COVID-19 Digest: March 13

COVID-19 Digest: March 13

March 13, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Friday, March 13, 2020Tech:NYC’s COVID-19 resource guide is available here. It’s updated daily with the latest info from across the NYC tech sector.Email us at [email protected] with anything you’d like to see included in an upcoming email or with other feedback. Please share this with your networks and encourage your colleagues to sign up here.The COVID-19 Digest is taking the weekend off, but keep sending in your company updates and other useful resources — we’ll return on Monday, March 16th. Stay healthy and keep washing your hands!

The Latest in New York

The latest: Trump declares a national emergency; NYS to increase COVID-19 testing; local hospitals on “war footing”; Tech:NYC weekend recs on what to cook, read, and watch.Confirmed Cases: 

  • New York State: 421 (+93)

  • New York City: 154 (+59)

General Updates:

  • President Trump has declared a national emergency. (Axios)

  • New York State has been granted authority by the FDA to conduct COVID-19 testing at 28 labs across the state, which will drastically increase testing capacity — from 3,000 to about 6,000 per day. (Twitter) And Gov. Cuomo opened the first drive-through testing site in New Rochelle. (New York Post)

  • New York City landlords will not evict rental tenants for the next three months. (REBNY)

  • All New York Public Library locations will be closed to the public beginning Saturday, March 14th through at least Tuesday, March 31st. (Details)

  • It’s unclear if this is the most frightening or most reassuring headline of the day: “New York Adopts War Footing to Ready Hospitals for Virus Surge.” (Bloomberg)

  • Not surprisingly, subway ridership is way down. “It’s not yet clear what impact the ridership drop will have on the MTA’s fragile finances. Rider fares and driver tolls account for just over half of the agency’s revenue.” (Daily News)

  • Tech:NYC member Elucd has launched a national daily tracker to measure and monitor coronavirus perception and preparedness. The dashboard is being updated daily here.

What You Need to Know

NEW EMPLOYER UPDATES (for the full list, see our resource guide):

  • Andela: mandatory WFH for the NYC and Austin offices; office is open and can only be used with explicit management approval; global travel is prohibited.

  • Bitly: moved to “strongly recommended” for employees to WFH, with the office remaining open only to those who need it for personal reasons; the leadership team is all WFH. 

  • CaaStle: instituting mandatory WFH for all employees until the end of March.

  • CMDTY: employees in NYC and London are WFH. 

  • Digital Currency Group: mandatory WFH as of March 13th; reassessing every week.

  • Engine: offering all U.S. employees the option to WFH; freezing all domestic and international travel.

  • Hugging Face: strongly encouraging WFH in the NY and Paris offices beginning March 12th; office remains open for those who need it.

  • IBM: encouraging employees across all U.S. offices to WFH, expected to remain remote through the rest of the month.

  • Kargo: optional WFH as of March 10th; strongly encouraging WFH for all offices as of March 13th.

  • Kustomer: NYC and SF offices are closed until after March 31st, at which point they will reassess; NC-based employees are encouraged to WFH until April 1st.

  • MongoDB: mandatory WFH globally beginning Monday, March 16th for two weeks.

  • Nomad Health: strongly recommending WFH as of March 11th.

  • nTopology: all employees are WFH until further notice.

  • Oscar: mandating WFH for employees in the NYC office as of March 12th.

  • Pico: requiring employees to WFH indefinitely.

  • Simple Health: instituting mandatory WFH for all employees.

  • SmartAsset: strongly encouraging employees to work from home until March 30th.

  • Squarespace: requiring employees in all offices to WFH until at least March 27th.

  • Tinybeans: all employees are WFH indefinitely beginning March 13th.

  • Request: please let us know if you are instituting mandatory, optional, or other work-from-home policies. Sharing this information is helpful to companies and employees across the NYC ecosystem and can be kept anonymous. 

WORKPLACE TOOLS:

  • Andela: hosting a live webinar on remote work best practices for engineering teams. March 19th at 1pm. Details here.

  • Automattic: CEO Matt Mullenweg’s blog post on their fully distributed model and tips he can offer on best remote work practices.

  • Bravely: hosting a live webinar with a professional coach on actionable ways to manage workplace change and maintain strong working relationships from afar. March 17th at 12pm. Details here. Everyone who participates will also receive a free session with a Bravely coach on an individual basis. If your company is 100+ employees, Bravely can also set up a special webinar for your teams; reach out to [email protected] if you’re interested.

  • Global Strategy Group: a webinar with GSG’s Employee Communications team with insights on how companies should be communicating to employees. March 17th at 12pm. Register for login instructions here.

  • Google: Grow with Google’s resources on how to stay connected and productive while working remotely.

  • Shine: launched Care for Your Coronavirus Anxiety in partnership with Mental Health America; provides a safe space where people can get free, curated resources to help them take care of their mental health. 

  • Stride Consulting:tips for adjusting to remote software development, plus access to a free, open-source application RemoteRetro.org.

  • Yext:offering for free its new site search product, Yext Answers, in the wake of COVID-19. For a 90-day period, eligible businesses across industries will be able to transform their own website into a powerful search engine capable of answering consumers’ COVID-19 specific queries in real-time.

  • Zola: a guide of tips for people with weddings impacted by COVID-19, including how to communicate with guests and vendors.

  • Read: Everything You Need to Work From Home, According to People Who Do It Every Day. (New York Magazine) 

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

EVENTS:

  • Postponed: 2020 NYC CS Fair. (Details)

  • Going online: Consensus 2020 will now be completely virtual. (Details)

POLICY UPDATES:

  • Gov. Cuomo has issued an Executive Order waiving the seven-day waiting period for unemployment insurance applications for cases related to COVID-19 contraction or lay-offs. (Twitter)

  • The NYS Public Service Commission will issue an order preventing utilities from turning off services due to inability to pay related to COVID-19. (Twitter)

SCHOOLS: 

  • Fashion Institute of Technology: suspending all classes March 16th – 22nd to allow faculty to prepare for potential online class instruction and for employees to prepare to work remotely; beginning Monday, March 16th, all large-scale FIT-sponsored events are canceled for March and April.

  • Hunter College: suspending classes for instructional recess March 12th – 18th and moving to remote instruction beginning March 19th (with all CUNY and SUNY schools); library, student center, and other facilities will remain open.

  • Success Academy: moving to online only instruction for all NYC schools beginning Monday, March 16th.

Team Tech:NYC's suggestions for what to eat/read/watch this weekend:

Julie's chocolate chip cookies

  • 2 1/4 cup unsifted flour

  • 1 tsp baking soda

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

  • 3/4 cup sugar

  • 3/4 brown sugar, packed

  • 2 tsp vanilla

  • 2 eggs

  • 2 cups chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate, but anything works!)

  • Preheat oven to 375. Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated.

  • Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. 

  • (Please send pics of the final product to [email protected])

When In Doubt

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