Current Events in May 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 1,161,804 (1,070,032)

Total U.S. deaths: 67,798 (66,570)

Total global cases: 3,534,544 (3,498,283)

Total global deaths: 248,164 (247,107)

Florida may have dodged a bullet

Florida is among the states loosening shutdown restrictions today after the most dire predictions associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19) failed to materialize. The state was slow to begin shelter-in-place rules, it had crowded beaches, and it had major ports for cruise ships, which have been hotbeds for the virus. Beyond that, it attracted tourists from all over the country.

Health experts warned that Florida was about to become the next hot spot, and despite early trends in that direction, the state’s hospitals were not overwhelmed as cases leveled off. Starting today, retail stores, restaurants, museums and libraries can reopen, but they must operate at 25 percent capacity.

Restaurants must ensure that patrons are a minimum of six feet apart. Florida's state parks are also part of the phase one reopening, but visitors will experience limited hours, capacity, and services.

USAA returning more money to policyholders

Most major insurance companies have adjusted their rates, temporarily at least, to reflect the large reduction in auto accidents during the coronavirus shutdown. Now, USAA says it’s sending even more money back to auto policyholders.

The company says it’s sending another $280 million in dividends to auto insurance policyholders whose policies were in effect April 4. Previously, it sent $500 million back to customers.

The company says the money reflects 20 percent of the third month’s worth of premiums.

Blood plasma treatment under study

Now that the government has granted emergency approval of a drug to treat the coronavirus, other studies are underway to determine whether antibodies from the blood of recovered patients might also be an effective treatment. It’s worked on other viral infections in the past.

Researchers are also trying to determine whether an existing and fairly common blood plasma product could also be an effective treatment. But according to The Wall Street Journal, that’s causing concern among some health experts.

They point out that a surge in demand for the treatment -- intravenous immunoglobulin, or IVIG -- could lead to a shortage for treating patients who need it to cope with other diseases. Some experts say it would likely be less effective than using the antibodies from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus.

Roche Holdings reports that the government has granted emergency approval to its antibody test, which it claims is 100 percent effective in identifying people who have already had the coronavirus.

Southwest boosts in-flight health and safety protocols

Southwest Airlines has taken steps to bolster consumers’ confidence in their health and safety aboard their aircraft. The carrier has announced additional cleaning practices across the fleet and throughout the day. It’s also modified onboard protocols to support distancing and contact-free interaction.

Southwest CEO Gary Kelley said these and other steps are being taken to not only protect passengers but also airline personnel.

"We feel extreme gratitude for those who are serving on the frontlines of this pandemic,” Kelly said. “And from our own frontlines to our back offices, we share an immense pride in the service we're providing to Southwest Customers for whom travel is essential right now."

Meanwhile, Spirit Air has joined JetBlue in requiring all passengers to wear masks while onboard the aircraft.

OpenTable looking ahead to restaurant reopenings

OpenTable, the restaurant reservation platform, says it is ready to adapt and assist full service restaurants as they begin to reopen. 

"Restaurants need help to reopen quickly, safely, and successfully as local restrictions lift.  We're doing our part to help them by waiving fees and updating features with the post-COVID-19 dining experience in mind," said Andrea Johnston, COO at OpenTable.

The company says that restaurants that have not taken reservations in the past may find they need to in this new era of social distancing. They may find that they have to rearrange floor plans to allow more space between tables.

The company says it has made enhancements to its platform that can provide additional support  for restaurants that are trying to adhere to social distancing guidelines while providing updated health and safety information to diners for when it is safe to eat out again.

Around the nation

• Mississippi: Gov. Tate Reeves has defended his decision to reopen the state’s economy without waiting two weeks to see if cases were declining. He says the state’s hospital system is not stressed and that there are fewer than 100 people on ventilators. “You have to understand that Mississippi is different than New York and New Jersey,” Reeves said on “Fox News Sunday.”

