COVID-19 PULSE Start off with a weekly recap of the main Public Affairs developments across LATAM - Edelman

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COVID-19 PULSE Start off with a weekly recap of the main Public Affairs developments across LATAM - Edelman
COVID-19 PULSE

Start off with a weekly recap of the main Public Affairs
             developments across LATAM.
COVID-19 PULSE Start off with a weekly recap of the main Public Affairs developments across LATAM - Edelman
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                       Tuesday, August 18 – Monday, August 24 2020
                                                                                                                         Argentina
          STATS: 342,154 cases of COVID-19, 7,079 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry.

[EXECUTIVE POWER] The Minister of                 [LOCAL MEASURES] The Government of the                [DIGITAL ECONOMY] The Ministry of Economy
Productive Development, confirmed that the        City of Buenos Aires continues its plan towards       extended the scope of the functions assigned
Government is currently working on credit         the gradual flexibilization, and this week            to the Counsel of Coordination for the
lines for the reactivation of companies from      authorized the reopening of hotels, and shops         Financial Inclusion, to strengthen the policies
strategic sectors, which would replace the        situated on central areas. (Source)                   on this subject. The Counsel was required to
current Assistance Plan. These credits will be                                                          promote the development of digital finances.
tied to objectives of employment sustenance                                                             (Source)
and development. (Source)
[COVID RELATED] After being approved at the       [FOOD      AND     BEVERAGE]       Alimentary         [HEALTH] The National Program of Sanitary
Congress, the modification of the current         companies, grouped in business chambers,              Technology Monitoring was created by Decree,
budget was finally regulated by the Executive     presented a proposal to the Government, to            under the aegis of the Health Ministry, to
Power, reassigning special budget lines to deal   carry forward a moderate price increase in the        supervise the adequate use, testing and
with the consequences of COVID-19, by             products that belong to the food & beverage           prioritization of technology applied to health,
strengthening the financing of the Health         industry, but manifested their positive insight       assessing its efficiency, security, impact on
Ministry. (Source)                                towards the continuity of the Program Precios         health, and cost. (Source)
                                                  Cuidados. (Source)
[ECONOMY] The team specialized on external        [TECHNOLOGY] By Decree, the Executive                 [MANUFACTURING] According to a report
trade, constituted by authorities from several    Power declared internet, telephony, and cable         released by the National Confederation of
ministries to design policies for the economic    television as essential public services, which        SMES, the SMES´ production dropped 13.6%
reactivation, had their first meeting, in which   means that their tariffs will be regulated by the     interannually, compared to last year. During
they highlighted that their focus would be on     Government, to guarantee the people´s access          the first seven months of 2020, the sector
boosting exportation. (Source)                    to them. Moreover, their values were frozen           accumulated a fall of 22.2%. (Source)
                                                  until the end of the year. (Source)
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                             Tuesday, August 18 – Monday, August 24 2020
                                                                                                                                   Brazil
               STATS: 3.627.961 cases of COVID-19, 115.476 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry

