jane Tyska, Bay Area News Group)
Governor’s failure to issue statewide
eviction ban angers tenant advocates
CalMatters
As millions of anxious California renters worry about their health and paychecks in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order that allows cities and counties to stop landlords from kicking out tenants who miss their next rent payment — if local governments want to do so.
Tenant-rights groups, which have been pushing for a statewide moratorium on nearly all evictions except those necessitated by domestic violence or similar circumstances, expressed deep disappointment over the governor’s move.
They argue that stopping short of a sweeping ban endangers low-income renters’ ability to self-quarantine and take other recommended health measures when being forced out of the very homes in which public health officials want them to remain.
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SBA offers disaster loans for small
businese suffering economic injury
The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to California small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza announced. SBA acted under its own authority, as provided by the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, to declare a disaster following a request received from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s designated representative, Director Mark S. Ghilarducci of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services on March 13, 2020.
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Local tribal governments announce
shutdown of gambling casinos
Tribal government leaders of the Barona Band of Mission Indians, Campo Kumeyaay Nation, Jamul Indian Village, Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians today jointly announced that they are temporarily closing their casinos amid concerns over the Coronavirus (COVID-19) beginning today at noon through the end of the month.
The tribes are united in this decision to close for the health and well-being of the community, their guests and approximately 9,000 employees. Despite this closure, it is their hope that they can continue to provide emergency services for their respective communities. As uncertainty escalates, the tribes have determined this is the best course of action. They are following the COVID-19 outbreak as it progresses and will take further necessary precautions as their tribal governments deem necessary.
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Publishers face difficult tradeoff in
making coronavirus coverage free
Max Willen | Digiday
Reader worry – and work from home policies – are driving a surge in news consumption about the coronavirus, with pageviews up 30 percent year over year, according to Parsely data.
But publishers face a tough choice when it comes to using this reader interest. Even though readers are intensely worried in coronavirus coverage, it is difficult to monetize with advertising, with advertisers throwing keywords associated with the virus onto block lists. What’s more, as the scope of the virus’s impact widens, publishers also face pressure to move their stories about the virus in front of their paywalls, stunting a key area of revenue growth.
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A scientist’s perspective
on the coronavirus pandemic
by Monica May | Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Since the first case of coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified in December 2019, the respiratory virus has swept across the globe. Cases have been confirmed on every continent but Antarctica, prompting the World Health Organization to declare COVID-19 an official pandemic.
As the world grapples with the ongoing outbreak, we spoke with Sumit Chanda, Ph.D., an infectious disease expert and director of Sanford Burnham Prebys’ Immunity and Pathogenesis Program, to get his perspective on the pandemic and learn what Sanford Burnham Prebys scientists are doing to find effective treatments for COVID-19.
What is coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses common in animals, but they can leap to humans, causing illnesses ranging from a common cold to severe respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Were you surprised by the virus’s rapid spread? Why or why not?
Once there was evidence of person-to-person transmission outside of China, the rapid global spread of the virus was not surprising. Since this is a new virus, there is no natural immunity in the human population to slow the spread of the pathogen. Furthermore, respiratory viruses are among the most easily spread microbes and thus considered to have high pandemic potential.
Is there a vaccine for COVID-19?
Since this is a new coronavirus, there is no vaccine—and developing one can take several years.
How are Sanford Burnham Prebys scientists working to combat COVID-19?
As we speak, our scientists are looking to find known drugs that can inhibit the virus. Typically, it can take five to 10 years to bring a new drug to the market. However, the approach we are taking at Sanford Burnham Prebys, known as drug repositioning, can cut this development time dramatically. Since we are looking at FDA-approved drugs that are proven to be safe in humans, these medicines could rapidly get to people infected with the virus. If successful, drug repositioning will likely be the fastest path to find a therapeutic solution for the virus.
Longer term, work has been ongoing to develop broad-spectrum antivirals. These medicines would work against many viruses, not just one. For example, if we had developed a broad-spectrum antiviral that works on MERS or SARS, it is likely it could be used for the current COVID-19 outbreak. Ideally, the therapy could be given prophylactically to block the rapid spread of the disease.
What are the benefits of drug repositioning?
Drug repositioning is advantageous because FDA-approved drugs have already completed safety testing—meaning they have been used in people and are known to be safe. Safety testing can take years to complete. This means that if we do find a therapy that is effective against COVID-19, we can bring it to patients much faster than a novel treatment.
Any predictions for how far the virus will spread in the U.S.?
We eagerly await large-scale testing for the virus so we can get a better understanding of how widespread it currently is in the U.S. It is difficult to predict a potential trajectory of viral spread in the U.S. until those numbers become available.
But as of now, I have not seen any evidence of disease containment. It will be instructive to see how the situation plays out in other advanced democracies that are coping with a viral outbreak, including South Korea and Europe, to get a better idea of what might happen here.
What advice are you giving your loved ones?
The advice I give my friends and family is to hope for the best, prepare for the worst. We are in uncharted waters.