• Massachusetts: Starting Wednesday, people over the age of two across Massachusetts will be required to wear a face mask in public places where social distancing isn’t possible. People with medical conditions that prevent them from wearing masks are exempt from this order.

• Kentucky: A growing number of meat processing plants in the state have been hit with COVID-19 outbreaks. As of the weekend, the Kentucky Department for Public Health had confirmed 313 positive cases and one death in processing plants across the state.

After two clinical trials, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency approval to the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment for the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Gilead Sciences, the company that makes it, says it will donate its entire inventory of remdesivir to the U.S. government for distribution to health care providers treating COVID-19 patients.

Stanford University began recruiting participants for the two trials in early March as the virus began showing up at U.S. hospitals. 

Both trials took place at dozens of sites. One trial was a randomized, placebo-controlled study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), considered the gold standard of testing. The other, which had no placebo component, was conducted by Gilead Sciences. Both yielded positive results.

“These two rigorously done trials provide really the first evidence of the efficacy of any therapeutic for this disease,” said Lloyd Minor, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine. “I think this is very encouraging in terms of the future.”

Speeding up recovery times

Despite the encouragement, researchers said the drug can’t be considered a silver bullet, at least not yet. Dr. Neera Ahuja, the principal investigator on the NIH trial and head of the division of hospital medicine, said it’s not known if remdesivir will turn out to be the best treatment. Currently, she says there are other limitations.

“It’s an IV drug at this time and can’t be given outside the hospital,” Ajuja said. “We still need to look for the most effective drug.”

On April 29, Gilead Sciences reported that a five-day treatment course with remdesivir was potentially as effective as 10-days of treatment in its trial of severely ill patients. Before the end of the day, NIH reported that its early data from its own remdesivir trial showed the drug helps to speed up recovery time in severely ill patients.

“Data shows it has a clear-cut positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAD) and a key health advisor to President Trump. “What this has proven is that a drug can block this virus.” 

Final results of the NIH trial are not expected until later this month, but Fauci said the preliminary results were published so the drug could be given to patients in the study who received the placebo.

Donating entire supply to the government

Gilead Sciences chairman and CEO Daniel O’Day, appearing on CBS Face The Nation on Sunday, said the company is donating its entire supply of remdesivir to the U.S. government to be distributed as needed. 

“We want to make sure nothing gets in the way of this getting to patients,” said O’Day.

The company says 140,000-plus prescriptions will be available by the end of May, with 1 million available by the end of this year.

To slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, Spirit Airlines has announced that it will require passengers to wear face masks starting May 11. The airline joins others that are implementing the policy. 

Passengers on United, Delta, and JetBlue will be required to wear them starting Monday, May 4, and Spirit’s new policy will take effect the same day as American, Southwest, and Alaska. Delta, United, and JetBlue flight attendants had already begun wearing face masks. 

In announcing the same policy last week, Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's president and chief operating officer, said that wearing a mask was the “new flying etiquette.” 

Masks mandatory

Despite the impact of COVID-19, people are still flying, albeit not in numbers as high as a year ago. Roughly 134,000 travelers passed through airport security checkpoints on Saturday, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). A year ago, that figure was 1.9 million. 

Airlines including Southwest, United, American, and Allegiant Air are providing face masks for passengers that forget to bring their own. Spirit passengers will have to bring their own face masks and wear them at the airport and throughout the flight. The airline said young children who can't keep a mask on will be exempt from the new policy. 

Allegiant Airlines -- which is encouraging but not requiring passengers to wear a mask -- said most customers have already begun wearing a mask. 

"We find that most passengers have already adopted this as a practice," said Allegiant spokeswoman Hilarie Grey. 

The impact teachers make on lives is often underappreciated and, sometimes, late in coming. During the pandemic, teachers have found themselves compelled to rise to the occasion by holding virtual classes -- something most have never done before.