[EXECUTIVE POWER] Despite the fact that                 [LOCAL MEASURES] A survey carried out by              [DIGITAL ECONOMY] In times of pandemic,
commerce has returned to work in practically            testing students in the São Paulo municipal           the National Social Security Institute (INSS), in
the whole country, President Jair Bolsonaro             school system indicated that 16.1% of children        partnership with the Digital Government
published a video this Sunday morning                   and adolescents between 4 and 14 years of             Secretariat (SGD) and Dataprev, begins the
defending    again    the   reopening    of             age were infected with the new coronavirus            pilot project of life proof by facial biometrics
establishments. He went on to say that the              and contracted the disease. (Source)                  from August 20th. (Source)
government cannot maintain emergency aid of
R $ 600 per month.(Source)
[COVID RELATED] The interim Minister of                 [FOOD AND BEVERAGE] Research points to                [HEALTH] A survey showed that, for the first
Health, Eduardo Pazuello, said that the federal         new eating habits in the pandemic, among              time in the pandemic, Covid-19 transmission
government was unable to meet the demand                them the preference for healthier and more            may be starting to slow down in Brazil.
for chloroquine made by states and                      practical foods. (Source)                             (Source)
municipalities. The Army, however, said it has
almost 1 million pills in its stocks. (Source)
[ECONOMY] The crisis driven by the pandemic             [TECHNOLOGY] President Jair Bolsonaro                 [MANUFACTURING] The Brazilian industry
of the new coronavirus caused the collection            enacted two articles that authorize the               continues to show signs of recovery and, for
of taxes to fall in at least 19 capitals of Brazilian   practice of telemedicine for all areas of health      the third consecutive month, showed
states in the first half of 2020. (Source)              for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic.            improvement in the indicators and is close to
                                                        (Source)                                              the level of activity seen before the covid-19
                                                                                                              pandemic.(Source)
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                       Tuesday, August 18 – Monday, August 24, 2020
                                                                                                                             Bolivia
           STATS: 108,427 cases of COVID-19, 4,442 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry.

[EXECUTIVE POWER] With at least five norms,         LOCAL MEASURES] The Mayor's Office of La             [DIGITAL ECONOMY] The economic and digital
the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) tries           Paz is analyzing the biosafety protocols for the     inclusion of women will be key for the
to govern from the Legislative. They affirm         resumption of business or economic activities        economic reactivation in the Andean
that their function is to legislate and supervise   that were paused due to the health                   countries. Jorge Hernando Pedraza, General
the government. (Source)                            emergency. (Source)                                  Secretary of the Andean Community, assured
                                                                                                         that this organization promotes the
                                                                                                         reactivation of intra-regional trade, supporting
                                                                                                         women entrepreneurs. (Source)
[COVID RELATED] The Ministry of Health              [FOOD AND BEVERAGE] The demand for                   [HEALTH] Health Ministry rejected reports
received a donation of biosafety materials and      organic products increased by 60% due to             from some media outlets such as the New
tests for the diagnosis of COVID-19 from the        coronavirus, which has encouraged family             York Times, regarding the number of deaths
Association of Private Banks of Bolivia             farming. In Bolivia, family farming represents       from COVID-19 in the country, assuring that
(Asoban). (Source)                                  more than 724,375 productive units, involving        the data published does not have a reliable
                                                    2 million family farmers. (Source)                   source, because Bolivia has a record of
                                                                                                         mortality. (Source)
[ECONOMY] The executive director of the             [TECHNOLOGY] The National Telehealth                 [MANUFACTURING] A report from the Bolivian
National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported     Program of the Health Ministry received the          Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE) of June 2020,
that, despite the effects of the COVID-19           support of Ipas-Bolivia, a non-governmental          Bolivian exports of textiles and jewelry fell by
pandemic, the national economy is showing           organization that delivered technological            up to 67%. (Source)
signs of reactivation, and less negative            equipment such as conference systems,
variations. (Source)                                computer equipment, webcams, and LED
                                                    televisions. (Source)
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                     Tuesday, August 18 – Monday, August 24, 2020
                                                                                                                             Chile
           STATS: 399,568 cases of COVID-19, 10,916 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry.

[EXECUTIVE POWER] President Sebastián             [LOCAL MEASURES] 30% of the Metropolitan             [DIGITAL ECONOMY] Between Monday,
Piñera announced the return of professional       Region remains without quarantine since this         August 31 and Wednesday, September 2, a
football to the stadiums, after almost five       Monday. 17 of 52 municipalities are in phase 2       new version of CyberDay will be held. E-
months of activity paralysis due to the COVID-    of the Step by Step Plan, which allows more          commerce has been a protagonist during the
19 pandemic. The First Division and First B       mobility and fewer restrictions on the people        pandemic, so an increase in participants and
championship will begin next Saturday, August     (Source).                                            promotions is expected (Source).
29 (Source).

