Pool techs busy, Coronavirus persists
By Marcelle Dibrell
One hundred and fifty-two days have passed since the United States recorded its first case of a confirmed Covid-19 patient at press time.
The world has 9,263,466 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 477,584 total deaths.
The U.S. has reached 2,347,022 confirmed cases, and a total death toll of 121,228 attributed to the disease.
On June 23, the U.S. was finding 34,720 new cases a day, and losing 826 people per day. The number of new cases is still growing, and the daily growth rate has increased. *Note: In the last issue of Service Industry News (6-15-20), it was reported that on June 10, the U.S. was finding 11,802 per day, but in fact the number was 20,834 per day.
New York state continues to lead the country in both total cases and deaths: 393,257 and 30,934 respectively. However, New York’s daily cases (555 per day) no longer leads the country. Rather, California is finding the greatest number of cases per day (5,813) with Texas close behind (4,760).
Nevada, Kansas and Illinois have recently released Covid-19 data by race, broken down into three critical categories: confirmed cases, deaths and testing.
Dr. Lisa A. Cooper (Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity) commented that while black Americans represent only about 13% of the population in the states reporting racial/ ethnic information, they account for about 34% of total Covid-19 deaths in those states.
Amid these rising numbers, the U.S. economy faces an uncertain future. One provision within the CARESAct – namely the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), provides an additional $600 a week on top of any other unemployment compensation for which a worker is eligible, is set to expire on July 31, 2020.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “the number of unemployed persons rose from an average of under 6.4 million in January and February to 21.0 million in May.
The unemployment rate in May was declared to be 13.3%. The number of people claiming regular state unemployment insurance or other unemployment benefits rose to 30 million in the week ending May 16, from an average of 2 million in a typical week between the beginning of the year and mid-March.”
With the unemployment compensation set to expire, it is unclear what will happen to those still unemployed by the end of July, particularly because the Congressional Budget Office has projected the unemployment rate will remain high — above 9% — through the end of 2021.
Meanwhile, a surge in coronavirus cases in 21 states has some considering reinstating lockdowns and that would certainly take an economic toll.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, sales of new single family homes surged 16.6% from April to May as homebuyers flocked to the housing market driven by low mortgage rates.
And along with buying new houses, homeowners put in new swimming pools at a tremendous rate. News outlets across the country have reported record pool sales, both in and aboveground.
Service professionals are busy with equipment repairs, and are reporting shortages on major equipment and parts.
Thesesurearestrangeandunpredictable times in America… So as the Covid-19 cases continue to mount, while the pool industry continues to flourish, Service Industry News will continue with coronavirus coverage while also keeping ears open for other stories of interest to pool and spa professionals.
And once again, a huge thanks to all you service guys and gals out there ensuring the country doesn’t also succumb to deadly waterborne diseases and drownings.
