Tag: C.A.R.E.S. Act

Just a few weeks ago, it appeared that the Delta variant was on the wane in the US. However, cases are climbing, in pockets of the Midwest, Southwest, and Northeast, and just ahead of the holiday travel season. Minnesota is experiencing its highest average daily case counts since April, at 3,500 per day, overwhelming some hospitals. In response, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has enlisted the National Guard to staff temporary sites…  Read more

Sending best wishes and our thanks to our veterans and their families this Veterans day 2021.  We salute you and appreciate your courage and service to our country.   We’ve been hearing about the tight market for available workers, so what’s the solution?  Per this recent Wall Street Journal article, some companies are responding by loosening hiring requirements such as the need for a bachelor’s degree, work experience or or background check. …  Read more

Thanks to tight supply chains and logistics in the developed world, many people have grown accustomed to receiving whatever they ordered promptly and predictably. That era may be over, as shortages are likely to continue. Toyota will be slashing production of cars by 40% in the face of a continuing chip shortage. It may be another year – or two – before shortages in sectors from construction to medical testing to…  Read more

While businesses have been mandating vaccines for employees for some time now, some are now beginning to take a harder line. Large corporations like Delta Airlines, are charging unvaccinated employees an extra $200 per month for health insurance, and some are firing unvaccinated employees. Companies that require employees to be vaccinated face several risks. First, the divisive nature of the covid vaccine may lead to workplace bullying or retaliation of unvaccinated…  Read more

The FDA has now granted Pfizer and BioNTech full approval of their COVID-19 vaccine for persons aged 16 and up. This means this vaccine has met the agency’s standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. This approval was based on close examination of six-months of follow-up which revealed no additional long-term safety concerns. This approval may now spur major companies to require employees to be vaccinated. Based on clinical studies, this vaccine…  Read more

Those COVID-19 relief programs which certainly helped keep millions of Americans and businesses afloat during the pandemic,  have unfortunately also been a spectacular bonanza for an array of international scam artists, including Russian mobsters, Chinese hackers, and Nigerian scammers. An estimated $87 million to $400 billion in unemployment benefits may have been lost to fraud; at least half of that is thought to have been stolen by foreign criminals. Many took…  Read more

What sets the Delta variant apart from other strains of the COVID-19 coronavirus is the amount of virus produced by those infected, a measure called viral load. One recent study found that people with the Delta variant had viral loads up to 1,260 times as high as the original strain. Higher viral loads make the Delta variant more transmissible and can also make infected people sicker. However, the CDC has also…  Read more

The Delta variant is more contagious than other virus variants, which is changing the public-health advice on preventing its spread. With the previous strains, a rule of thumb was that it took 15 minutes of close contact with an infected person to become infected. With the Delta variant, infection may happen in less than five minutes, and possibly with only fleeting contact, such as in an elevator. Recent studies show the…  Read more

The U.S. economy depends on population growth as a driver, but recent estimates indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded a decade long fertility slump to result in the lowest population growth rate in history. In half of all states, more people died than were born. The impact is most acutely felt in rural communities, which frequently lack the jobs, child-care options and housing that young families need. The result…  Read more

As the pandemic recedes and businesses reopen, millions are quitting their jobs rather than return to their pre-pandemic routine. Some are seeking out positions where they can be fully remote, while others, particularly in the leisure and hospitality sector, are seeking better work-life balance, higher pay, or a less stressful work environment. The lengthy experiment with remote work has changed what people think about where and how they want to…  Read more

Is there a perfect number of hours to work each day? Research shows that five hours seems to be the maximum that people can focus and be creative. The constraint of a shorter workday can also increase productivity as people are forced to find ways to get their work done in less time. While a shorter workday gives people more time for other pursuits, it also has several downsides. People have…  Read more

Before the pandemic, commuting was widely considered the worst part of one’s day and only worsened one’s sense of well-being. However, now that most office workers have skipped the commute for more than a year, the hidden benefits are emerging. Commuting serves as a distinct boundary between the home and office. Interesting that my contribution to a recent article “How to Draw the Line Between Work and Home”  also focused on the…  Read more

As we create our new normal, we look to the summer with warm weather allowing us to meet outside and even begin doing those things we love, like  attending graduations, hosting and attending Bar-B-Ques, hiking, biking, going to the park to play sports or just get out & toss a frisbee around. I’ve shared the story of my daughter who is foster failure, when she “broke down” and adopted her…  Read more

How will the COVID-19 pandemic end? Scientists who study global pandemics of the past observe that previous pandemics have subsided over time, generally in 18 months or so. The virus itself seems to become less deadly, and becomes more of an endemic seasonal illness. At the same time, our immune systems become better able to fight them off. At least that has been the pattern in the past. It is…  Read more

It seems crazy that a year ago, consumers were snapping up essentials like cleaning wipes and toilet paper in a panic-driven frenzy. Today, as economies around the world reopen, businesses are in a similar panic-driven frenzy to stock up. Supply lines have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic capacity, and recent events, including the Suez Canal blockage, a deep freeze in the southeast, and disruption of an East coast pipeline from hacking,…  Read more

Starting this week I am renaming this weekly blog and newsletter.  For now you will still be able to find it in the “Latest Updates” in our Covid-19 Resources and our Blog. For many people, large, life-shattering events can provide break point for making dramatic life changes that improve life going forward. Arthur Brooks, writing for The Atlantic, suggests that the pandemic provides all of us with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…  Read more

Are you feeling exhausted these days (even those non-accountants out there)? Are you struggling with “brain fog”? According to mental health experts interviewed by NPR, fatigue and brain fog may be a response to the stress and trauma of the last year. Many of us have lost loved ones, our lives have been uprooted, and even if we haven’t been sick, there’s a fear that we might catch this strange new…  Read more

In fall we gaze out car windows, walk along paths or along the street to see the colored leaves, while spring’s comparable pleasure comes from waterfalls, as this guide to waterfalls describes. Nov that so many of us are vaccinated, it would it be great to plan some day trips. In New Hampshire, Crawford Notch State Park is home to 10 waterfalls, ranging from 200’ Arethusa Falls to smaller Silver…  Read more

A year into the pandemic, and we’d all like to see it behind us. But there are disquieting signs that the virus may part of our lives for longer than we want. The longer the virus can spread through a non-immunized population, the more chances it has to mutate into strains that are more contagious or more dangerous. Although vaccination rates are still far below what is needed to slow…  Read more

As the pandemic wears on, many people have been reporting a sense of “brain fog.” Memory problems and an inability to think clearly or to concentrate in meetings may be the brain’s response to the stress of the pandemic, our isolation, and the sameness of our days, according to neuroscientists interviewed by The Guardian. Our brains are wired to respond to novel situations, but the repetitive nature of working from…  Read more