[COVID RELATED] Health Ministry announced         [FOOD AND BEVERAGE] The Chilean bottler              [HEALTH] Health Ministry reported that eleven
that it will keep the public hospitals expanded   Embonor has begun to experience a rebound            out of fifteen provinces in the country
to 94% in 2021 due to possible outbreaks of       in its sales, after the sales fell 0.4% compared     decreased its cases of COVID-19. The variation
COVID-19. The authority will add 600 beds to      to the same period last year as a result of the      of positive cases was - 12% in the last days,
the 640 beds that were before the pandemic        COVID-19 pandemic (Source).                          with a national incidence of 68 cases per 100
(Source).                                                                                              thousand people (Source).

[ECONOMY] A study carried out by the Chilean      [TECHNOLOGY] Virtual Police Station                  [MANUFACTURING]         Chilean   coronavirus
Security Association and the consulting firm      registered a maximum of 1,429,146 permits in         vaccine prepares first human trials. The drug
McKinsey, revealed that 58% of Chileans           24 hours. The request for these police permits       has already started studies and hopes to start
companies plan to return to its offices at the    has allowed people living in quarantined cities      the clinical phase in 2021. Unlike other
end of the year or at the beginning of 2021       to move around the city for limited times            prototypes, it is intended to be applied to
(Source).                                         (Source).                                            newborns (Source).
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                       Tuesday, August 18 – Monday, August 24, 2020
                                                                                                                          Colombia
          STATS: 551,696 cases of COVID-19, 17,612 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry.

[EXECUTIVE POWER] President Iván Duque            LOCAL MEASURES] Mayor Claudia López                   [DIGITAL ECONOMY] Between March 20 and
announced that Colombia would enter a             announced that the quarantines by localities in       July 20, the Superintendency of Industry and
period of “selective” quarantine. The             Bogotá would end. López said that the retail          Commerce (SIC) received some 3,400
restrictions on events and large crowds will      trade would work from Thursday to Sunday              complaints related to online sales. Most of
continue during September while the               and the construction from Monday to                   them due to breaches in deliveries, contractual
government evaluates the spread of the virus.     Saturday. Besides, she said that the hotel and        conditions, and misleading advertising.
(Source)                                          tourism sector is reactivated and that                (Source)
                                                  restaurants will have open-air service. (Source)
[COVID RELATED] El Dorado International           [FOOD      AND      BEVERAGE]        Colombian        [HEALTH] The government announced that
Airport in Bogotá, the Rafael Núñez               Government authorized the pilot plans to              Colombia would participate in clinical trials of
International Airport in Cartagena, the           reopen the country’s bars, but these                  a candidate vaccine. (Source)
Palonegro Airport of Bucaramanga, and the         establishments will not be able to sell alcoholic
Camilo Daza Airport of Cúcuta obtained the '      beverages. Mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López,
Check-in Certificado' biosafety seal, from the    authorized the sale of liquor in the pilot of
Trade Ministry (Source)                           open-air restaurants and gastro bars (Source)
[ECONOMY] The Government presented a              [TECHNOLOGY] President Iván Duque and ICT             [MANUFACTURING] The Trade Ministry
new strategy to attract more foreign              Minister Karen Abudinen presented the ICT             reported that as of August 15, more than
investment to Colombia between 2020-2022.         Mission 2022 project that seeks to train              254,000 manufacturing, service and trade
The priority will be foreign investment in        100,000 people in Colombia in software                companies restarted work in different parts of
mega-investments,       tourism       projects,   development and programming over two                  the country. (Source)
promotion of the shipyard industry, and e-        years. (Source)
invoicing. Colombia expects non-mining
investment for US 11.500 million. (Source)
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                      Tuesday, August 18 – Monday, August 24, 2020
                                                                                                                          Ecuador
              STATS: 108,289 cases of COVID-19, 6,322 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry.

