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Description: New Brunswick and its Maritime cousins, PEI and Nova Scotia, have been the envy of other parts of Canada due to their deft handling of the Corona virus crisis. But this past week, two health zones in New Brunswick were placed back in orange status, after weeks of relative freedom under the yellow banner. This means some businesses, like hair dressers and gymnasiums, will have to close shop, and social visits will be restricted to two-family bubbles.

Date:  October 9, 2020

Source:  cbc.ca

 Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-new-brunswick-update-friday-higgs-russell-1.5756730

Discussion points:

1) What phase or colour is your university community in?

2) Has your university campus been impacted by a change in status during this school year? How has it impacted your campus?

3) In Wiley’s Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision-Making, we learn very early on about the concept of prepaid insurance. Think of vendors like hairdressers and gymnasiums who are impacted by shutdowns like this. Is there any insurance product that would protect them from the impacts of a pandemic? (Hint: perhaps do a bit of a search to see if pandemic insurance exists).

10 Responses to “Back to Orange”

  1. Hugo Power Rachel Price Dylan Rhyno

    1) we are currently in the Orange phase meaning we went back one phase. This means we are going back to old habits such as bubble families, outdoor gatherings of 10 and fewer, and the new additions of mandatory masks. Mount A was set to ease back into some regulations before the rise in cases hit. Some regulations such as mandatory masks while walking on campus and scheduled gym sessions were set to be removed. However, with the rise in cases, the university will imply even more rules.

    2) Post-secondary education are allowed to run during the Orange phase however Mount A has been impacted in certain ways. For instance, the fitness centre and the athletic centre are now closed until further notice. All sports are also put on hold. Like we discussed in our first WWAU students will now be forced to change how they exercise and possibly surf the web to try and find affordable gym equipment.

    3) according to a CNN article Pandemic insurance does exists, however, it is already too late for this pandemic. Although, companies are insuring themselves for the next one. For example, MARSH, a leading insurance broker, is experiencing a surge in PathogenRX which entails Financial protection for businesses hit by infectious diseases. Before the pandemic, sales were extremely low due to the high price and low probability of a pandemic happening. However, a large development in the private insurance sector is expected. Another part of the reason why there is not a lot of pandemic insurance is due to uncertain risk. The risk of a pandemic happening is extremely hard to predict and therefore companies can’t put a price on it.

    Reply
  2. Ben Hopper

    1) Mount Allison University and the surrounding Moncton area was recently put in the orange phase.

    2) MtA has ramped up COVID-19 restrictions, resulting in athletic facilities being shut down, as well as campus being open only to students, faculty, and staff members. However, as a student who lives is residence, there has yet to be any anouncement surrounding changes within residence life.

    3) Pandemic insurance does exist. For example, The All England Club, which hosts the Wimbledon Championships, cashed in on a claim for £114 million due to the pandemic. However, they had been paying for this product for years before the pandemic, so it would not be practical for small businesses to retroactively purchase such a policy.

    Reply
  3. Siyun Chae, Robert Loughery, Nicolas Briere

    1) Zone 1 which includes Sackville was recently pushed back to the orange phase.

    2) The impact varies depending on the individuals. Most courses are held online with some on-campus elements. Some of these in person classes became optional through a poll to understand what the students are more comfortable with, deciding to keep everything online. Masks outdoors were not necessary as long as social distance was maintained but now it is required. Gyms and athletic centers now remain closed. Community members are not allowed on campus and remain open to students and faculty members.

    3) According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, pandemic insurance exist but they are too expensive to smaller businesses and would need to be bought ahead of time. Larger businesses are buying it incase of a second wave.
    The Canadian government offered Canadian Emergency Business Account for small businesses, providing loans up to $40,000 without interest to help cover operating costs.

    Reply
  4. Paige Matchett, Jackson Major, Tara MacKinnon

    1) Mount Allison University, the community of Sackville, and the surrounding areas within New Brunswick’s public health zone one have all been moved back into the orange phase of COVID-19 regulations. This is due to a recent outbreak of the coronavirus in a special care home located in Moncton, NB.

