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Day: 30 March 2020

Trader's union wants blanket rental relief

by: Cassandra Tanti
30/03/2020

The president of Monaco’s Trader’s Union is calling on the government to step in amid complaints that private owners are not offering rental relief for small businesses in the Principality.
Following an earlier call at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis for rents to be relaxed, UCAM President Nicolas Matile-Narmino and Philippe Clerissi, president of the trader’s group in the Fontvieille shopping centre, have just signed a second letter to the government, concerned that private owners are failing to adjust their rents.
On 20th March, the government announced that businesses would be exempt from paying rent and charges for the entire 2nd quarter of 2020 for government owned premises. Private owners were asked to “make an effort”.
“It would be unfortunate if the government had to go further and propose to the National Council to legislate, but nothing should be ruled out,” said the government at the time.
Now, the trader’s union is calling on the government to step in, saying they are concerned for small businesses in the Principality because many private landlords are not playing by the rules.
“Small traders must not be the collateral damage of this crisis,” said Nicolas Matile-Narmino. “Many wonder whether they have to pay their rent and how they will do so without activity.”
He is calling on the government to follow through on its earlier warning and legislate to protect small businesses from collapse and bring clarity to the situation.
“The objectives are to perpetuate the maximum number of players in the trade by avoiding the cessation of payments and the cascade of lawsuits, and to allow the revival of the economy once the crisis is over and thereby revive the revenues of the State,” he said. “The challenges are to ensure the sustainability of commercial leases for tenants in the event of late payment due to this crisis, to overcome the crisis by accumulating the least amount of rental debt (from businesses) with zero or very low turnover, and to find a new financial equilibrium with the owners in the recovery period to keep alive the maximum number of local traders.”
The president of UCAM proposes a number of measures including a freeze on rents for the duration of the crisis.
 
 

Latest facts and figures on Covid-19

by: Stephanie Horsman
30/03/2020

The numbers on the coronavirus change as fast as the news surrounding it. Here is the latest as we know it.

As of writing, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Monaco had reached 46, with one fatality. For a country with just under 40,000 residents, all packed into close quarters, these numbers are not bad.

As an accident of geography, the Principality is sandwiched between the worst hit nation in Europe, Italy, where they are inching quickly toward 100,000 cases and nearly 11,000 deaths, and France, which saw 2,600 new cases on Sunday and sits at just over 40,000 cases and 2,600 deaths. Does this spell worse times ahead for Monaco?

Not necessarily. The Prince’s government reacted swiftly and concisely, has an excellent hospital that has been on alert for weeks and a populace that for the most part is taking this health crisis seriously, and researchers are scrambling to find a suitable treatment or vaccine to knock this thing out completely.

In recent days, the hype around treatment has focused primarily on chloroquine, a drug commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and malaria. Controversial French microbiologist Didier Raoult, the person mainly responsible for putting chloroquine on the map in relation to Covid-19, has said that his latest study of 80 patients showed that four out of five treated with the drug had “favourable” outcomes.

His earlier study on 24 patients showed a mix of chloroquine and an antibiotic called azithmycin yielded dramatic results. He says the virus completely vanished in 18 of those treated.

This treatment could well prove to be the miracle cure doctors have been looking for, but problems do exist. The drug can be toxic even in small doses if not administered correctly. Already, deaths have occurred by misuse of the drug. Last weekend a man in the United States died from an attempt at self-medication using a form of the drug generally used for cleaning fish tanks. His wife is in critical care. 

So far, the tests have been small scale and results have not been published or peer reviewed by medical journals. In fact, many are criticising Dr Raoult’s early findings, calling them “observational” at best. Even others on Dr Raoult’s team have admitted his study included only patients who had not been seriously ill upon admittance to hospital. This leaves open the possibility that they would have recovered on their own without the drug’s help.  

The French pharma giant Sanofi sells chloroquine under the brand name Plaquénil, and on the leaflet it lists the possible side effects. Deteriorating eyesight, nausea and digestive disorders are the most common, with heart failure being at the more dire end of the scale of possibilities.

For most patients suffering with Covid-19, 85% will be have the mild form and no treatment other than paracetamol is recommended. Be that as it may, a rush on Plaquénil at pharmacies is leaving supplies low, and there’s concern that those who rely on it for other diseases may soon have trouble getting their hands on it, though stricter measures have been put in place making obtaining the drug more difficult.

The confinement period has been touted as an opportunity for researchers and doctors to find better solutions to treating and hopefully eradicating the virus. Isolation is a temporary fix aimed at limiting the spread, not wiping it out, to ensure health care facilities are not overwhelmed and death rates are kept to an absolute minimum.

So, what comes after confinement? 

To get a better idea of the true impact the virus had on the population, the French government is proposing a massive blood test drive to ascertain a more accurate count of who has had the disease, even unwittingly, and those untouched.

This testing would prove vital in learning how the virus spread, who is immune and who is still at risk. Government action and precautions would be enacted based on the results. Technology to put mass testing in place is currently underway, though as of today, the tests are not quite ready. The hope is that they will be by the end of confinement, allowing tens of thousands of tests to be done every day.