[EXECUTIVE POWER] The political parties and        LOCAL MEASURES] President Lenin Moreno              [DIGITAL ECONOMY] On September 16,
movements announced their presidential             gave a loan for the economic reactivation in        imported digital services will begin to pay value-
candidates and their candidacy must be             Guayaquil. The credit is part of the Reactívate     added tax (VAT) in Ecuador, according to the
approved by the CNE. The elections will be on      Ecuador program, which has USD 1,150 million        regulations for the Tax Simplification and
February 7. Also, it is necessary to highlight     that will be allocated to the most affected         Progressivity Law. (Source)
that the candidate Andres Arauz is the             sectors during the pandemic. (Source)
candidate of the Democratic Center party -left
party- and his vice-presidential formula will be
former president Rafael Correa. (Source)
[COVID RELATED] Ecuador activates the              [FOOD AND BEVERAGE] The restrictions on             [HEALTH] The State of Israel donated 120
'COVID' squads to avoid new pandemic chaos.        the sale of liquor from Friday to Sunday by the     biosecurity kits to the Ministry of Health for
The squads will be made up of criminalistics       Emergency Operations Committee (COE) will           medical personnel. Kits include surgical gowns,
personnel, doctors, fumigators, and funeral        end on Monday, August 31. The prohibition of        gloves,    surgical  masks,    and     biosafety
directors to avoid further deaths in Quito due     the sale of liquor is exempted in category 4        suits. (Source)
to the increase of COVID-19 cases. (Source)        and     tourist    restaurants,    where    the
                                                   consumption of alcohol is allowed as an
                                                   accompanying drink. (Source)
[ECONOMY] The government presented                 [TECHNOLOGY] More than 156,000 people               [MANUFACTURING]              The        Productive
Decree 1130, which extends the Productive          downloaded the ASI app to find out if they          Development Law has generated 104 investment
Development Law for 24 months. This law            were close to someone infected with COVID-          contracts for USD 2,546 million in two years. In
seeks the exemption of the Income Tax and          19. The Minister of Government Maria Paula          2019 the Government received USD 1,150
Currency Outflow to companies that make            Romo highlighted that Ecuador is one of the         million. 56% of investment in 2019 went to the
new productive investments. (Source)               pioneers in the region when developing the          manufacturing industry, followed by tourism and
                                                   tool. (Source)                                      the supply of electricity and gas. (Source)
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                   Tuesday, August 18 – Monday, August 24, 2020
                                                                                                                        Mexico
             STATS: 560,164 cases of COVID-19, 60,480 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry.

[EXECUTIVE POWER] President Andres Manuel        [LOCAL MEASURES] After Mexico City shifted         [DIGITAL ECONOMY] The Federal Economic
Lopez Obrador (AMLO) shared on his Sunday        to a medium –level risk of contagion according     Competition Commission (COFECE, by its
Message only “good news”: according to           to the epidemiological traffic light system,       Spanish acronym) has initiated an investigation
official data, the rate of COVID-19 contagion    eleven piers in the touristic attraction in        for potential ‘relative monopolistic practices’ in
and deaths are decreasing, August has been       Xochimilco were reopened for the use of            the digital advertising market in Mexico; the
the first month with no jobs lost since March    trajineras under strict health and safety          investigation will last at least 120 days.
and Mexico is participating in five different    measures. (Source)                                 (Source)
vaccine research protocols. (Source)
[COVID RELATED] The Minister of Public           [FOOD AND BEVERAGE] According to Mexico            [HEALTH] According to the World Health
Education, Esteban Moctezuma, and president      City’s government data, around 90,000 bars         Organization the situation in Mexico is
AMLO celebrated the start of the new school      and nightclubs have reopened under a               “complex” as many people are being
year. More than 30 million students in public    “restaurant” model, serving food and               underdiagnosed or diagnosed late, especially
schooling will attend classes broadcasted on     beverages while limiting their capacity to 30%     affecting poor and indigenous communities.
television and radio and will follow workbooks   occupancy. (Source)                                (Source)
made available online. (Source)
[ECONOMY] According to a survey conducted        [TECHNOLOGY] The Indian device that                [MANUFACTURING]            The  electronics
by Bank of America Securities, investors are     neutralizes the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in closed     manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron are
mainly concerned about government decisions      spaces,    named      SHYCOCAN,      will   be     seeking to open new factories in Mexico,
in Mexico (54%), the impact of an economic       manufactured in Mexico for its distribution in     which would add to the 5 factories already
slowdown in the United States (36%), and only    the United States and Latin America. (Source)      based in the country. (Source)
3% said they were concerned about the
COVID-19 pandemic. (Source)
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                       Tuesday, August 18– Monday, August 24 2020
                                                                                                                        Paraguay
              STATS: 13,602 cases of COVID-19, 219 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry.