    2) Mount Allison’s campus had already required students and faculty to follow strict regulations when zone one of the province was in the yellow phase. This was due to the formulation of the “Sackville community bubble”, which required MtA members to self-isolate if travelling from outside the Atlantic provinces, wear an appropriate face mask when on campus – both indoors and outdoors – and more. However, prior to the outbreak, the campus regulations were going to become more lenient such that masks were not going to be required when social distancing outdoors on campus. Nonetheless, the transition back to the orange phase removed this leniency and increased regulations on campus. While in the orange phase, the campus fitness facilities have closed. However, there have been minimal changes to regulations regarding residence life or in-person classes. Overall, Mount Allison’s campus has not been severely impacted by this transition.

    3) After some research, it is evident that some pandemic insurance does in fact exist. However, prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, many businesses would not have invested in such a concept – as most people did not understand the extent to which a pandemic could affect the business industry until they experienced current outbreak first-hand. It is important to note the key term “some” stated above, as there is not a large market for this type of insurance. This is because the risk of a pandemic is not something insurers can accurately predict or price accordingly. Nonetheless, the Government of Canada has implemented some financial support opportunities for businesses to utilize during these trying times and the implementation of pandemic insurance is in the works for future situations like this.

    Reply
  5. Lucy Poole, Hunter Morley, Nana Kwabena Asare Nti

    1. New Brunswick has been hit by the second wave of Covid-19. The Government of New Brunswick has taken measures to project the wellbeing of New Brunswickers by moving Zones 1 and 5 from the yellow phase to the orange phase as a precautionary measure against Covid-19.

    2. Mount Allison has certainly been impacted by COVID-19 just like almost every university in Canada. Many classes have transitioned to online teaching, however there are still classes being held in person where social distancing is enforced. Another big change to the campus compared to previous years is that masks are mandatory across campus. So, it is necessary to wear a mask to the in-person classes. I am living off campus this year with two roommates and one of them is from Alberta. He was required to come to Sackville 14 days prior to the start day of classes so he could self-isolate since he was coming from outside of the Atlantic bubble. Orientation week is usually a very important week for new students to socialize and get to meet new friends. This year the university hosted orientation week mostly online through zoom or Microsoft Teams meetings, with some in-person activities in small groups. I believe even though the Moncton area has been put back into the orange phase Mount Allison should not have a problem with COVID-19 since there are many rules put in place to protect the students. Also, it is part of the students’ responsibility to follow the rules put into place so we can continue to have a successful year. Not much changes within our campus community now that we’ve gone back to the orange phase, aside from restrictions on gatherings and the closure of on-campus recreational facilities.

    3. With the Orange Phase rules being implemented in our region as of last week, certain non-essential businesses have had to close indefinitely. While pandemic insurance does exist, it is unlikely that small businesses such as those in Sackville would have purchased these policies in the past. Small businesses wouldn’t typically have the resources to purchase an insurance policy as specific as pandemic insurance, and, before this year, it wouldn’t have seemed like a priority to protect their businesses against losses incurred due to pandemics. Unfortunately, no business would now be able to protect themselves against the current Covid-19 pandemic, because, as an article on Insurance Journal states: “you can’t buy insurance for your house when it’s already on fire.” It’s likely that we will see an increase in the purchase of pandemic insurance policies following the containment of Covid-19, especially as globalization increases the risk of another pandemic spreading rapidly around the world.

    Interestingly, the All-England Club, which hosts Wimbledon each year, was recently in the news because of the pandemic insurance payoff of $114 million that they will be receiving this year after being forced to cancel the annual tournament, which was scheduled to take place earlier this summer. The Club has had pandemic insurance for the past 17 years, and it finally became of use in 2020.

    Reply
  6. Emily Mitchell, Jean-Luc Melanson, Noah McCarthy

    1) Mount A, and all of Zone 1 (which includes Moncton and surrounding areas) is currently is the Orange Phase. We were in the yellow phase, however, after a spike in cases occurred a little over a week ago, we had to go back to orange. This means fewer people at gatherings, masks everywhere and bubble families. Mount A was supposed to ease some restrictions after Thanksgiving, however that clearly will not be happening.

    2) The change in phases from yellow to orange means that Mount A has increased COVID restrictions and shut down the fitness center, as well as stopped all sports. Thankfully, classes are still able to run.

    3) Although pandemic insurance does exist, it is a bit too late to buy some for this pandemic. Some businesses are losing everything due to COVID. An article published in March by CNN said that few insurance policies cover pandemics “because the risk is not well understood and difficult to price.” Insurance companies are expecting to see a “development in the private insurance space to respond to this [pandemic].”