The National PTA says there’s no better time than Teacher Appreciation Week -- May 4-8 -- to honor and celebrate the tireless efforts of teachers nationwide. No apple required.

“Teachers do so much more than teach. And in these challenging times, we’ve all gotten a pretty clear glimpse at the immense work they do and the immeasurable impact they have on our children’s lives,” said Leslie Boggs, president of National PTA, in a statement. “Now more than ever, we can all appreciate just how much teachers do, and it’s even more important that we take the time to say thank you.”

What students can do to say thanks

The National PTA has put together a Teacher Appreciation Week Toolkit that contains certificates students can use to recognize their favorite teachers. Included in the kit are special emojis students can use on social media at #ThankATeacher, thank you cards and letters, and how-to guides on creating poems and video messages that students can download, print out, and post. 

Both English and Spanish versions are available. Other ideas and resources to celebrate and honor teachers can be found at PTA.org/ThankATeacher.

The National PTA’s efforts are sponsored by Office Depot, which offers additional printouts that can be customized and colored. 

An added bonus

To further honor the “T” in PTA during Teacher Appreciation Week, the National PTA is rolling out a special episode of its Notes from the Backpack podcast, highlighting 2019 National Teacher of the Year Rodney Robinson, a Social Studies instructor in Richmond, VA. 

Notes from the Backpack is a podcast designed to help parents gain a better understanding of both teachers’ and students’ lives inside the classroom. In the latest season of the series, subjects discussed include How to Handle Bullying, Money Talks: School Finance 101, and How to Talk to Your Kids About Gun Violence.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been ordered by a federal judge to turn over server logs associated with fake net neutrality comments to a pair of New York Times reporters.

The logs will contain the IP addresses linked to the millions of public comments supporting the repeal of net neutrality that were sent to the agency in the run up to the December 2017 net neutrality vote. 

New York Times reporters sued the FCC under the Freedom of Information Act after it initially refused to allow them to view the records, Gizmodo reports.

The agency previously argued that handing over the records containing IP addresses would represent an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” However, Judge Lorna Schofield countered that the FCC didn’t specify how releasing the data would harm anyone.

Schofield ordered the agency to release the records, stating that the filing of fake comments poses a threat to the entire public comment system. The “notice-and-comment process has failed if there are more fraudulent comments than real ones,” Schofield said.

Time to ‘come clean’

In a tweet, Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said it’s time for the agency to “come clean” about the fake comments. 

“Remember when the FCC tried to cover up fraud & fake comments in its #netneutrality proceeding? Journalists wanted to get to the bottom of this mess. The FCC told them go away. But a court just told the FCC to stop hiding from the press. So it’s time for the agency to come clean,” Rosenworcel stated. 

The release of the records is expected to shed light on the scope of the fake commenting and help investigators find out which groups may have been involved. 

Research carried out in 2018 suggested that the “vast majority” of real comments filed with the FCC ahead of the net neutrality vote were in favor of keeping net neutrality protections. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai insisted that there was Russian interference during the public commenting period. 

The FCC hasn’t commented on the judge’s order. 

Is J. Crew’s 37-year run about to end? That’s a long shot, but the company found its future hanging in the balance on the heels of filing for bankruptcy protection on Monday.

Despite a hopeful first quarter, the specialty retailer was up to its neck in debt -- $1.65 billion, to be exact. And the temporary coronavirus-related closing of its 500-plus stores may have been too much to survive. To try and stop the bleeding, the company’s lenders will convert that debt into equity.

"This agreement with our lenders represents a critical milestone in the ongoing process to transform our business with the goal of driving long-term, sustainable growth for J.Crew and further enhancing Madewell's (J. Crew’s denim-inspired offshoot) growth momentum," said Jan Singer, Chief Executive Officer, J.Crew Group, in a statement.

