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- COVID-19 Digest: April 28
COVID-19 Digest: April 28
COVID-19 Digest: April 28
COVID-19 Digest
Tuesday, April 28, 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 includes 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.
The Latest in New York
The latest: Lowest daily hospitalizations this month; PPP applications already doubled previous numbers; a breakdown of how the state and country stack up to pandemic hotspots around the globe; green thumbs up for quarantine gardening.Confirmed Cases:
New York State: 295,106 (+3,110)
New York City: 162,338 (+1,849)
Statewide Fatalities: 17,638 (+335)
General Updates:
Gov. Cuomo released the list of business and community leaders who will serve on the New York Forward Re-Opening Advisory Board. Among them, Tech:NYC’s own Julie Samuels. (NYS)
New COVID hospitalizations over the past 24 hours were under 1,000 people for the first time this month. Total patients hospitalized has dropped to 12,646. (AP)
Gov. Cuomo announced a few key metrics that will determine which areas of the state reopen relative to others, including keeping local hospital capacity below 70 percent, keeping the infection rate below 1.1 people per person infected, and supplying at least 30 diagnostics tests per 1,000 people in each region. (Twitter)
With more homeless people sleeping in empty subway train cars, Mayor de Blasio said the city will close 10 end-of-line stations overnight and increase sanitization efforts, and Gov. Cuomo said the MTA needs to take “dramatic action,” but as of yet, has offered no concrete solutions. (New York Daily News)
A pug in North Carolina tested positive for COVID-19, believed to be the first dog in the U.S. to contract the virus. (TIME)
Round two of the federal Paycheck Protection Program launched yesterday with $310 billion in fresh funding, and in the first 24 hours, the application volume is double what it was in the first round. (Axios) The New York State Bar Association is providing free legal help for individuals who filed unsuccessful claims. (Twitter)
A must read of the day: how urban life became a public health success story: In New York, Density Saves Lives, Too (CityLab)
Survey
Yesterday's results: If you were a venture capitalist, which of these would you invest in right now?
44.7%: Telehealth
12.1%: Micro-mobility
28.4%: Education technology
14.9%: Communications software
Today’s poll: Now more than six weeks into WFH, many of our work processes, and our own personal expectations about remote work, have changed. Even when offices begin reopening, some elements of remote work will likely remain to make the transition as safe as possible. When it’s safe to go back to your office, how will your remote work preferences change?
*|SURVEY: I’ll work from home more.|*
*|SURVEY: I’ll work from home about the same as I did before.|*
*|SURVEY: I’ll return to the office and work from home less.|*
If you have a question you’d like to ask the broader community in this newsletter, send us your ideas and we’ll try to include them!
What You Need to Know
Global Reopening:
As the curve continues to flatten in the state, New York officials have been studying reopening plans around the world to develop principles that can guide our own. While Gov. Cuomo has announced a phased, regional approach to lifting PAUSE order restrictions, there are still many decisions to be made in the coming weeks. Here’s a roundup of how other pandemic hotspots have handled their reopenings:
France, Italy, Spain, Germany: all are preparing to loosen restrictions, as the rest of the world watches closely to see how some of the first and hardest-hit countries in Europe emerge. (The Guardian)
French schools can welcome back students beginning May 11, and restaurants and cafes may be reopened beginning June 2, but large public events will be banned until September. (Bloomberg)
In Italy, while parks and manufacturing sites could reopen as early as May 4, the prime minister announced schools will not reopen until September. (BBC)
Spain has reported the most COVID-19 cases outside of the U.S., but will gradually begin easing restrictions on May 2. Children are being allowed back outside after being forced to remain home for five weeks, and factories will be allowed to resume work. (Axios)
In Germany, reopening plans have varied across the country’s 16 states. Overall, factories were never forced to close, and small shops were allowed to reopen last week, but students will begin returning to schools in waves, with priority given to those with upcoming exams. (Axios) Many have criticized the reopening for coming too fast, as new data shows the lift has resulted in a new uptick in the country’s infection rate. (MarketWatch)
China, South Korea, Japan: have largely been successful in containing the spread of the pandemic, and they are aggressively using data tools to prevent future spikes or important new cases.
