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COVID-19 Digest: July 15

COVID-19 Digest: July 15

July 15, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Wednesday, July 15, 2020As NYC begins reopening, the digest will focus on the resources that help you make decisions about your businesses and your lives as New Yorkers.

Below and in our resource guide, you’ll find the latest information on government resources for businesses, city and state reopening measures, and return-to-office preparedness plans. If this can be useful to your colleagues and network, encourage them to sign up here.

The Latest in New York

The latest: Some biotechs seem close to crossing the vaccine race finish line, read why that’s not a quick fix to the pandemic; US borders with Canada and Mexico remain closed to non-essential travel for another month; largest US retailer, Walmart, to require masks nationwide; Amazon extends WFH guidance to January 8.Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 404,006 (+831)
New York City: 219,982 (+366)
Statewide Fatalities: 25,003 (+9)
Daily NYC Infection Rate: 1.3 percent (-0.1 percent)

General Updates:

The CDC said that, if everyone in the US wore a mask, the country could have the pandemic “under control” in as little as a month or two. (New York Daily News) The claim comes as more states with surging case counts are instituting mandatory mask rules, in both indoor and outdoor settings.
Moderna, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, today released promising results of its latest clinical trial of a new coronavirus vaccine. (Bloomberg) More on the global vaccine race below.
Starting tomorrow, lower-income tenants statewide can apply for the COVID Rent Relief Program, providing four months of rent assistance directed from a $100 million federal stimulus fund. (Patch NYC)
One update: the special enrollment period for health insurance through the state marketplace has been extended another 30 days, to August 15. Learn more here.
And one data thing: our COVID-19 recovery tracker, built in partnership with no-code analytics platform Apteo, has been updated to include new data on NYC’s Open Streets initiative to create 100 miles of new outdoor space across the city. See the updated data here.

One breath of fresh air: Open a new window somewhere in the world. (WindowSwap)

Survey

The latest results: How are you most combatting the heat wave?

6.0%: Going to a city beach or public pool
8.5%: Going to a city park
0.9%: Going to a city cooling center
74.4%: Staying inside with A/C — I’m still avoiding outdoor public spaces
10.3%: Other

Today’s poll: The global race to create a coronavirus vaccine is heating up, with several companies and research groups forging into final clinical trials. While the science is promising, there are still many questions about when the vaccine will be ready to be manufactured, how quickly we can deliver it, and how much it will cost. When do you think a vaccine will be widely available?

*|SURVEY: Before the end of 2020|*
*|SURVEY: The first half of 2021|*
*|SURVEY: The second half of 2021|*
*|SURVEY: In 2022 or later|*
*|SURVEY: Never|*

Reminder: If you haven’t already, please help us get to know you better by completing our quick audience survey here. Find the poll results from all previous editions of this newsletter here.

What You Need to Know

The Vaccine Race:

The global race is on to create a coronavirus vaccine that can be developed — and disseminated across the world — quickly. (New York Times) Many public health experts say, even with robust social distancing and testing, we can’t truly consider the virus under control until a vaccine is available. (Business Insider)
There are some promising, albeit early, developments:
- The vaccine being developed at the University of Oxford is largely considered the frontrunner, where the human clinical trials could be completed as early as September. (Bloomberg) AstraZeneca has already lined up agreements to produce 2 billion doses.
- Moderna has released optimistic results from its experimental vaccine, indicating it elicited antibodies in every person it tested in the initial trial. (New York Times) The trial is advancing to the final phase of testing. (CBS News)
- The FDA has also granted a Fast Track designation to vaccines being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. (Reuters) The designation makes the companies eligible for accelerated regulatory approval, and if all goes to plan, the companies expect to manufacture up to 100 million doses by the end of the year.
- The one snag: in some groups, almost half of the Moderna trial participants experienced side effects from the vaccination, and researchers are now turning more attention to a vaccine’s other health externalities. (Wall Street Journal)
But there’s more to disseminating the vaccine than the vaccine itself: a parallel scramble is underway to also produce enough glass vials to deliver it around the world. (Washington Post)
And while several fast-moving experimental trials seems like a good sign, some are worried geopolitics is getting in the way, with countries battling for credit, trading national pride and one-upmanship for the common good. (POLITICO)
When a vaccine is available, it’s likely that healthcare and other essential workers will be first to receive them, followed by high-risk groups like the elderly and immunocompromised people. (New York Times)
For more on the latest updates, POLITICO’s hub of dedicated vaccine reporting is a very useful resource.

What to Know: Reopening:

Liberty and Ellis Islands will partially reopen on July 20, pending NYC’s intended move into Phase IV of reopening next week. (ABC New York)
Non-essential travel across US borders to Canada and Mexico will remain blocked until at least August 21. (CNN) The EU has also recommended another two-week extension of closed borders to Americans and others. (Bloomberg)
Walmart and Sam’s Club will join other large retailers by requiring customers to wear masks in all US stores beginning July 20. (New York Post)