"Throughout this process, we will continue to provide our customers with the exceptional merchandise and service they expect from us, and we will continue all day-to-day operations, albeit under these extraordinary COVID-19-related circumstances. As we look to reopen our stores as quickly and safely as possible, this comprehensive financial restructuring should enable our business and brands to thrive for years to come."

Still open for business

The word “bankruptcy” always sounds so daunting, but J. Crew wants its customers to know that all is good between the company and its customers, regardless of the situation.

In an open letter to its shoppers, J. Crew said right up front that “we are there for our customers and fully operational throughout this restructuring process.”

“We will continue operating under the COVID response measures currently in place and look forward to reopening our stores in accordance with CDC guidance as quickly and safely as possible,” the company wrote, then assured its customers that all customer programs, including J. Crew’s loyalty programs, gift cards, returns, and exchanges, will continue “as usual.”

If consumers have questions about particular J. Crew/Madewell products or services, the company has set up a FAQs page to answer those questions.

While many consumers link smoking with lung damage, a new study conducted by researchers from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center explored what role nicotine plays in health concerns. 

According to the researchers, nicotine exposure has a powerful effect on consumers’ blood pressure, as it can lead to overall high blood pressure for the body and high blood pressure in the lungs. These findings are especially concerning considering the large quantities of young people who have taken up vaping. 

“There is a frightening trend of increasing usage of e-cig and vape products in youths and young adults,” said researcher Jason Gardner, PhD. “Recent high-profile cases of hospitalization and death following e-cig usage necessitates a greater understanding regarding the health impact of inhaled nicotine delivery systems.” 

Exposure to nicotine

The researchers created a model that allowed them to analyze the negative health effects associated with inhaling nicotine by studying mice. The model worked much in the same way that humans smoke cigarettes, with the mice being exposed to nicotine vapor for half the day for eight weeks.

Perhaps the most concerning finding was how the lungs were affected by the persistent nicotine exposure. The researchers learned that the nicotine thickened the arteries around the heart and also increased pulmonary blood pressure. 

While it took the full eight weeks to see these changes, the researchers noticed changes to the mice’s overall body blood pressure after just one week of nicotine exposure. Consistent smoking for one week was enough to increase both systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings. 

“The increase was transient, but was sufficiently long to pose potential health risks in individuals with preexisting cardiopulmonary conditions,” said researcher Eric Lazartigues, PhD. 

Danger of e-cigarettes

Though cigarette smoking recently reached an all-time low, e-cigarette smoking has become increasingly popular. The researchers hope these findings emphasize the risks associated with nicotine exposure. 

“The current study clearly demonstrates the adverse effects of nicotine on both systemic and pulmonary blood pressure and cardiac remodeling,” said Dr. Gardner. “This study should help raise the awareness of the adverse effects of nicotine inhalation on the cardiopulmonary system and help formulate public health policies on e-cigarettes.” 

The Trump administration has issued an update on the second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) small business loans, saying the process is moving faster and more smoothly than the first round, authorized under the CARES Act.

The first $350 billion in loans to small businesses that pledged not to lay off workers was exhausted in less than a week, with many small “Main Street” businesses complaining that the money was gone before they could submit applications.

It was later revealed that several large, publicly traded companies took advantage of a loophole to get loans. Shake Shack received $10 million while Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse received $20 million. Both companies returned the money.

In a joint statement issued Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza said lending of the second round of funds began April 27. Since then, 2.2 million loans have been made to small businesses. That’s more than the number of loans made in the first round, suggesting the loans were smaller and went to smaller enterprises.

“Notably, the average loan size in Round 2 is $79,000, yet another indicator that the program is broadly based and assisting the smallest of small businesses,” the two officials said.

Smaller lenders making loans

According to the update, nearly a half-million loans were made by small lenders, with less than $1 billion in assets. Some types of lenders included community development financial institutions, certified development companies, microlenders, farm credit lending institutions, and FinTechs.  