 
 

 

Air pollution levels plummet in lockdown

by: Stephanie Horsman
30/03/2020

Satellite data distributed by the European Space Agency show improvement in air quality in vast swaths of Europe since the confinement period began.

Air pollution has fallen by an estimated 40% in many major European cities, notably Paris, Milan and Madrid, since coronavirus lockdown measures have been in place.

The amount of nitrogen dioxide, a key component of air pollution, has visibly fallen as shown by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite images released last Friday. The three composite images show side by side visuals of cities over Monaco, Italy, France and Spain in the period from 14th to 25th March versus images from the same time last year.

Researchers are studying the impact on the environment as emissions from industry and transport slow during confinement and are struggling to understand the possible inferences. Preliminary assumptions are that anthropogenic pollution comes mainly from traffic, airplanes and industry. No big surprise there. But the proof of rapidity in which the air cleanses itself has been a big eye opener for many.

Nitrogen dioxide is emitted by cars, power plants and factories and is blamed for respiratory and heart conditions in humans. According to a European Environmental Agency report in 2019, nearly every person living in a city on the continent is exposed to air pollution exceeding healthy levels each day.

 
Photo: A combination image distributed by the European Space Agency (ESA) on 27th March 2020 shows the average nitrogen dioxide concentrations from air pollution in March 2019 (L), and from March 14-25, 2020, as mapped by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite.
 
 

Apéro goes online

by: Stephanie Horsman
30/03/2020

As the days of confinement wear on, people are coming up with creative ways to beat the boredom. One such idea is to “meet up” with multiple friends using one of the new apps or video conferencing sites – glass of wine optional.

About a week ago, I was bombarded with a number of requests to join Houseparty. Having no idea what it was, I was a little wary of it. Was this some post-apocalyptic bug running rampant through everyone’s computers? Was it some creepy app that kept subscribers always available to others in the group?  

After a bit of research, I found it was far less sinister. Houseparty is simply an app that allows for face to face social networking with one or more people. Like its more grown-up cousins, Zoom and Google Meet, it means that you can be online with friends and chatting, almost as if you were in the same room.

As a way of combatting the fear, depression and isolation that some people are suffering with during this confinement period, these applications are changing people’s perspectives and pulling them out of funks by getting friends together, regardless of whether they live next door or on the other side of the globe.

How it works is straightforward. Friends arrange a pre-scheduled meeting time, then the “host” logs on and invites friends to join using an email address or mobile phone number. The friends click ‘join’ and voila! People are now face to face with one or more friends and can chat for hours – for free.

Apéro seems to be the most common excuse for these get togethers. Unless that is just me, which unleashes a frightening commentary on my life and friends (to be explored at another time). In any case, it seems more and more people are grabbing a glass of wine and a bowl of crisps and settling into these get togethers to talk about everything under the sun. It is a much needed respite from the never-ending days that come with lockdown.

One of the more charming aspects of the “Zoom Boom” is that a particular time of day is set aside – as for a meeting with work. No one is busy doing other things and people are actually paying attention to each other involved in the chat, not endlessly glancing at their phones or distractedly checking messages.

The social and cultural aspect of this feels as if we have come full circle. All we needed was a particularly virulent virus and to be completely cut off from our normal lives for people to behave properly and with a certain amount of decorum. Dedicating time to speak to and be with those we care about is an old-fashioned notion in this high-speed world. Perhaps we will be able to transition back to normality using the same principles we are learning from this and continue our apéro with friends who are near and far, long after the lockdown has passed.

 
Photo: Zoom 
 
 

Salaried employees up 2.9% in 2019

by: Stephanie Horsman
30/03/2020

Monaco’s private sector saw a 2.9% rise last year in workers holding full time contracts over the year before.

According to the latest figures by statistics group IMSEE, the Principality had 1,490 more employees in private sector jobs in 2019 than the previous year. The majority of these hold French nationality with a 60/40 split men to women and an average age of 42 years. The total number of private sector salaried employees in Monaco was 53,091 as of 31st December 2019.  

Interestingly, nearly 90% of those employed by privately held companies do not reside in the Principality. Just over 79% are French and unsurprisingly live predominantly in the Alpes-Maritimes, whilst 8.6% of those crossing the border daily to commute to work are Italian. The remaining 12.2% are Monaco residents.

At the end of 2019, more than 86% of the private sector salaried population worked in the tertiary sector, both merchant and non-merchant, corresponding to 46,000 people. Primary sector employees made up only 0.3% and the remaining 13.5% were in the secondary.

The sector in general with the largest number of employees was the scientific, technical and administrative services and support representing 23% of the total. This was the first time this sector was in the top spot. Hotels and restaurants fell to 15.4%, followed by 11.5% in the “other” services sector, 9.8% in construction, and 7.9% in health services. Several others such as real estate, importers, financial, transportation, manufacturing and communications made up the remainder.

Most businesses, just over three-quarters, had less than five full time employees working for them, and women were much more present in these smaller ventures than in the larger ones, despite making up less of the global salaried population.