COVID-19 Digest: April 23

COVID-19 Digest: April 23

April 23, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Thursday, April 23, 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.Tech:NYC’s resource guide 2.0 is here. You can now find updated information on government resources for businesses, new health tracking and treatment tools, and a new section with return-to-office preparedness plans and resources. It will be updated regularly as new resources become available.

The Latest in New York

The latest: Data shows 1 in 5 NYC residents may have already had coronavirus; old-school government goes digital; $2.2 billion cashed in state unemployment claims; take your kids to work from home day. Confirmed Cases: 

  • New York State: 263,460 (+6,244)

  • New York City: 145,855 (+3,423)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 15,740 (+438)

General Updates:

  • The state has tested 3,000 New Yorkers for antibodies, finding presence in 13.9 percent of residents statewide. The distribution is skewed toward NYC residents — 21 percent tested positive — as well as black and latino New Yorkers who are twice as likely to have contracted the virus than white New Yorkers. (New York Daily News)

  • The USNS Comfort, which docked in New York Harbor on March 30, is no longer needed and will soon depart back to its base in Virginia after treating 179 patients. (WNBC)

  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that states should file for bankruptcy in place of direct federal aid. Gov. Cuomo responded saying it was “one of the really dumb ideas of all time.” (The Hill)

  • New York Attorney General Letitia James is launching a statewide investigation along with the Dept. of Health to ensure that nursing homes are complying with regulations. If the facilities have inadequate PPE, temperature checks, quarantine measures, etc., they could face forced closure. (New York Post) 

A must read of the day: from Gabrielle Hamilton, the owner and chef of iconic East Village eatery Prune: My Restaurant Was My Life for 20 Years. Does the World Need It Anymore? (New York Times)

Survey

Yesterday's results: When do you expect to be able to return to your office?

  • 7.0%: Before June

  • 29.8%: In June

  • 55.3%: After June, but before the end of the year

  • 7.9%: Not until 2021

Today’s poll: We’re one month into Gov. Cuomo’s NY on PAUSE order going into effect, and since then, subway ridership has plummeted by 95 percent. When do you think you’ll take your next subway ride?

  • *|SURVEY: Before June|*

  • *|SURVEY: Not until June|*

  • *|SURVEY: Not until later in the summer|*

  • *|SURVEY: Not until fall|*

  • *|SURVEY: Not until 2021|*

What You Need to Know

Government goes online:

For more than a month, everyone who can conduct business from home has been doing just that,  and government bodies increasingly have to find new ways to do the same. The pandemic has complicated the legislative process at all levels of government, and now, normally traditionalist, old-school legislative bodies are turning to tech to keep their work moving:  

  • Since the NYC Council’s last full meeting two months ago, the world has entirely changed, so yesterday, it held its first-ever virtual session with all 50 council members present. (City & State)

  • The city budget is due at the end of June, and budget hearings are expected to begin virtually in the coming days. (NY1)

  • While city government has been relatively quick to adapt, the federal government has been slow to do the same. There’s a mix of process, tech, and political will that’s getting in the way. (TechCrunch)

    • A panel of Congressional experts delivered a great briefing on the urgency of instituting emergency, time-limited measures to allow for remote proceedings and ensure congressional continuity. (First Branch Forecast)

    • There seems to be a belief among some on Capitol Hill that legislating requires members’ physical presence, but law professor Deborah Pearlstein says a Zoom Congress would be perfectly constitutional. (The Atlantic)

    • The Congressional Management Foundation is also recommending that elected officials prioritize virtual town halls with their constituents to increase trust and model social distancing guidelines. (CMF)

  • While Congress continues assessing remote voting options, the Supreme Court and several federal agencies are holding hearings via phone conference. (Axios) 

RETURN-TO-OFFICE PLANS:

As New York plans its reopening, so too are companies forming their return-to-office strategies. In addition to following federal guidelines, here is a case study from one company that has remained open as an essential business through the pandemic:

Adafruit is making and distributing PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) as well as other critical components and electronics used in the response to COVID-19. It is 40+ days into operating as an essential business with strict COVID-19 protocols (and no reported cases). In operating they require:

  • sanitation of both inside and outside doors; 

  • mandatory mask and gloves (both on site and while commuting); 

  • staggered shifts; 

  • fever scanner on arrival and in people traffic areas; 

  • no-contact temperature taking (privately logged twice daily for all team members); 

  • one person per elevator at a time; physical distancing; 

  • contact tracing; 

  • frequent cleaning of site; 

  • and regular adaptation of COVID-19 protocols as data and information becomes available. 

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.

Reminder: Tech:NYC’s resource guide 2.0 is now available here.

POLICY:

  • New York State has paid out $2.2 billion to over one million people who have applied for unemployment since the COVID-19 outbreak began. Some 270,000 people are expected to be added to the state’s unemployment count. (CNBC)

  • More than 4,000 NYC construction projects are scheduled to resume after the city revised the list of “essential” projects. Some now greenlighted projects include hotels in Manhattan and Brooklyn and a Target in Queens. (THE CITY)

  • New York City Council is considering a bill to house all 17,000 single homeless adults in hotels. The Council is looking to FEMA to foot the $495 million projected cost. (Twitter) 

EVENTS:

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

  • April 26: Virtual: brunchwork at home, with Ellevest cofounder Charlie Kroll and Republic cofounder Kendrick Nguyen. 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)

  • April 28: Virtual: Falling, Pivoting, or Booming: Business Challenges and Recommendations for Startups in the Age of COVID-19, with Cornell Tech’s Fernando Gomez-Baquero. Hosted by TechDay. (Details)

  • May 1: Webinar: Virtual Career Lunch Series, with Button senior recruiter Caroline Taylor. Hosted by thelighthouse. (Details)

Take Your Kids to Work (from Home) Day:

A previous edition of the digest included a section of tips and tools for keeping kids engaged and active while stuck at home. In honor of Take Your Kids To Work Day, we decided to revisit today. This time we’re looking at this from another point of view:  their parents, who’ve been working and playing caregiver and teacher for six long weeks. This year’s celebration goes out to guardians holding up jobs and a family during this lengthy quarantine:

  • Remember when ‘take you kids to work day’ came just once a year? (GMA)

  • Columnist Farhad Manjoo’s kids presented him with a written declaration of war, and he has a point: you’ve heard of work burnout, but parenting burnout is just as real. (New York Times)

  • Let’s be honest, spare time is going to involve a lot more screens, and that’s just fine. (Vox)

  • This perspective is a balm: it’s ok to be a different kind of parent during the pandemic. (The Atlantic)

  • And even when this is all over, it isn’t going to be over. Emily Oster has some helpful thoughts on looking to the future. (ParentData)

  • Here’s the view from Julie’s “desk” today. Moms and dads, we stand with you. You got to the end of the day, and that’s a win.

When In Doubt

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