More than 850,000 loans—about one third of the 2.2 million loans—were made by lenders with $10 billion in assets or less. Going back to April 3, when the PPP began,  the SBA has processed over 3.8 million loans for more than half a trillion dollars of economic support. 

"SBA systems are processing loans so lenders can disburse funds quickly,” the two officials said in their statement. “We encourage all eligible lenders to participate and all eligible borrowers that need this assistance to work with an approved lender to apply.”

Twin goals

The program has two goals -- to keep businesses solvent during the more than six-week long shutdown and to keep workers earning paychecks. One feature of the program is the forgiveness of a portion of the loan if, at the end of the loan’s term, the business has not furloughed employees.

Congressional leaders are now drawing up plans for a third round of stimulus payments, and it may be harder to keep big businesses from lining up for cash. The Wall Street Journal reports that lobbyists for a wide range of interests -- from business associations to non-profits -- are making their case for a piece of the third, and perhaps final, aid package.

Children continue to be diagnosed with mental health conditions, which could be triggered by anything from lack of sleep to poor diet.  

Now, researchers say that poor physical health can also lead to mental health problems. According to a new study, children who struggle with chronic medical conditions could be at an increased risk for anxiety disorders. 

“Associated with significant implications, the combination of anxiety disorders and a physical disease presents the potential for worsened physical disease outcomes,” said researcher Vanessa Cobham, PhD. “Health professionals working with children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions should routinely screen for the presence of anxiety disorders in order to provide the best possible care to these youth.” 

Higher risk of anxiety problems

The researchers analyzed over 50 previous studies that explored both anxiety disorders and chronic health conditions among young people. There were seven chronic conditions the researchers focused on for the study: juvenile arthritis, diabetes, sickle cell disease, epilepsy, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and congenital heart disease. 

The studies fell into two categories: those that examined how anxiety disorders affected physical health outcomes and those that examined the prevalence of anxiety disorders among kids and teens with chronic medical conditions. 

After analyzing two dozen studies within the first group, the researchers learned that anxiety greatly affects young people’s physical health -- though different conditions yielded different anxiety-related symptoms. For example, those with inflammatory bowel disease were more likely to experience more frequent flare-ups of the condition, whereas those with asthma were more likely to miss school. 

The researchers examined nearly 30 more studies in the second group that explored the prevalence of anxiety disorders among young people with chronic conditions. Their work revealed that anxiety is quite common among young people in this group, with up to 50 percent of the children involved in the study reporting that they struggled with anxiety in some way. That’s nearly seven times higher than the global average. 

While the researchers believe that more work needs to be done in this area, these findings can help medical professionals provide children with chronic medical conditions the widest scope of care. 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 1,070,032 (1,043,595)

Total U.S. deaths: 63,019 (61,187)

Total global cases: 3,276,373 (3,224,079)

Total global deaths: 233,998 (228,908)

Researchers say pandemic could last two years

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have produced models that suggest the coronavirus pandemic could last as long as two years. Their report compares the current outbreak to past flu pandemics, but the team notes that COVID-19 appears to spread more easily than influenza.

The coronavirus also has a longer incubation period than the flu, so the symptoms take longer to appear in infected people, allowing them to unintentionally spread the virus.

Their findings are published by the university’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

Head start on a vaccine

Companies working on vaccines are trying to accelerate the development of a drug to prevent COVID-19. Moderna has developed a vaccine that hasn’t gone through the approval process yet, but the company’s CEO, Stephane Bansel, says production of the vaccine could begin as early as July.

“Our team is ready to start dosing as soon as we get the green light,” she told CNBC this morning.

The drug company is rushing to produce the vaccine -- called mRNA-1273 -- even though it has yet to clear a Phase 1 clinical trial. That study will determine whether it’s safe for human consumption. Moderna says initial results from the ongoing trial look promising.

Pushback on California beach closings

As expected, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered California’s beaches closed beginning today, but not all elected officials are on board. The Huntington Beach and Dana Point city councils held emergency sessions last night where both threatened legal action to keep the beaches open.

