COVID-19 Digest: May 26

COVID-19 Digest: May 26

May 26, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Tuesday, May 26, 2020Please share this with your networks and encourage your colleagues to sign up here. If there are other topics or resources that would be helpful in future editions of this digest, please let us know here.Tech:NYC’s resource guide includes information on government resources for businesses, new health tracking and treatment tools, and a new section with return-to-office preparedness plans and resources. It will be updated regularly.

The Latest in New York

The latest: Big infrastructure projects may help unemployment; highlights from Julie’s latest op-ed on rethinking NYC’s map; City Council releases beach opening recommendations; summertime in the city.Confirmed Cases: 

  • New York State: 363,836 (+1,072)

  • New York City: 199,301 (+570)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 23,564 (+73)

General Updates:

  • Gov. Cuomo expanded an executive order to allow for gatherings of any kind of 10 people or fewer with social distancing measures in place. (NY1)

  • The Mid-Hudson region is allowed to begin reopening today, and Long Island will be able to begin reopening tomorrow. NYC is the last region to remain under the PAUSE order. (NBC New York)

  • As a result of those reopenings, Gov. Cuomo announced new public transit safety measures to allow for social distancing — there will be more cars added to LIRR routes and Metro-North capacity enhancements are expected this week. Passengers will also be required to wear masks. (New York Times)

  • While public transit ridership is down and job stimulation is needed, New York will accelerate completion of several infrastructure projects, including the new Penn Station and the new LaGuardia Airport. (Bloomberg)

  • There are now more than 760 testing sites across the state; many have more capacity than is currently being used. (Spectrum News)

  • Campgrounds were allowed to reopen yesterday and training camps for professional sports leagues may reopen this week. Veterinarians may resume non-essential services beginning today. (Times Union)

  • The New York Stock Exchange reopened today with traders donning masks and signing waivers to enter the building. (NBC News) 

One must read: The Woman Tasked with Saving the Subway Is Still Commuting On It (New York Magazine)

Survey

Thursday's results: When you’ve needed to go out — be it for essential errands or just some fresh air — what is the primary way you have been traveling during New York’s PAUSE order? 

  • 22.3%: Car

  • 0.5%: Subway or bus

  • 6.9%: Bike or scooter

  • 70.3%: Walking

Today’s poll: Over the weekend, New York began to allow for more gatherings of any kind, which had previously been restricted to holiday or religious ceremonies, of 10 people or fewer, as long as social distancing measures are observed. As of now, do you feel comfortable taking advantage of the update and gathering in small groups?

  • *|SURVEY: Yes|*

  • *|SURVEY: No|*

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

Spreading Economic Opportunity:

With regions across New York officially beginning their reopening plans — and NYC to follow soon — the city will have to tackle several issues at once to recover from COVID-19. Chief among them is spreading economic opportunity. As we outlined in today’s New York Daily News, here’s a roundup of opportunities we should seize for the new New York:

  • For the foreseeable future, many New Yorkers likely won’t want to commute via crowded subways into crowded offices while riding crowded elevators in crowded office buildings. It’s equally true that most people won’t want to work from home in perpetuity. 

  • Both of those views are valid, and city officials and business leaders should consider a few steps to spread commercial activity among the boroughs:

    • Office space: Companies should develop a hub-and-spoke office plan. 83 percent of the city’s tech sector jobs are based in Manhattan’s central business district, and instead of a single NYC headquarters, employees could go to smaller spaces where they live, making the city more durable to a future outbreak, making jobs accessible to more new Yorkers, and offering an multiplier effect to other industries setting up shop in those neighborhoods.

    • Transit: To make this work, intra-borough transit must be improved. Transit entities and tech companies and well-positioned to work together to make both public transit and other modes of micro-mobility available to make traveling more efficient and building a hyperlocal ecosystem easier.

      • One model to pay attention to: London’s plan to redesign roads to make it the car-free capital of the world that’s still socially distant-friendly.

    • Commercial development: We should also incentivize office development in places near where people live. There’s more capacity for commercial life in many NYC neighborhoods, making better use of vacant retail space and giving residents a safer trip to work.

    • Education: Just as companies only go to cities if they feel the workforce is adequately trained, so too will they only invest in new neighborhoods. The truth is right now far too many educational programs require people travel past the East River or over the Third Ave. Bridge. If New York can spread trade programs, internships, coding schools, and incubation centers throughout the city, our neighborhoods will be empowered to unleash their own homegrown talent.

  • New York has reinvented itself dozens of times before, and we’ll do it again. We can create a city with more commerce, smarter spaces and safer roads — a win for jobs and public health alike.

RETURN-TO-OFFICE PLANS:

As New York plans its reopening, so too are companies forming their return-to-office strategies. In addition to following federal guidelines, here is some related reading:

  • Farewell, Office. You Were the Last Boundary Between Work and Home. Your workplace shaped your identity in ways you never knew. (New York Times)

  • What Role Should Employers Play in Testing Workers? Amazon and other companies are planning to test workers for the coronavirus. But there is little federal guidance, and some fear it could lead to a false sense of security. (New York Times)

  • Bosses Begin Testing Workers for Covid-19. Companies are asking more workers to take coronavirus tests, but the logistics are complicated (Wall Street Journal)

Request: please let us know as your return-to-office policies are developed and what considerations your companies are taking for developing them. Sharing this information is helpful to companies and employees across the NYC ecosystem and can be kept anonymous.

Reminder: Tech:NYC’s resource guide is now available here and contains a comprehensive list of return-to-office plans published in previous digests.

Recruit: A tech talent and job opportunities board from Tech:NYC and AlleyCorp compiles NYC tech workers looking for new roles and NYC-based tech companies hiring open positions. To contribute to the board, click here.

POLICY:

  • Members of the Blue Ribbon Commission, the group chaired by Eric Schmidt to improve the state’s telehealth and broadband access, have been announced. They include university and philanthropy presidents and tech company executives. (NYS)

  • The State Senate and Assembly are back in session beginning today to begin hearing coronavirus-related legislation, and lawmakers will be allowed to vote remotely. (New York Daily News)

  • Families of frontline workers killed by coronavirus will be entitled to government-backed death benefits, paid out by local and state pension funds. (New York Daily News)

  • New York City Council says beaches should be open to swimming, announcing a set of recommendations of how it can be safely done. (Gothamist)

  • Mayor de Blasio’s administration is considering increasing NYC’s borrowing capacity to confront budget cuts and coronavirus spending. (New York Daily News)

EVENTS:

  • May 27: Webinar: M&A in a Recessionary Environment, with Orrick. Hosted by the Data Future Lab. (Details)

  • May 27: Virtual: Too Important to Fail: Minority-Owned Businesses Navigating COVID-19 and Beyond, with Essence Ventures, Altura Capital, and the Opportunity Fund. Hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (Details)

  • May 28: Webinar: Financial and Economic Impact on NY Amid The Pandemic, with Comptroller Scott Stringer and Superintendent Linda Lacewell. (Details)

  • June 3: Virtual: Rehabilitating the Global Supply Chain, with Partismony. Hosted by Newlab. (Details)

  • June 3: Virtual: Being a Mindful Entrepreneur, with Bob Roth. Hosted by Human Ventures. (Details)

  • June 4: Virtual: Celebrating the Impact of Women in STEM, with Reshma Saujani, Kathryn Finney, Debbie Sterling. Hosted by Ellevate in partnership with Odessa. (Details)

Summertime in the city:

  • New Yorkers are entering the summer season with no access to the traditional cooling infrastructure, but that doesn’t mean the city has to suffer — officials shouldn’t let COVID-19 end a long history of helping people stay cool. (New York Times)

  • One tip: coronavirus isn’t likely to spread in water, as chlorine in pools and similar disinfecting chemicals inactivate the virus, but there’s much less known about its interaction with freshwater and saltwater lakes and beaches. (CNN)

  • Parents could really use a break, but are summer camps and similar programs still too risky? (New York Times)

  • But if you want to move ahead with your camping trip, here’s how to make sure all your gear is good to go. (USA Today)

  • At the end of the day, it’s going to be an unusual summer. Here’s a look at how five families are steeling themselves. (New York Times)

When In Doubt

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

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