    Reply
  7. Gabrielle Baker, Esperance Karenzi Balewula, Diana Akilian

    1) Our university, Mount Allison is situated in Zone 1 in New Brunswick. This and one other zone have been brought back a phase into what it is called Orange Phase. This means that our restrictions are stricter and we have less freedom then we did when in the Yellow Phase. This was done because of an outbreak in our zone hoping that it will control the spread of the virus.

    2) Yes our university has been impacted by this. The Career Experiential departments normally do workshops every year but it has been moved to completely virtual, the open house for new incoming students was changed to all online this year and sports teams have currently been banned from practicing to minimize the spread. Masks are also mandatory on campus whether you are outside or inside. Many more programs and activities have been cancelled as well and are changed to being done virtually.

    3)Pandemic insurance does exist but as most of the businesses that have closed are small and don’t make a lot of money, most people have probably not invested in this type of insurance. Before now there hasn’t been anything like this that would make people think they their businesses would be closed due to a virus. The government has helped people by providing CERB and other funds like EI to anyone that qualified to earn money because they are no longer able to work. CEBA program is a 55 billion dollar program provided by the federal government with interest free loans of up to 40,000$ to small business and non profits. Eligible businesses could apply for this and receive the funds necessary to remain open.

    Reply
  8. Ryan Richard, Kevinique Stubbs, Alex Smith

    1. The Moncton area (where Mount Allison is located) has recently been put back into the Orange phase as there was another spike in cases in the region.

    2. Yes, our school has definitely been impacted by the pandemic and this change back into the orange phase. For instance, we have a smaller student population on campus and many restrictions have been put into place, such as mandatory face masks and restrictions on residences. Before the change back to orange, there had been slight improvements to restrictions like the gyms slowly opening back up but they have since changed back to being closed as a result of the orange phase being reinstated.

    3. Pandemic insurance is indeed a form of prepaid insurance. However, we found that it is not common to have a pandemic insurance policy as it was not thought of as being a potential threat. In many cases, pandemic insurance policies were not successful and many small businesses would not have this type of insurance.

    Reply
  9. Kathryn McIntosh, Jenna Miller, Sarah Merriam

    1) The Mount Allison University community is currently in the orange phase of the Covid-19 pandemic due to a recent outbreak in the Moncton, NB region. Zones 1 and 5 were both affected by this outbreak in New Brunswick.

    2) Initially when the fall semester started, students were required to wear masks everywhere on campus grounds, including outdoor and indoor spaces. Most classes moved to an online delivery method which has caused major adjustments among the students and faculty. As the cases remained low for several weeks, a decision was made by the university regarding public health that masks were only mandatory within indoor spaces and outside when students were required to be within a distance closer than 6 feet apart. Returning to the orange phase recently changed our campus back to the original guidelines of wearing a mask everywhere on campus. On top of that, only students and faculty of the university are the allowed on campus grounds. Community members are not permitted on the university grounds.

    3) After some research, we have discovered that there is such thing as pandemic insurance. It is very out-of-reach for many businesses, as it is very expensive. Larger businesses tend to be the only ones purchasing the pandemic insurance now in anticipation for the outbreak of further Covid-19 cases. These events do not happen every day so it can be hard to assess the risks and price the insurance in a reasonable way. Pandemic insurance also differs from other types of insurance because the damage does not involve the physical buildings of the company like insurance that covers weather issues and damages. Instead the pandemic insurance helps with the loss of sales and funds within the business due to the constant closing and reopening.

    Reply
  10. Chris Heo, Will Fenton, Ben Hopper

    1) Mount Allison University and the surrounding Moncton area was recently put in the orange phase. This also occurred in the Campbellton region of New Brunswick.

    2) Mount Allison has ramped up COVID-19 restrictions, resulting in athletic facilities being shut down, as well as campus being open only to students, faculty, and staff members. However, as a student who lives in residence, there has yet to be any announcement surrounding changes within residence life. There are also online sessions for students who are not willing to be on campus.

    3) Pandemic insurance does exist. For example, The All England Club, which hosts the Wimbledon Championships, cashed in on a claim for £114 million due to the pandemic. However, they had been paying for this product for years before the pandemic, so it would not be practical for small businesses to retroactively purchase such a policy. There is not a lot of pandemic insurance due to the uncertainty about when a pandemic may occur so it is very hard to predict something like that and can be even harder to come up with a solid price for the pandemic insurance.

    Reply

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