COVID-19 Digest: April 15

COVID-19 Digest: April 15

April 15, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Wednesday, April 15, 2020Please share this with your networks and encourage your colleagues to sign up here. If there are other topics or resources that would be helpful in future editions of this digest, please let us know here.One note: we’re revamping Tech:NYC’s COVID-19 resource guide to include more updated and organized tools. We look forward to bringing it to you in a new form next week.

The Latest in New York

The latest: Testing at mass scale remains a huge challenge; Gov. Cuomo orders New Yorkers to wear masks in public; parking your car in the urban yard; the future of sports.Confirmed Cases: 

  • New York State: 213,779 (+11,571)

  • New York City: 118,302 (+7,837)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 11,586 (+752)

General Updates:

  • Gov. Cuomo said the state will begin including in its public count all categories of fatalities, including presumed and probable deaths and those that didn’t occur in a hospital or a nursing home. (POLITICO) Following NYC’s death count adjustment yesterday (NY1), the state is contacting facilities statewide to get updated numbers, which are expected to sharply increase the death toll. (NBC News)

  • New York will begin coordinating statewide testing, starting with medical personnel and other essential workers. (Bloomberg) Gov. Cuomo said bringing testing to scale will be a challenge due to supply limitations. (Twitter) The FDA approved a novel antibody test out of Rochester, while others are being developed across the country to curb shortages. (New York Post)

  • Beginning Friday, all New Yorkers will be required to wear masks or mouth/nose coverings when they are in an environment where social distancing is not feasible, such as a busy intersection or a subway car. (New York Times) Mayor de Blasio has also asked grocery stores to make face masks mandatory for customers. (New York Magazine)

  • In a continuing trend, ICU admissions and intubations are down, and the three-day average of new hospitalizations has decreased. (Twitter)

Survey

Yesterday’s results: As we continue to think about the impacts of COVID-19, Tech:NYC is planning to put together a series of virtual conversations with public leaders on what, if any, long-term changes we should expect in public services. The topic of most interest to you among these choices:

  • 46.1%: Transportation

  • 17.1%: Environment and sustainability 

  • 17.1%: Housing 

  • 10.5%: Policing and public safety

  • 9.2%: Parks and greenspace

Today’s flash poll: Happy Tax Day — if it were normal circumstances. But due to COVID-19, the filing deadline has been extended to July 15, for both federal and New York state taxes. What is the status of your filing?

  • *|SURVEY: I filed by the original deadline.|*

  • *|SURVEY: I have not filed yet.|*

What You Need to Know

PARKING:

Every day this week we’re featuring a different government service and providing resources for you to learn about the changes underway due to the pandemic. For today, here’s an update on parking in the city:

  • NYC has suspended alternate side parking for another two weeks through at least April 28. (New York Daily News) There’s a dedicated Twitter feed to help you stay updated as the rules change. (Twitter)

  • The suspension didn’t come immediately. Mayor de Blasio was reluctant to make the call because without ASP, street sweepers can’t do their job and he was concerned the city would become “less and less clean.” (New York Daily News)

  • With fewer people moving their cars, combined with the decrease in commuter traffic, parking has become much less of a problem. Parking space finder app SpotHero said requests were down 13 percent. The NYPD is also issuing far fewer parking tickets, down almost 54 percent. (New York Post)

  • In less welcome news, motor vehicle theft is one of the only crime rates to rise in NYC since COVID-19 measures have been put in place. (Wall Street Journal) 

  • If you do need to find a space, parking garages are considered essential businesses and are continuing to operate. (ESD)

  • But for many, stay-at-home orders mean they aren’t driving to the office or using garages where they pay monthly fees. But non-use doesn’t mean you aren’t still charged, and some are finding that out the hard way. (WABC)

  • Icon Parking, the largest parking lot operator in the city, said it is not offering across the board refunds, but working with customers on a case-by-case basis. (Icon Parking)

  • Payment for parking meters remains in effect across the city. 

WORKPLACE TOOLS:

  • Camber: a new social distancing reporter, using mobility metrics to inform local social-distancing patterns.

  • GitHub: made all of its core features free to teams on all of its accounts. 

  • Request: please let us know as your work-from-home policies are extended or what plans your companies have as they are reassessed. Sharing this information is helpful to companies and employees across the NYC ecosystem and can be kept anonymous.

  • Read: Coronavirus Widens Digital Divide, But Creates Opportunity to Finally Bring All Into 21st Century (Gotham Gazette)

POLICY:

  • If you provided the IRS a wire number to receive your tax refund digitally, you’ve likely already gotten your share of the stimulus package. However, those who are expecting to receive a physical check will have to wait even longer as the Treasury Department ordered all checks to be printed with Pres. Trump’s name. (Washington Post)

  • New York’s attorney general has sued the Trump administration over a federal rule that she says illegally limits paid sick leave for workers affected by the coronavirus. (Reuters) 

  • On April 22, the New York City Council will hold their first ever remote stated meeting. (Twitter) 

  • New York City has launched an investigation into the Department of Education’s alleged efforts to limit the sharing of COVID-19 infection information in the days leading up to school closures. (Chalkbeat)

  • The New York City Independent Budget Office issued a report which estimates a shortfall of $9.7 billion in tax revenue for the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years. (IBO)

EVENTS:

  • April 16: Virtual: Next Wave: Prepare for A Radically Digitized Future. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. (Details)

  • April 16: Webinar: Alternative Financing in the Time of COVID-19, with Clearbanc and Rho Business Banking. Hosted by SeedInvest. (Details)

  • April 17: Virtual: Updated Information about Disaster Relief Loans, with U.S. Small Business Administration. Hosted by Greater New York Chamber of Commerce. (Details)

  • April 17: Virtual: Housing in the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond: Challenges and Opportunities. Hosted by Rhino. (Details)

  • April 17: Virtual: Weekly Career Lunch Series, with Slack. Hosted by thelighthouse. (Details)

  • April 17: Virtual: Learn NYC Open Data Workshop, hosted by BetaNYC. (Details)

Sports in quarantine:

  • Dr. Fauci says the only way professional sports could happen this summer is by holding events without fans in attendance. (ESPN)

  • Here’s a good chart outlining where the season’s major sports events stand. (New York Times)

  • If you’re missing the games you hoped to watch, here’s a few ways to tide you over:

    • This list of the 15 best sports movies you haven’t seen. (USA Today)

    • This list of the top 100 sports movies of all time. (The Athletic)

    • The NBA, NFL, and NHL are offering free access to their streaming services to rewatch recorded games. (Boston Globe)

  • Two star coaches started a podcast while all sports are stopped that’s raising money for COVID-19 relief. (The Ringer) 

  • And if you’re itching to get outside and play yourself, here’s a list of Gov. Cuomo-approved, socially distanced sports. (City & State)

  • This Saturday, Olympic runner Alexi Pappas and New York Times sports editors are “running in place” and will discuss the future of amateur and professional running. (Details)

When In Doubt

Check these sources for verified information from government agencies and public health authorities: