COVID-19 Digest: March 16 (JS Send)

COVID-19 Digest: March 16

March 17, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Monday, March 16, 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 Latest in New York

The latest: NYC shuts down – schools, restaurants, bars, and more; a call to action for AI and ML experts; and some happy distractions on the internet.

Confirmed Cases: 

  • New York State: 950 (+221)

  • New York City: 463 (+134)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 7

General Updates:

  • NYC public schools are closed beginning today until at least April 20th. (NY1)

  • Beginning at 8pm, New York State, New Jersey and Connecticut will close all bars and restaurants, except for takeout and delivery service. The three states will also close all cinemas, gyms, and casinos. (Press Release)

  • There has been plenty written about technology’s role navigating the COVID-19 outbreak (allowing WFH, actively helping government), but we particularly enjoyed this thoughtful take on internet platforms stepping up to fill an information void coming from the highest levels of federal government. (New York Times)

  • There’s a cool story about how 3D printed valves have been used to save lives in Italian hospitals. (3D Printing Media Network) And in the U.S., a challenge will be rolled out this week to create a rapidly deployable mechanical ventilation solution. (Co-Vent 19 Challenge)

  • SF has instituted an official Shelter in Place order. See SFist for what that actually means. Will NYC be next?

  • There's a new Slack channel for NYC technologists who want to get involved in various volunteer efforts and other projects to support New York’s COVID-19 response plans. Join here.

  • Today, preeminent research institutions, in partnership with the White House, released the most extensive machine-readable Coronavirus literature collection available for data and text mining to date. Together, those institutions and the White House have issued a call to action to the Nation’s artificial intelligence experts to develop new text and data mining techniques that can help the science community answer high-priority scientific questions related to COVID-19. (White House)

What You Need to Know

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

  • Atlassian: the NYC office is closed beginning March 16th; all employees are WFH.

  • AT&T: asking all workers to WFH if they can. 

  • Bitly: moved to mandatory WFH through March 27th, but will evaluate on a regular basis.

  • Dashlane: all offices are now closed and any requested access has to be approved.

  • Delphi Digital: mandatory WFH until further notice.

  • dv01: mandatory WFH through March 31st.

  • Engine: closing all U.S. offices as of March 16th and asking employees to WFH; freezing all domestic and international travel.

  • Letgo: strongly encouraging employees to WFH through March 29th; access to the office requires explicit management approval. 

  • Nova Credit: NYC and SF offices closed and mandatory WFH for those employees; travel is prohibited.  

  • Propel: mandatory WFH for all employees beginning March 16th. 

  • Shutterstock: mandatory WFH globally.

  • Squarefoot: mandatory WFH beginning March 16th through the rest of the month. 

  • Suzy: mandatory WFH for all offices.

  • Troops: required WFH for all employees until further notice. 

  • Updater: now mandatory WFH for all U.S. offices.

  • Yext: mandatory WFH for employees through the end of March; offices will remain open for business-critical operations and for employees who need them.

  • Zillow: recommendation to encourage employees WFH has been extended to at least April 10.

  • 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:

  • EY: a live webcast on how to mitigate COVID-19’s business impacts, with actionable insights in areas such as people agenda, supply chain resiliency, liquidity/cash management, and financial reporting. March 19th at 11am EST. (Details)

  • Hive: tips for successful WFH practices and flexible project management tools to use. (Details)

  • Journey: a real-time meditation app is offering free instructor-led classes for the next two weeks. (Details)

  • NYC Small Business Services:updated guidance published March 14th on addressing customer behavior and workplace FAQs; an emergency planning checklist for businesses.

  • Oscar: in addition to its at-home risk assessment tool, launched the U.S.’s first testing center locator, with more than 100 centers mapped; being updated daily. (Details)

  • SOSA: a live webinar on managing teams in times of uncertainty, addressing everything from how to keep your customers to managing remote work. March 18th at 12pm. Details here.

  • Read: Mesmerizing data viz: These simulations show how to flatten the coronavirus growth curve. (Washington Post)

  • Read, because you can’t do this enough: Tips for cleaning your phone. (New York Times)

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

EVENTS:

  • New CDC guidance: recommends that organizers postpone or cancel events of 50+ individuals for the next eight weeks. (Details) And the White House discourages any gathering with 10+ people. (Axios)

  • Postponed: TechDay New York has been rescheduled to October 23rd, and the TechDay Founders Summit has been rescheduled to August 14th. (Details)

POLICY UPDATES:

  • Over the weekend, the New York State Capitol closed to visitors and the NYC Council announced it was shuttering as of today. Budget meetings are cancelled and there will be no public hearings until further notice. (Daily News)

  • New York State government is prepared to expedite the budget process and reach a resolution by the end of this week. (Twitter)  

  • Governor Cuomo issued an executive order temporarily changing the requirements for absentee ballots, allowing anyone impacted by COVID-19 to access without an in-person appearance. (Executive Order)  

  • New York State Liquor Authority will permit restaurants, bars, and distilleries to provide takeout and delivery liquor sales. (Twitter) 

  • New York City has suspended the special election for Queens Borough President, which was scheduled to take place on March 24th. (New York Post) 

  • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suffered a DDOS attack on Sunday. (ABC News)

  • The U.S. House of Representatives passed an emergency relief package to extend paid sick leave to many — not all — workers, authorize free COVID-19 testing for all, increase funding for unemployment insurance, and fund food assistance programs. The Senate is expected to take the package up this week. (New York Times)

SCHOOLS: 

  • NYC public schools: closed until at least April 20th. Students can still pick up free grab-and-go breakfast and lunch outside the main entrance of any school building from 7:30am – 1:30pm. (Tweet) What you need to know about school closures. (Chalkbeat)

Suggestions for when you need a distraction, all internet-based:

  • In case you feel like avoiding the news for 10 minutes (or more, no judgement here), we recommend playing this old Google Doodle baseball game. And if you do, let us know your high score!  

  • Our friend Brooke Hammerling has a great new pop culture newsletter that comes out on Mondays, today’s edition is here.

  • For some higher-brow entertainment, the Metropolitan Opera will host “Nightly Met Opera Streams” (OperaWire) and a bunch of famous museums offer virtual tours. (Travel + Leisure)

When In Doubt

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