COVID-19 Digest: April 7

COVID-19 Digest: April 7

April 07, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Tuesday, April 7, 2020Tech:NYC’s COVID-19 resource guide is available here. It’s updated daily with the latest info from across the NYC tech sector. Please 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: Navy hospital ship to start housing coronavirus patients; today’s poll and feature on tech internships; Cuomo writes to Congress for more aid; resources for a quarantined Passover.Confirmed Cases: 

  • New York State: 138,836 (+8,147)

  • New York City: 72,324*

  • Statewide Fatalities: 5,489 (+731)

  • Patients Discharged: 14,590 (+1,224)

*Updated data for New York City has not been released, and today’s number reflects the latest in THE CITY’S tracker.

General Updates:

  • The USNS Comfort has been converted to a COVID care facility, but the number of beds it is adding is down by half because coronavirus patients require more space. (New York Post)

  • Gov. Cuomo signed an executive order today allowing unused medical equipment – namely ventilators – to be redistributed from upstate to downstate medical facilities where the need is more pressing. (Executive Order)

  • The state is seeking companies to help accelerate testing methods (Twitter), in light of the governor’s belief that rapid testing is vital before we can return to life as normal. (WABC)

  • The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Harlem, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, will become a hospital and begin accepting up to 200 patients by week’s end. (New York Times)

  • One thing to look forward to: tomorrow, our friend and noted “New Yorkologist” Mitchell Moss kicks off a two-part series on how COVID-19 is shaping the life of New York — the death rates, the decline in mass transit, the online shopping, and just about every other impact you can think of. Trust us, you don’t want to miss this. (Details)

Survey

Yesterday's results: How do you feel about NYC DOE’s decision banning the use of Zoom?

  • 9.8%: Agree

  • 90.2%: Disagree

Today's flash poll: Summer internships inside tech companies are a valuable opportunity for students working to build careers in tech, but workplace changes due to COVID-19 are forcing companies to modify their internship programs (make them virtual and remote) or eliminate them altogether. What is the status of your company’s internship plans?

  • *|SURVEY: Proceeding with no change to the original plan|*

  • *|SURVEY: Proceeding with the same amount of interns, but adjusting to virtual internships|*

  • *|SURVEY: Actively considering significant changes in size to our program|*

  • *|SURVEY: Cancelling this year’s internship program|*

  • *|SURVEY: Other|*

Your answers are anonymous and we’ll share the results here tomorrow.

What You Need to Know

TECH INTERNSHIPS:

  • The uncertainty surrounding the pandemic is forcing companies to reconsider plans for their summer internship programs. Several have cancelled their programs, a number that will likely increase in the weeks to come. (TechCrunch) 

  • But summer internships are an important part of the professional pipeline to careers in tech, and groups like Girls Who Code and CSforALL are encouraging companies to build alternative ways to retain incoming interns. (Medium) 

  • Google, for example, is moving its internship program to a new virtual format. (Business Insider) Etsy is doing the same, and Cloudflare is even doubling the size of its 2020 cohort. (Cloudflare)

  • Also good news is that WayUp CEO Liz Wessel assures us thousands of internships and jobs are still being filled via digital recruiting methods during the pandemic. (WayUp)

  • Most of New York’s major banks are moving forward with their programs, albeit with some changes: many are delaying their start dates, shortening the program length, and making them fully remote. (Bloomberg)

  • Of course, without the office culture experience, a virtual internship just won’t feel the same. (Bloomberg) But as our co-chair Fred Wilson wrote yesterday, a remote internship is better than none at all, and tech is a well-suited sector to find creative, meaningful ways to continue their programs. (AVC)

  • For a fuller list of strategies companies are taking, here’s a crowdsourced list of the status of internship programs for 300+ companies, in tech and otherwise. 

WORKPLACE TOOLS:

  • Atrium: a comprehensive deck of strategies for sales teams transitioning to WFH.

  • Outlaw: offering healthcare organizations responding to the pandemic six free months free of its contract management platform. Learn more here.

  • Primary Ventures: a checklist of considerations for SaaS leaders shifting market plans due to COVID-19.

  • Shutterstock: a new hub of resources, including free image and video collections, free virtual backgrounds for video conferencing, and other insights.  

  • WayUp: offering a digital solution for campus recruiting in lieu of in-person career fair events.  

  • Reminder: Tech:NYC’s COVID-19 resource guide is available here.

  • 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: You Can’t Check In Too Often With Your Remote Employees (Bloomberg)

POLICY:

  • A high level of demand for the stimulus package’s $350 billion in small-business loans is pushing lawmakers to consider augmenting the program less than two weeks after it became law. (Wall Street Journal)

  • Gov. Cuomo plans on sending a letter to New York’s Congressional delegation calling on them to pass another federal stimulus package to aid New York. (Twitter)

  • The state is modifying high school graduation requirements after canceling the June Regents exams. New rules will apply to all students in grades 7-12 who intended to take one or more Regents exams in June 2020. (Twitter)

EVENTS:

  • April 8: Virtual: Leveraging AI and Data to Fight Pandemics, with Applied XL, STAT News, and GovLab. Hosted by Newlab. (Details)

  • April 8: Virtual: Democratizing Access to Finance in Unprecedented Times, with Blend. Hosted by Change Catalyst. (Details)

  • April 9: Virtual: Weathering the Storm: 2008 & Now, with MobleIron co-founder Bob Tinker. Hosted by Work-Bench. (Details)

  • April 9: Virtual: Startup Leadership During Uncertain Times, with Wethos and Codestream. Hosted by Stacklist. (Details)

  • April 10: Virtual: Learn from Home Day. Hosted by Codecademy. (Details)

  • April 15: Webinar: How to Run Remote Team Retrospectives. Hosted by Carbon Five. (Details)

Passover in Quarantine:

Over the next few weeks, while many around the world are abiding by social distancing and under quarantine, three major religious holidays will take place. Passover, Easter, and Ramadan are typically when families and friends around the world come together to celebrate and worship. Due to the ongoing pandemic, this will not be possible for most, and religious leaders and public health officials have advised people to observe digitally and with those already in their home. Passover begins tomorrow night and below are a few resources and good reads about celebrating during this time:

  • In her new-ish daily tech newsletter, Shira Ovide details how one congregation in New Jersey is managing passover in a time of pandemic. 

  • Head to Grub Street for advice on How to Host a Stress-Free, Spiritualish Zoom Seder.

  • Orthodox Jews ordinarily don’t use electronic devices on holy days, but this year may be different. Fourteen rabbinic authorities in Israel issued a statement permitting the use of Zoom or Skype to connect people during the Seder. (Wall Street Journal) 

  • Head to Tablet for a Passover playlist, which reflects an array of musical and Jewish traditions, from Ashkenazi to Sephardi to Jack Black. 

  • What is a seder without its iconic, symbolic, and somewhat unorthodox (no pun intended) dishes. Need help in the kitchen or just curious? Here are some delicious recipes: 

  • Lastly, here’s an emotional read on "The Power of Passover During a Plague," discussing how Jews have celebrated through adverse conditions throughout history. The essay ends with this rousing call: “we will do what millions of Jews have done before us: manifest our hope for liberation. That is our obligation, and our privilege. All the more so in moments when the taste of freedom — from oppression, from want, from disease — is not yet ours.”

When In Doubt

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