[EXECUTIVE POWER] The Executive Power             LOCAL MEASURES] By Decree, the National              [DIGITAL ECONOMY] According to the e-
announced new containment measures for the        Executive Power officialized slightly less           commerce platforms sector, transactions
economic recovery of the country, under the       restrictive measures for the Department of           through e-commerce and digital payments
framework of the Plan Ñapu’ã Paraguay. These      Alto Paraná, than the formerly valid ones,           almost doubled their original levels, during the
new initiatives, include a Regime of several      though the region is still not considered ready      pandemic . (Source)
Fiscal Benefits. (Source)                         to enter a new quarantine phase. These will be
                                                  in force until September 6th, (Source)

[COVID RELATED] The Executive Power               [FOOD AND BEVERAGE] The list of                      [HEALTH] Health Minister Julio Mazzoleni
formalized moderate flexibilization measures      beneficiaries of the Program for the SMES´s          confirmed that the Government will
for the areas of Asunción and Central, which      Competitiveness, organized by the Industry           implement stricter measures, concerning the
will be in force for two weeks. The               and Commerce Ministry, was published, and            current flexibilization process that Paraguay is
Government called this new phase a “social        most of the elected companies, belong to the         undergoing, to control better the COVID-19
quarantine” (Source)                              alimentary industry. (Source)                        outbreak. (Source)

[ECONOMY] President Mario Abdo Benítez            [TECHNOLOGY] The Minister of Information             [MANUFACTURING] Yesterday, the campaign
expressed his positive opinion towards the        and Communication Technology signed two              “Paraguayo como vos” was formally launched.
external financial aid received by the National   fundamental agreements with the National             This campaign seeks to promote the
Government for the reactivation of the            Direction of Intellectual Property, by which the     consumption of products made by national
economy, which has already reached 30.7% of       Government seeks to boost the digital                industries, looking forward to protect and
the GDP. He stated that it is a necessary         transformation of the country. (Source)              develop the national sources of employment.
process, considering the development and                                                               (Source)
infrastructure needs of the country. (Source)
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                       Tuesday, August 18 – Monday, August 24, 2020
                                                                                                                               Peru

           STATS: 594,326 cases of COVID-19, 27,663 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry.

[EXECUTIVE POWER] The President of the              LOCAL [MEASURES] The health authorities in          [DIGITAL     ECONOMY]        The      National
Republic, Martín Vizcarra, announced that the       Cusco intensified their actions to stop the         Superintendency of Customs and Tax
second Universal Family Bonus of 760 soles          advance of the coronavirus and enabled 12           Administration (Sunat) approved the Single
will be delivered from September to more            points to carry out rapid and molecular tests to    Register of Taxpayers (RUC) in digital, which
than 8 million households for the benefit of 28     identify possible cases of coronavirus within       can be obtained online using a cell phone or a
million peruvians. (Source)                         the framework of the "Covid-10,000"                 computer connected to the internet. (Source)
                                                    campaign. (Source)

