Tagged: 2021

Selected Media

Big Economic Challenges Await Biden and the Fed This Fall

By Jim Tankersley and Jeanna Smialek

Read the full article from The New York Times, here.

The U.S. economy is heading toward an increasingly uncertain autumn as a surge in the Delta variant of the coronavirus coincides with the expiration of expanded unemployment benefits for millions of people, complicating what was supposed to be a return to normal as a wave of workers re-entered the labor market.

That dynamic is creating an unexpected challenge for the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve in managing what has been a fairly swift recovery from a recession. For months, officials at the White House and the central bank have pointed toward the fall as a potential turning point for an economy that is struggling to fully shake off the effects of the pandemic — particularly in the job market, which remains millions of positions below prepandemic levels.

Selected Media

Local leaders consider mask mandates as Cuomo pushes for private vaccination policies

By Keith McShea and Thomas J. Prohaska

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

The push for more people to resume wearing face masks continued Monday, as the University at Buffalo imposed an indoor mask mandate for everyone on campus and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo urged private businesses, schools and hospitals to require vaccinations.

Erie County already has a mask mandate for county employees, but has so far not imposed one on the private sector.

Niagara County announced Monday that it will not demand masks in the private sector, but County Legislature Chairwoman Rebecca J. Wydysh said the Legislature will consider a mask mandate for county buildings Tuesday.

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Where a Vast Global Vaccination Program Went Wrong

By Benjamin Mueller and Rebecca Robbins

Read the full article from The New York Times, here.

After months of struggle, the U.N.-backed Covax alliance will soon have many more doses, promising relief for vaccine shortages in poorer countries. But it faces a deepening crisis: difficulties getting shots into arms as the Delta variant spreads.

Selected Media

Local Covid-19 positivity rate exceeds growing state percentage

By Anne Neville

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

The percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 statewide continued to climb, and Western New York numbers were higher than statewide rates, according to the latest figures released Sunday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.

Statewide, 2.68% of tests were positive Saturday, an increase over the seven-day average of 2.40%.

The numbers in Erie County were higher and climbing slightly each day, with 2.82% of people testing positive Thursday, 3.09% on Friday and 3.17% on Saturday.

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Schools waiting for state guidance told to plan on masks for the fall

By Barbara O’Brien and Charity Vogel

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa is recommending schools use federal CDC guidance in planning for opening schools this year, which means masking for all teachers, staff and students, regardless of vaccination status.

Rosa, in a letter to school leaders Thursday, said the Covid-19 pandemic is “still dynamic,” but predicted that much-awaited guidance from state Health Department officials would largely mirror that of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Like school leaders, the Education Department is “anxious” to receive guidance from the state Health Department on what safety measures should be followed for the fall semester, Rosa said in the letter to district superintendents, principals and leaders from charter schools.

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Biden to allow eviction moratorium to expire Saturday

By Associated Press

Read the full article from The Grio, here.

The Biden administration on Thursday announced it will allow a nationwide ban on evictions to expire Saturday, arguing that its hands are tied after the Supreme Court signaled it could only be extended until the end of the month.

The White House said President Joe Biden would have liked to have extended the federal eviction moratorium due to spread of the delta variant. Instead, Biden called on “Congress to extend the eviction moratorium to protect such vulnerable renters and their families without delay.”

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The Delta variant is a ‘serious threat’ as contagious as chickenpox, the C.D.C. finds

By Apoorva Mandavilli

Read the full article from The New York Times, here.

Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the agency, acknowledged on Tuesday that vaccinated people with so-called breakthrough infections of the Delta variant carry just as much virus in the nose and throat as unvaccinated people, and may spread it just as readily, if less often.

But the internal document lays out a broader and even grimmer view of the variant.

The Delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, according to the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

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Covid variant muddles return-to-office outlook

By News Business Reporter

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

But the course the virus takes will determine how those back-to-the-office plans shape up.

The next month’s data on the delta variant, as well as guidance from state and local health officials, “will be critical to the finalization of our return to office plans, including on-site logistics,” she said.

“We know how quickly the data can change, and we are prepared to pivot our plans if necessary to ensure that our employees are safe and healthy so they can continue serving our members,” Hartmann added.

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Poloncarz: Indoor mask mandates could return this week

By News Staff Reporter

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said today he believes a mask mandate for indoor gatherings in Erie County could be coming as soon as the end of this week because of the rise in Covid-19 cases.

“We will have an indoor mask requirement again, possibly by the end of the week,” Poloncarz said Wednesday during an Erie County Industrial Development Agency meeting.

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Pandemic Aid Programs Spur a Record Drop in Poverty

By Jason DeParle

Read the full article from The New York Times, here.

The number of poor Americans is expected to fall by nearly 20 million from 2018 levels, a decline of almost 45 percent. The country has never cut poverty so much in such a short period of time, and the development is especially notable since it defies economic headwinds — the economy has nearly seven million fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic.

The extraordinary reduction in poverty has come at extraordinary cost, with annual spending on major programs projected to rise fourfold to more than $1 trillion. Yet without further expensive new measures, millions of families may find the escape from poverty brief. The three programs that cut poverty most — stimulus checks, increased food stamps and expanded unemployment insurance — have ended or are scheduled to soon revert to their prepandemic size.

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