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COVID-19 Digest: June 9

COVID-19 Digest: June 9

June 09, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Tuesday, June 9, 2020As NYC begins reopening, the digest will focus on the resources that help you make actionable decisions about your businesses and actionable decisions for your lives as New Yorkers — the two priorities that define our collective work.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: Several outer Bronx and Brooklyn neighborhoods still have high infection rates; brief roundup of what’s passed and what’s to come in NYS police reform bills; Metro-North preps for more riders and adds more trains; REBNY releases coronavirus guidance. Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 379,482 (+683)
New York City: 207,693 (+340)
Statewide Fatalities: 24,348 (+46)

General Updates:

Many of New York City’s businesses saw their first signs of life on Monday, but the long-term damage brought by months of closures is still impossible to tally. (POLITICO)
Another set of police reform bills are expected to pass both houses of the state’s Legislature today. (Wall Street Journal) More on that below.
Although the city has begun reopening, several neighborhoods are still experiencing alarming infection rates, with some positive testing rates as high as 50 percent. Of the top ten, six are in the Bronx and three are in Brooklyn. (NBC New York)
Gov. Cuomo announced a new partnership with Sean Penn and his community relief organization CORE to open 11 new testing sites in NYC hotspots, raising the city’s total site count to over 800. (1010 WINS)
For the first time in 75 years, world leaders will not be gathering in NYC for the annual UN General Assembly in September. (AP)

One must read: Businesses are reopening. Protests are erupting nationwide. But the virus isn’t done with us. (The Atlantic)

Survey

Yesterday's results: For those of you in NYC, did you notice a difference on the first day of the city’s reopening?

35.4%: Yes
64.6%: No

Today’s poll: With day one of NYC’s reopening behind us, the city is setting its sights on Phase II plans, when offices will be allowed to reopen. In a question inspired from the New York Times’s survey of over 500 epidemiologists: assuming the pandemic and response continue to unfold as expected, when do you expect to be able to work in a shared office again?

*|SURVEY: Sometime this summer|*
*|SURVEY: In 3 to 6 months|*
*|SURVEY: In 6 to 12 months|*
*|SURVEY: A year from now or later|*
*|SURVEY: Never/I don't expect to return to a shared office|*

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

Police Reform in New York:

Yesterday, both the New York State Assembly and Senate each passed the first five in a package of bills to reform the policing system. (NPR) Among the legislation passed was:
- A ban on using chokeholds;
- The right of nearby onlookers to film officers arresting a person;
- The right to sue a person filing a false claim based on race or another protected class;
- A requirement that law enforcement officers report incidents in which a weapon was discharged;
- A requirement that courts collect and publish a range of demographic data
Today, another four bills are being voted on by the Legislature, all of which are expected to pass. (NY State of Politics) They are:
- Repeal of Section 50-a
- Body camera requirement for state troopers
- Duty to provide medical attention to a person in custody
- Prohibition of racial and ethnic profiling
Tomorrow, the final two bills — to designate the Attorney General’s office as a special prosecutor and to create an misconduct oversight office — are expected to get a vote.
Gov. Cuomo has promised to sign the bills into law as soon as week’s end. (Spectrum News)

What to Know: Reopening:

With the first day of Phase I under our belts, here’s how NYC is looking ahead to Phases II – IV. (Fortune) Phase II (offices, real estate, and retail) and Phase III (food services and personal care) industry guidance is now available.
The Metro-North commuter rail added additional coronavirus measures with Hudson Valley entering Phase II, including more trains, masks, and sanitizer. (Patch)
The state Board of Regents is holding a series of virtual meetings this month to discuss what it will take to reopen schools in the fall. Input at the meetings will be used to develop guidelines for school districts. (The Journal News)