What We’re Reading
American Airlines is launching its first scheduled cargo flight since 1984 on Friday, with two round-trip flights over four days between Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Frankfurt on a wide-body Boeing 777-300 passenger plane that can carry more than 100,000 pounds of freight. The flights are expected to be booked to capacity and will move cargo including medical supplies, e-commerce packages, and telecommunications equipment and electronics, the airline said.
Unforeseen benefits:
In today's #SARSCOV2 figures, check Los Angeles traffic accidents. They've fallen by over 90 percent. People in LA staying at home. pic.twitter.com/J4AgyLYWYe
— Benjamin Hansen (@benconomics) March 26, 2020
More than 47,000 chain stores across the U.S. temporarily shut their doors in 10 days as retailers took extreme measures to help slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic that has rattled all sectors of the global economy, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At least 90 nationwide retailers, ranging from Macy’s Inc. to GameStop Corp. to Michael Kors have temporarily gone dark.
Teachers are incorporating educational technology that has never been used on this scale while also dealing with the limitations of internet access in some homes. Thirty-five states so far have mandated that all schools close in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, affecting at least 69,000 schools and about 35.9 million public-school students in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to Education Week.
Denmark’s government agreed to cover the cost of employees’ salaries at private companies as long as those companies do not fire people. If a company makes a notice saying that it has to either lay off 30 percent of their workers or fire at least 50 people, the state has agreed to take on 75 percent of workers’ salaries, up to $3,288 per month. (This would preserve the income for all employees earning up to $52,400 per year.)
The American population is growing at its slowest pace since 1919, new government data shows, as a drop in births and an acceleration in deaths put the country closer than ever to an overall decline.
Have a good weekend, stay safe.