[COVID RELATED] Foreign Minister Mario              [FOOD AND BEVERAGE] Sierra y Selva                  [HEALTH] Dr. Carlos Castillo, immunization
López Chávarri estimated that by the                Exportadora organized a virtual business            advisor to the Ministry of Health, reported that
beginning of 2021 Peru would already have           roundtable, which generated purchase                the vaccines against the COVID-19 vaccines
vaccines against COVID-19, as a result of the       intentions for more than 8 million soles for the    and those of the National Scheme will be
negotiations that have been taking place both       next 12 months. It had the participation of         totally free. Next week the Immunizations
at a bilateral and multilateral level, to achieve   3,543 organized producers of oregano, native        Directorate will present the vaccination
that objective. (Source)                            potato, maca, among others, from different          strategy to the country. (Source)
                                                    regions of the country. (Source)
[ECONOMY] Faced with the proposals of               [TECHNOLOGY] A team of researchers has              [MANUFACTURING]           The    Ministry   of
Congress, the Government proposes the               designed a portable cabin that guarantees the       Production confirmed the prioritization of the
delivery of a compensatory bonus for 1,300          protection of health personnel who are in           construction of 16 industrial parks in 14
million soles for contributors to the ONP,          charge of taking samples to discard COVID-19.       regions of the country. (Source)
which will allow them to continue active in the     The prototype, designed by the Peruvian
National Pension System (SNP) and remain in         startup Tinnitus Peru, has been tested by the
Essalud. (Source)                                   National Institute of Health (INS). (Source)
COVID-19 PULSE – PUBLIC AFFAIRS LATAM
                                                                                     Tuesday, August 18 – Monday, August 24, 2020
                                                                                                                         Uruguay
                 STATS: 1.527 cases of COVID-19, 42 deceased, as confirmed by the Health Ministry.

[EXECUTIVE POWER] The Government,                  [LOCAL MEASURES] Authorities urged                 [DIGITAL ECONOMY] The Chamber of Digital
announced that Uruguay will reopen its             population to stay at home the night of august     Economy of Uruguay (CEDU) released new
borders to travelers from the European Union       24, date of one of the most important national     data on trends in digital consumption of
in the short term. The measure is a gesture of     celebrations know as the "Noche de la              Uruguayans, based on two surveys conducted
reciprocity with these nations since our           Nostalgia“ to support the health control of        by the consulting firm Cifra, showing how the
country is the only one in Latin America that      COVID-19. (Source)                                 pandemic boosted ecommerce. (Source)
has been enabled since June for its citizens to
enter Europe. (Source)
[COVID RELATED] 64% of Covid-19 cases in           [FOOD AND BEVERAGE] On August 11, the              [HEALTH] Medical guilds declare themselves in
Uruguay were due to contact with a confirmed       price agreement that the National Executive        a state of alert and great concern. The Medical
positive patient. The incidence of the disease     had signed with businessmen and small              Union announced a "pre-conflict in the
is higher in women, but mortality rate is higher   merchants to try to contain inflation in the       doorway" due to the lack of progress in the
in men, according to a report from the             short term ended after three months of             negotiation for salary and budget. (Source)
Ministry of Public Health. (Source)                validity. A week later, prices had almost no
                                                   variations in large stores. (Source)

[ECONOMY] The unemployment rate stood at           [TECHNOLOGY] Coronavirus UY exposure               [MANUFACTURING] Indebtedness of the
10.7% in June, which represents a percentage       alerts may be used in other countries besides      industrial sector increased 3.3% and reached
point difference with the estimated value for      Uruguay. The developers of the private sector      US$ 2,250 million at the end of June. The
the previous month (9.7%). Uruguay had not         app will grant the State the intellectual          Chamber of Industries estimates that debt will
registered such a high figure for its              property rights. (Source)                          represent 41% of the sector's GDP. (Source)
unemployment rate since August 2006, when
the level was 10.68%. (Source)
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