DBIA’s mission is to provide the best resources available to help inform and empower our industry. In these uncertain times, that mission is even more important. As our communities fight the Coronavirus, we are working to find the best information available to help design-build teams navigate the unknown. This daily newsletter will provide the latest COVID-19 news for the AEC community.

Design-builders deliver in times of crisis and we will again.

If you have COVID-19 news impacting the AEC industry from your organization, state or community please email us.

March 30th

National

Trump Extends Social Distancing Guidelines to April 30 as U.S. Cases Top 140,000-New York Times. The global count has passed 700,000, an official warns Britain that some kind of lockdown may last for months and Joe Biden urges mail-in elections.

How coronavirus could permanently change our lives, according to Goldman Sachs-Yahoo Finance. As the coronavirus disrupts everyday life, experts are beginning to think about what changes will be temporary and what changes will be permanent.

State

New York

Tri-State Sees More Than 1,100 COVID-19 Deaths; Cuomo Extends ‘Pause’ Directive to April 15-NBC4 New York. Hospitals are stretched to capacity — and being asked to stretch further — as the peak of the crisis threatens to hit earlier than projected; to date, more than 76,000 have been infected and at least 1,160 people have died in NY, NJ and CT.

Coronavirus: Construction restrictions could force 4,000 to lose jobs locally-Poughkeepsie Journal. Nearly 4,000 construction workers in the mid-Hudson Valley could lose jobs as a result of New York’s latest steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus, according to the president of the Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council.

Massachusetts

Mayor Walsh pushing for procedures to protect construction workers from coronavirus-WVCB5 News. In recent days, Mayor Marty Walsh and Gov. Charlie Baker have staked out different positions about whether construction sites should remain open. The mayor reiterated Sunday on OTR that construction is still not allowed in Boston, but suggested the path forward for resuming work would be predicated on taking measures to protect workers.

Colorado

Colorado construction industry keeps going amid postponed projects, deliveries because of coronavirus-Denver Post. The state reported the loss of 3,200 construction jobs in February. There were 179,400 employed construction workers in the state, not including independent contractors.

Washington State

The end of Seattle’s construction boom-The Real Deal. Inslee’s order gives local government entities jurisdiction over what public infrastructure projects could continue and which are to be stopped. The hope is that it will mitigate the impact on the industry.

Industry

Managing a coronavirus-related project shutdown-Construction Dive. As contractors and subcontractors around the country are forced to leave their sites quickly — possibly about two days — there are some things to keep in mind.

Corps Leaders Explain Strategy for Rapid Hospital Response-ENR. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is using its expertise and a decentralized, rapid-response approach to establish dozens of field hospitals to meet an accelerating need for more beds to help manage the COVID-19 crisis.

A new coronavirus threat: sidelined subcontractors-Construction Dive. While state and city-based shutdowns of construction sites due to COVID-19 have thrown a wrench into projects in many areas of the country, another factor is impacting general contractors​: a lack of available specialty contractors, according to panelists in an Associated General Contractors of New York State webinar earlier this week.

Contact our editors if you have COVID-19 news impacting the AEC industry to share.