Scientific American - USA (2022-03)

62 Scientific American, March 2022

Large-Scale* Annual Digital Health Funding, U.S. (billions of dollars)*Includes deals more than $2 million$4.6(2016)

$14.6(2020)

Telehealth-Related Bills Passed

0

60

Regulatory requirements

Private payer reimbursement

Online prescribing

Medicaid reimbursement

Studies and reportsCross state licensing

Broadband

2020

2021

Interrupted LearningTrajectories Learning Progression

Time

School closures

Loss of previously acquired learning and expected learning that does not take place because of school disruptions.

Pre-COVID learning trajectory

COVID trajectory

Alternative COVID trajectory

Accelerated learning to getback to pre-COVID benchmark.

If students do not getback on track, learning losses will accumulate.

Lines are colorized according to the Pandemic Violations of Democratic Standards Index, which represents the extent to which 2020 pandemic responses have violated democratic standards. In general, countries with lower levels of perceived corruption (top of chart

) have

exhibited a more democratic handling of the pandemic (

yellow

and

orange

).

Perceived Corruption IndexLess corruptNew Zealand,Denmark More corrupt

2019

2020

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

0

ViolationsNoneMinorModerateMajor

U.S.Armenia Somalia

64.4%(2001)

58.7%(2020)

10.8%(2020)

2 0 .1 %(1983)

Percent of U.S. Employees Who Are Members of a Labor Union

Deviation in Google Search Intensity

–2

–4

–6

2

4

6

Weeks from Outbreak

Historic baseline (

dotted

)

ZoomSkypeDeliveryFlightShoppingRestaurantMuseum

Higher than baselineLower than baseline

Global Labor Force Participation Rate (percent of total population, ages 15 and up)

Mar. 2020

Labor Force ParticipationThe worldwide share of people in the labor force—defined by

the World Bank as those aged 15 or older who supply labor

for the production of goods and services—has been gradu

ally

falling in recent decades (although trends have varied by

country). Since 1990 the typical annual fluctu

a^ tions

were

around 0.1

percent. From 2019 to 2020 the global rate

fell from around 61

percent of the population to less than 59—

a^ sudden, steep drop.Source: International Labor Organization, ILOSTAT database;

data retrieved on June 15, 2021, and presented by the World Bank

ECONOMY

COVID’s economic impacts are as varied as they are significant. From a distance, it is easy to identify clear winners and losers: air travel and hospitality industries suffered, for example, whereas video calling and online shopping skyrocketed.

But a closer look at the data reveals a more granular picture because different people experienced these changes in varying ways.

Industry Ups and DownsA look at worldwide trends of Google search terms reveals clear industry winners and losers. When

lockdowns put an

abrupt stop to nonessential travel, searches including words like “hotel” and “airport” became scarce. Meanwhile remote workers sent “Zoom” sky

rocketing, and people avoiding the

grocery store performed abundant searches for “delivery.”Source: “Winners and Losers from COVID-19: Global Evidence from Google Search,” by Kibrom A. Abay at al. Policy Research Working Paper 9268, World Bank Group, Development Economics Development Research Group, June 2020 Telehealth InvestmentsTelehealth uses certain technologies to provide health care at

a^

distance. Examples range from sensors that allow for

remote tracking of vital signs to consultations with a medical professional by phone or computer. It is not a new concept, but global investments—in terms of number of investors and scale of contributions—jumped up in 2020 and continued to

break records in 2021. The chart here shows one measure:

cumulative investments in digital health companies.Source: Rock Health Funding Database, as published on July 6, 2021, by^

rockhealth.org (

data

)

The burden of job loss

is not shared evenly

In mid-2021 the International Labor Organization reported that although men’s global employment had returned to prepandemic levels, there were still 13 million fewer women in the work

force

than in 2019. People in low-paying jobs were also affected disproportionately, in part because their roles may not be compatible with remote work. The U.S.-based Brookings Institution reported that “before

COVID-19, nearly

half of all working women... worked in jobs paying low wages, with median earnings of only $10.93 per hour.” Hispanic and Latina women represent an outsize share of these workers, compared with white women.

Unions are on the rise

People who were put in the category of “essential worker” in 2020 found that their roles had become both newly dangerous and indispensable. Yet many did not feel their employers responded adequately to keep them safe and fairly compensated. Perhaps in response to these developments,

the U.S. has seen a recent uptick in unionized workers as a percent of its total workforce. Source:

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Telehealth Policy In the U.S., federal and state laws control the type and extent of telehealth services available to patients. During the

COVID public

health emergency, regulations shifted quickly, making the option of remote care more accessible to more people. Advocates are pushing for continued—and expanded—access, even as the acute need wanes.Source: Center for Connected Health Policy (

data

)