COVID-19 Digest: April 21

COVID-19 Digest: April 21

April 21, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Tuesday, April 21, 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.

The Latest in New York

The latest: Pres. Trump weighs immigration ban; New York reopening on regional basis; Gov. Cuomo visits the White House; transitioning back to the office safely; putting together pieces on pandemic puzzle popularity. Confirmed Cases: 

  • New York State: 251,690 (+4,178)

  • New York City: 139.235 (+2,519)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 14,828 (+481)

General Updates:

  • Late last night, Pres. Trump tweeted his intent to issue a sweeping executive order to ban any immigration into the United States. (Washington Post) He has since backed off plans to halt guest worker programs, but is still expected to announce a pause in issuing green cards. (New York Times) Tech:NYC issued a statement that you can read here. If you believe your organization will be affected by this order, please let us know.

  • Congress and the White House reached an interim deal of $484 billion in new funding for coronavirus relief, including $310 billion to replenish the PPP and $25 billion for testing. Notably missing is the $150 billion in aid Democrats sought for state and local governments. (Axios)

  • Ballots will be mailed to all registered voters in New York so they can vote by mail in the June 23 primary election. (NY1)

  • Despite prior statements to the contrary, Gov. Cuomo committed to reopening New York state on a regional basis, stating that COVID impact is variable county-by-county. As a preliminary trial, hospitals in rural New York will resume outpatient treatments. (POLITICO)

  • One new tool we love: sidewalkwidths.nyc is a new interactive map of sidewalk widths across the entire city to help you comply with social distancing measures, created by urban planner Meli Harvey.

Request: Startup Genome is collecting data to quantify the impact of the crisis on startups. Please complete this five-minute survey: if your startup has closed permanently click here, and if you are still operating, have paused operations, or are growing click here.Read: Keep Calm and Draw Together: graphic designers and illustrators are creating striking visual messages of safety and gratitude. (New York Times)

Survey

Yesterday's results: Have you gotten a DIY hairstyle over the last month? 

  • 25.5%: Yes, and it looks fabulous.

  • 2.7%: Yes, and I regret my decision.

  • 71.8%: No.

Today’s poll: The economic impact payments through the CARES Act have begun being disbursed, but some reports indicate it could take as much as 20 weeks for them to all be delivered. Have you received your payment?

  • *|SURVEY: Yes, I have received it.|*

  • *|SURVEY: No, I am still waiting to receive it.|*

  • *|SURVEY: No, I am not eligible to receive it.|*

What You Need to Know

New York Goes to Washington:

  • This afternoon, Gov. Cuomo traveled to the White House to meet with Pres. Trump to discuss the government’s response to COVID-19 and to push the president to offer New York more support. (New York Times) Specifically, they spoke about doubling the current rate of testing in the state to 40,000 tests per day. (Twitter)

  • It’s the first such visit for the governor since the crisis began, but there has been plenty of back and forth between the two as the pandemic worsened. Gov. Cuomo has repeatedly implored the federal government for assistance. (ABC News)

  • Following calls from the National Governors Association, for which Gov. Cuomo is vice chairman, federal lawmakers have proposed including a $500 billion fund for state and local governments in the next coronavirus relief package, but the line item has yet to materialize. (Axios)

  • Without the financial assistance, here is what’s at stake:

    • Testing: a $30 billion plan to fund a comprehensive national testing strategy. (New York Times)

    • Unemployment benefits: with skyrocketing jobless claims, New York has already used half of its money for these benefits, and it’s requesting a $4 billion no-interest loan to cover future unemployment payments. (Wall Street Journal) 

    • Mass transit: the MTA needs another $3.9 billion to stave off “immediate financial hemorrhaging” resulting from plunging ridership and toll revenues. (Bloomberg)

    • A 20 percent across-the-board cut to funding for schools, hospitals, local governments. (NY State of Politics) 

RETURN-TO-OFFICE PLANS:

We began this digest as a place where our community could receive relevant and up-to-date information about COVID-19 and how companies were responding to it, including work-from-home strategies and other workplace transitions.Looking forward, as New York plans its reopening, Tech:NYC will begin sharing return-to-office plans as companies make them available. We expect these plans to include multiple phases, done in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations. So far, only the federal government has released guidelines (more below) but in the days and weeks ahead, watch this space for guidelines from both the city and state, as well as updates on what other tech companies are doing.

  • The federal government released guidelines for a three-phase reopening of workplaces. Employers are directed, in all phases of reopening, to “develop and implement appropriate policies” regarding: 

    • social distancing and protective equipment; 

    • temperature checks; 

    • testing, isolating, and contact tracing; 

    • sanitation; 

    • use and disinfection of common and high-traffic areas; and 

    • business travel.

  • Employers are encouraged to monitor their workforces for indicative symptoms and to disallow symptomatic people to physically return to their workplace until cleared by a medical provider.

  • Employers are also encouraged to develop and implement policies and procedures for workforce contact tracing following instances in which employees test positive for COVID-19.

Request: please let us know as your return-to-office policies are developed and what considerations your companies are taking for developing them. Sharing this information is helpful to companies and employees across the NYC ecosystem and can be kept anonymous.

POLICY:

  • New York City Council will introduce a COVID-19 relief package tomorrow that will extend time for impacted tenants to repay rent and pay back debts. (Twitter)

  • The Dept. of Homeless Services has procured roughly 2,500 hotel rooms for sick and elderly homeless individuals. A new campaign backed by nonprofit groups dubbed “Homeless Can’t Stay Home” has raised $46,000 thus far to place those left out of the city program in hotel rooms. (THE CITY)

  • According to SEC filings, 71 publicly traded companies received $300 million worth of loans from the federal stimulus package before the money ran out. Some of those companies had market capitalizations of over $100 million, raising questions of how the federal program defined small businesses. (Forbes)

EVENTS:

  • April 22: Virtual: Ask Me Anything Live, with Union Square Ventures founder (and Tech:NYC co-chair) Fred Wilson. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. (Details)

  • April 22: Webinar: Employee Well-being, with Novo Nordisk, Consulate General of Denmark in New York, and Peakon. (Details)

  • April 23: Virtual: Bring Your Kids to Work Day. Hosted by Vivvi. (Details)

  • April 23: Virtual: Flex Office in a Post COVID-19 World, with Industrious, Convene, and Knotel. Hosted by Savills. (Details)

  • April 24: Webinar: The CARES Act and Your Student Loans. Hosted by Summer. (Details)

  • April 25: Virtual: brunchwork at home, with Foursquare co-founder and chairman Dennis Crowley. Hosted by brunchwork. Use code TECHNYC30 for 30% off. (Details)

  • April 28: Virtual: What’s Happening in Education and Edtech, with Kaplan EIR Megan O’Connor. Hosted by Human Ventures. (Details)

Puzzle popularity:

  • Why exactly are jigsaw puzzles having such a moment during the pandemic? (Bustle)

  • Reddit’s puzzle master recommends the best jigsaw puzzles to get you through quarantine, sorted by newbie, intermediate, and expert levels. (GQ)

  • A few tips from expert puzzlers: tackle the edges first and don’t start with a puzzle that’s too big. (NPR)

  • An art gallery has transformed its collection of 17th to 20th century paintings into jigsaw puzzles you can piece back together online. (BBC)

  • For other types of puzzles: the Times will begin offering an expanded selection of puzzles and riddles to help you pass the time, both in print and online. (New York Times)

When In Doubt

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