The cities said it should be up to local authorities, not the state of California, to make decisions to close public facilities. Newsom said he acted after seeing large crowds gathering on beaches last weekend and not observing social distancing guidelines.

Drugmaker will spend as much as $1 billion this year on potential treatment

When Gilead Science reported first quarter earnings yesterday, it revealed that it had spent $50 million on research and development of the antiviral drug remdesivir, which is currently a leading candidate to treat the coronavirus. But the company says it may spend as much as $1 billion before the end of the year.

Assuming clinical trials show that remdesivir can effectively treat the virus and prevent most deaths, CEO Danial O’Day says the company will have a stiff challenge producing enough of it and at a low enough price for patients.

“We understand our responsibility both to patients and also to shareholders and we’ll be balancing that,” O’Day told CNBC today.

Lasting changes

An often-repeated cliche in recent weeks is “things may never be the same again.” A study from IBM suggests there may be some truth to that.

IBM’s Institute for Business Value (IBV) survey of U.S. consumers shows shifting personal behavior and preferences resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It quizzed 25,000 adults about their shopping, transportation, future attendance at events in large venues, and returning to work. The results show a majority expect to make significant changes in the way they go about their lives and work in the wake of the virus.

"The study provides further evidence that COVID-19 is permanently altering U.S. consumer behavior,” said Jesus Mantas, senior managing partner, IBM Services. “There are long term implications of the new consumer behaviors for industries like retail, transportation, and travel among others. These organizations need to quickly adapt their business models to serve the new consumer behaviors in order to survive and thrive." 

Around the nation

• New Jersey: State officials report that there have been 460 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, marking the highest single day death toll in the state so far. Meanwhile, the state is reopening state and county parks and golf courses tomorrow. 

• Michigan: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has extended the state's coronavirus emergency declaration by executive order after the Republican-controlled legislature advanced a bill that would have effectively ended the lockdown. Armed protestors marched on the capital and demanded that the state reopen.

• Illinois: Las Vegas may be reopening the strip, but the Illinois Gaming Board has ruled that the state's casinos and video gambling terminals will remain closed "until further notice'' to fight further spread of the coronavirus. The board said it would consult public health professionals and review conditions before video and casino gambling will be allowed to resume.

Across the U.S. on Friday, throngs of workers at Amazon warehouses, Target and Whole Foods stores, and shoppers for Instacart and Shipt called in sick in an arm-in-arm one-day protest over working conditions and lax safety protections during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In Amazon’s situation, there was a little extra payback. When the clock struck midnight on May 1 -- International Workers Day -- the company’s policy giving unlimited unpaid time off for workers ended.

“The fact they took it away prior to the sick-out lets you know they’re aware of the sick-out and trying to stop people from participating in that,” said Derrick Palmer, a four-year Amazon warehouse employee in Staten Island, New York, told The Guardian. “Now they’re forcing people to go to work because if you run out of unpaid time off, that’s it, you’re fired.”

A legal leg to stand on

The sick-out stagers point to their “right to refuse unsafe work conditions” as defined by the Occupational Safety and Hazards Act (OSHA) and the National Labor Relations Act, which bans employers from threatening, demoting, retaliating with wrongful termination, reducing hours, etc., against any employee who wants to exercise their rights. 

Apparently, they mean business, too. Target’s striking workers say they’ll go as far as filing charges for any “retaliatory action Target and their representatives may engage in towards workers exercising these rights.”

Good is not good enough for Amazon workers

For Amazon and Instacart, the sick-out is a repeat performance from March 31 when workers for both companies first protested what they considered unsafe conditions.

Palmer said that Amazon did step up after the first protest and started making personal protective equipment available to workers. The company also took extra steps towards enforcing social distancing rules and temperature checks. However, Palmer said there’s one thing the company left out of the mix: adequate cleaning procedures. 

Target workers put some of the blame on the consumer

Over at Target, its employees think that the company has failed to follow its promise of “ensuring we are creating a safe environment.”

In the Target Team Member Sick-Out Pledge, workers claim that “foot traffic and guest behavior have been atrocious, putting us at needless risk when greater safety measures are required to ensure social distancing. Workers nor guests have been required to wear masks.”

The Pledge takes a few shots across the bow of consumers, evidently to try to make its point that Target corporate values the almighty dollar more than the care of its workforce.

“Our maximum capacity of guests has been set too high, their demeanor is also casual and reckless,” says the Pledge. “They do not respect our space, they are not coming to our stores exclusively for essential items, but are occupying our stores out of boredom and for fun.”

“The guests' desire for recreation are not more important than team members' needs for safety. Our pay and compensation are not adequate enough to cover the costs of hospitalization or funeral expenses related to COVID19.”

Update: An Amazon spokesperson gave the following statement to ConsumerAffairs regarding the worker protests.

“The fact is that today the overwhelming majority of our more than 840,000 employees around the world are at work as usual continuing to support getting people in their communities the items they need during these challenging times.  While there is tremendous media coverage of today’s protests we see no measurable impact on operations. 

Health and safety is our top priority and we expect to spend more than $800 million in the first half of the year on COVID-19 safety measures. Our focus remains on protecting associates in our operations network with extensive measures including distributing face masks, disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, implementing temperature checks, operating with strict social distancing protocols, and recognizing their contributions with additional pay and leading benefits.

We encourage anyone interested in the facts to compare our overall pay and benefits, as well as our speed in managing this crisis, to other retailers and major employers across the country.”

Just last week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asked the Justice Department to open a criminal antitrust investigation into Amazon’s business practices. On Friday, that request moved up a notch when Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos received word that the House Judiciary Committee would like him to fly to Capitol Hill and testify before the group regarding competition concerns. 

The pieces of the puzzle started back on April 23, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon had utilized confidential information from the company’s third-party sellers in order to develop competing products under the Amazon private label banner. The Journal’s investigation ran counter to the sworn testimony that Amazon's associate general counsel, Nate Sutton, gave to the committee last July. 

Adding validation to the claim, the Journal based its report on interviews with over 20 former or current Amazon employees and the company’s internal documents. The outlet’s claims are also supported by findings of the European Commission, which has opened an antitrust investigation into Amazon for similar conduct.

Claims of exploiting third-party sellers

It’s important to note that it’s not that Amazon copies other products; all told, the company has more than 450 private labels and exclusive brands. Rather, the allegations claim that the company has gone too far by allowing its Amazon employees’ conduct to violate formal policy against the use of non-public, individual seller data. The Committee opened its letter to Bezos by getting right to that point. 

“If these allegations are true, then Amazon exploited its role as the largest online marketplace in the U.S. to appropriate the sensitive commercial data of individual marketplace sellers and then used that data to compete directly with those sellers,” the Committee wrote.

The letter continued by urging Bezos to respond to claims that employees violated the company’s policy against the use of non-public, individual seller data; reports that Amazon employees described pulling competitors’ data as “‘standard operating procedure’ when making products such as electronics, suitcases, sporting goods or other lines;” and reports that employees said that management set highly aggressive targets for Amazon’s private label business.

First congressional hearing for Bezos

Going in front of Congress will be something new for Bezos. Of the Big Tech stalwarts -- Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon -- Bezos is the only CEO that’s never gone before a Congressional committee.

The committee left the date for Bezos to appear open-ended, but it did say that it expects Bezos, as Amazon’s chief executive, to testify voluntarily and help sort this matter out. If not, it reserves “the right to compulsory process if necessary.” 

“It is vital to the Committee, as part of its critical work investigating and understanding competition issues in the digital market, that Amazon respond to these and other critical questions concerning competition issues in digital markets.”