Market turbulence amidst the continuing spread of coronavirus continued Friday as stocks and oil prices tumbled and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell below 0.7% for the first time.
Cases of the coronavirus topped 100,000 globally on Friday, and the virus has killed more than 3,400 people. Stocks were at record highs less than a month ago.
Last week’s instability came despite the Federal Reserve slashing its main interest rate by half a percentage point on Tuesday, its first emergency rate cut since the 2008 financial crisis. Also Friday, President Trump signed into law an $8.3 billion bill for fighting the coronavirus outbreak, in an effort to help with vaccine development and assist local and state governments’ responses, officials said.
Given potential staffing issues, the susceptibility of older adults to experiencing complications from the virus, and the perceived personal financial impact of COVID-19, the senior living and care industries could be at high risk for experiencing ongoing financial reverberations from the virus.
In addition, healthcare conferences and trade shows worldwide are being canceled or postponed as companies make the decision to curtail nonessential travel.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society said Thursday it will cancel its upcoming annual conference for the first time in its 58-year history amid growing concerns about the coronavirus and its spread. HIMSS also cited the potential “consequences of potentially displacing healthcare workers during a critical time, as well as stressing the local health systems were there to be an adverse event” in making its decision.
Closer to home, on Friday, the American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living canceled this week’s scheduled 2020 Quality Summit and Independent Owner Conference in Texas due to concerns about the coronavirus.
“Traveling across the country to attend a conference could slightly increase the risk that professionals who work in our long-term care centers every day may become infected,” the organizations said in a statement. “We simply cannot take any action that puts our residents, our staff and their families at a higher risk for illness. Canceling our meetings next week ensures our focus is where it should be — with our residents.”
Other healthcare conferences scheduled to start in the next few weeks, including the American College of Healthcare Executives Congress on Healthcare Leadership, are continuing as planned, however. Conference planners say they are considering preparations and changes to address attendee safety, including increased hand sanitizer stations and the provision of attendee educational materials on ways to minimize risk.