Much of life in China has returned to normal, even in Wuhan, where an unprecedented lockdown was lifted earlier this month. (TIME) But the country maintains tight border controls between provinces, and authorities are requiring residents to download software that assigns them a color-coded marker to dictate where they can travel. (Business Insider)
South Korea is also using cell phone data to track those exposed to the virus, including issuing electronic wristbands to ensure those ordered to self-quarantine remain at home. (Bloomberg)
Japan’s strategy to close sites of COVID-19 clusters, like gyms and meeting venues, initially seemed to control the outbreak, and schools were allowed to reopen. But a spike in new infections has laid bare an unprepared hospital system and widespread equipment shortages. (AP) Even dentists are now administering COVID-19 tests. (NPR)
And here in the U.S.:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out a six-point plan to guide its requirements for loosening the state’s stay-at-home order (SF Chronicle), but admitted most of those milestones have not been met. (LA Times) Gov. Newsom shared updates to his plan today via this thread. (Twitter)
Georgia became one of the first states to experiment with easing restrictions, with most businesses allowed to reopen, but the state’s own mayors are concerned that it will lead to more dramatic infection rates. (CNN)
Texas will allow it’s stay-at-home order to expire on Thursday and is also allowing businesses to reopen, but with a more measured approach: they must limit occupancy to no more than 25 percent. (Texas Tribune)
Washington State will take a much slower approach to reopening than the White House suggests, and small businesses are taking cues from giants like Microsoft and Starbucks about how to reopen. (Vox)
If you want to read more, the Brookings Institution has a great collection of pieces on the global response to COVID-19, including the ways tech is playing a role. (Brookings)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 are more updates on their current plans:
Google’s CEO, in an internal memo to employees, did not specify a return-to-office date, but did instruct employees to continue working from home until at least June 1. Moreover, the internal memo emphasized the need for flexibility and that a future return to office would be both "staggered" and "incremental."
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 is now available here and contains a comprehensive list of return-to-office plans published in previous digests.
POLICY:
EVENTS:
April 30: Virtual: Retention Strategies for your Workforce, with Inspire Human Resources CEO Jaime Klein. Hosted by Newlab. (Details)
April 30: Virtual: In Conversation with Josh Wolfe, Founder and Managing Director of Lux Capital. Hosted by Company. (Details)
May 1: Virtual: Startup Financing Forum: Current Prospects & Strategies for Angel Financing. Hosted by NY Tech Alliance. (Details)
May 1: Webinar: Virtual Career Lunch Series, with Button senior recruiter Caroline Taylor. Hosted by thelighthouse. (Details)
May 6: Virtual: brunchwork at home, with Credit Karma co-founder and CTO Ryan Graciano. Hosted by brunwork. Use code TECHNYC30 for 30% off. (Details)
May 11-15: Virtual: Consensus: Distributed, a free virtual conference. (Details)
Urban Farmer:
Still stuck inside, many have taken up home farming to grow and preserve their own food (bonus: did you know thyme has disinfectant qualities?) (New York Times)
Quite a few people have started “victory gardens,” and while growing enough food to feed your family in a two-bedroom apartment may not be possible, here’s some tools and supplies to shorten your grocery list. (New York Magazine)
The gardeners for the NYC Parks Department share some tips for caring for house plants or growing a window sill garden. (NYC Parks)
Here’s some suggestions for seed-starter kits, easy-to-grow plants, and other ways to green your home in quarantine. (USA Today)
In addition to prepping your planters for spring, here are 20 other tips to level up your home space to make social distancing more comfortable. (Curbed)
When In Doubt
Check these sources for verified information from government agencies and public health authorities:
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