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COVID-19 Digest: July 22

COVID-19 Digest: July 22

July 22, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Wednesday, July 22, 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: Fed promises payday for vaccine developing pharmas; MTA hemorrhaging $250M per week from cratered ridership; read our bills breakdown from the special NYS Legislature session; Mayor de Blasio further delays decision on school reopenings.Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 408,886 (+705)
New York City: 222,444 (+350)
Statewide Fatalities: 25,068 (+9)
Daily NYC Infection Rate: 1.2 percent (-0.2 percent)

General Updates:

Coronavirus-related deaths in the US are going back up: for the first time since May, the US reported more than 1,000 deaths yesterday. (Axios) The Northeast accounts for the most deaths per capita since the start of the pandemic, but the region’s unified response has minimized spread and mortality in recent weeks. (New York Times)
The global vaccine race is forging ahead, with almost 200 candidates in trials across the globe. (Axios) Today, the US agreed to pay Pfizer and BioNTech $1.95 billion for the first 100 million doses of its vaccine by the end of the year. (New York Times) Other pharmaceutical frontrunners in the US, UK, and China have reached phase three clinical trials, but experts are mixed on when any of them will be available or how they should be distributed.
New York’s census response is lagging far behind 2010 rates with only 53 percent of NYC households completing their census forms. New Yorkers have until October 31 to fill out the census. (New York Post)
The MTA reported the agency is losing $250 million per week amidst ongoing low ridership and pandemic-depleted tax revenues. (New York Post) $350 million in initial budget cuts have already been announced, potentially to come through service cuts and layoffs. Officials have warned the agency won’t be able to resolve its budget shortfall without funding from Congress.
And here’s a rundown of the rules of COVID-ettiquette. Among them: embrace being awkward. (Bloomberg)

One good read: David Malan, Harvard’s star computer science professor, was working to perfect online teaching long before the pandemic. Is his method a model for the future of higher education? (The New Yorker)

Survey

The latest results: When do you think you will feel comfortable sitting down in a restaurant or bar again for the first time?

8.4%: As soon as possible
11.0%: In the fall or winter
39.8%: Not until 2021 or later
40.8%: Not until there’s a vaccine

Today’s poll: Today marks one month since outdoor dining was permitted in NYC, with some restaurants booking tables weeks in advance, both helping customers support a struggling industry and helping restaurants anticipate service and be able to better financially plan for the coming weeks. Have you visited a restaurant for outdoor dining in this first month?

*|SURVEY: Yes, I've done outdoor dining once|*
*|SURVEY: Yes, I've done outdoor dining more than once|*
*|SURVEY: No, I'm still avoiding restaurants and bars|*

Find the poll results from all previous editions of this newsletter here.

What You Need to Know

This Week in the State Legislature:

This week, the New York State legislature convened in Albany for a rare mid-summer week of legislative activity. Both houses have voted on an array of bills related to the pandemic, voting, and local in-district issues. The bills that pass this week may face an uncertain future when they reach the Governor’s desk due to the state’s billion dollar budget deficit. Here are some relevant and noteworthy bills being seriously considered at this time:

Voting reform: The highest profile bill is one for automatic voter registration, something Tech:NYC has supported in the past that seems to have a real chance at passing. Given the cost of implementation, this automatic voter registration might face some additional hurdles.
- Additional and important voting reforms are being discussed, like making it easier to vote by absentee ballot and ensuring all absentee ballots are counted, a move that comes after more than 400,000 people voted absentee in the June primaries, accounting for more than 40 percent to 60 percent of votes in some races.
Contact tracing information confidentiality: Similar to HIV testing confidentiality, this bill is designed to limit the amount of time information can be held by the state and who has access to it. This bill is moving while a more complicated contact tracing privacy bill is not.
Other bills we are watching closely that might be of interest (let us know if you’d like to discuss any of them!):
- A bill that would set new guidelines for companies that use automatic renewals. It has passed both the Assembly at the Senate.
- A bill to expand broadband access that would, among other things, require the Public Service Commission (PSC) to study broadband access and then work with internet service providers to prioritize access to broadband in communities without service. It has passed in the Assembly and is moving in the Senate.
- A bill that would ban facial recognition technology in schools until July 2022. It has passed both the Assembly and the Senate.
- A bill that would require disclosure of specific information for online lenders so that consumers are fully informed before executing a loan. It is moving in both houses.
- A bill that would create a right of publicity for deceased individuals, which could have a real negative impact on content licensing and sharing. It has passed the Senate and is moving in the Assembly.
- There has been discussion of an expansion of antitrust law and a related bill was introduced; it is not currently moving.
While budget amendments and revenue raisers are not currently being discussed, a digital ads tax and a data tax are among some of the ideas elected officials are considering. Budget discussions are expected to resume after the federal government decides whether to provide states with additional funding.

What to Know: Reopening:

Mayor de Blasio said today that he won’t make a final decision on reopening NYC schools until September right before the start of the academic year. (New York Post) He also indicated that full-time classes won’t resume until there is a vaccine available.
Just as Phase IV of NYC’s reopening allows for professional sports without fans, Gov. Cuomo has similarly banned fans for all college and university sports programs. (ESPN)
The MTA has added a new feature to its app that allows riders to plug in the route they plan to ride and see how many passengers are aboard buses headed to their stops. (New York Daily News)
A drive-in theater is opening next month in Queens, located at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. (Gothamist) More details and ways to reserve tickets will be updated here.
And here's a helpful list of things you can do in Central Park this summer. (amNY)