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COVID-19 Digest: October 15

COVID-19 Digest: October 15

October 15, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Thursday, October 15, 2020As NYC’s reopening and recovery efforts continue, the digest will focus on the resources that help you make decisions about your businesses and your lives as New Yorkers.

Download COVID Alert NY, the new exposure notification app built by the New York State Dept. of Health and Tech:NYC, here.

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The Latest in New York

The latest: US and European case numbers on the rise; young people may not get vaccines until 2022; updated guidelines recommend monthly tests for New Yorkers working outside the home; Black Restaurant Week coming to NYC in November; Zoom adds new apps and features directly in platform.Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 479,400 (+1,460)
New York City: 252,274 (+508)
Statewide Fatalities: 25,618 (+13)
Daily NYC Infection Rate: 1.0 percent (-0.2 percent)

General Updates:

The US is heading in the wrong direction when it comes to new COVID-19 cases, with infections jumping 17 percent over the last week and 38 states seeing increases. (Axios) New York is one of a handful of states that have remained steady.
The numbers for New York’s hotspot zones have made slight improvements — the latest positivity rate in the “red zones” is down to 4.84 percent, and excluding those, the statewide rate is under one percent. (NBC New York)
Much of Europe isn’t faring well, either: rules have been tightened in London, banning households from mingling (Bloomberg); France set a 9pm curfew for Paris and eight other cities (CNN); Italy placed a new ban on crowds outside bars and restaurants as it hits a record of new cases (New York Times); and Northern Ireland has closed all schools, bars, and restaurants for a month. (Reuters)
The WHO is warning that young, healthy people should be prepared to wait until 2022 to get a coronavirus vaccine. (Washington Post)
And last call: today is the deadline for completing the census. If you haven’t already, submit the form here.

One good read: The 2020 election is happening right now — millions have already voted early in-person or by mail. Here’s what that looks like across the country. (New York Times)

Survey

The latest results: As more companies extend their remote work plans farther into 2021, subway ridership remains low, with a new report issuing a fresh warning of subway and rail service cuts and fare increases without federal aid. How often are you now taking the subway?

2.2%: Daily
12.7%: One or more times a week
21.5%: One or more times a month
61.9%: I still have not returned to the subway since the PAUSE order

(Of note: more people are returning to the subway, but at slow intervals. The number of people riding the subway a few times per month increased from when we asked this question in early August — to 22 percent from 13 percent — representing the biggest change from that time. The change in those taking the subway daily or weekly was just a couple percentage points each. The majority continue to avoid the subway.) Today’s poll: In place of what was supposed to be the second presidential debate, there will be two competing town hall-style broadcasts at 8pm ET. (CNN) And there’s yet a third option: a reunion performance with the original cast of West Wing in support of When We All Vote. (AP) Which television program are you most excited to watch tonight?

*|SURVEY: The Pres. Trump town hall|*
*|SURVEY: The VP Biden town hall|*
*|SURVEY: The West Wing reunion special|*
*|SURVEY: None of them, but thank you|*

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

What You Need to Know

What to Know: Reopening:

NYC updated its testing guidance to recommend that anyone working outside of the home now get tested for COVID-19 once a month. (Patch)
Black Restaurant Week, a national campaign to boost exposure of Black-owned establishments, is coming to New York for the first time this year from Nov. 13 to Nov. 22. (Crain’s NY) The campaign comes at a critical time for the restaurant industry, and the organizers are allowing participating establishments to join and get marketing support for free.
In an effort to lure travelers back, airlines are offering very favorable frequent-flier awards deals. (Wall Street Journal) The takeaway: it’s a very good time to use your points.

Related reading:

CEOs Want to Ditch Sterile Zoom Calls (NPR)

One Company to Watch

OPUS

What does your company do?

Opus co-founder and CEO Rachael Nemeth: Opus upskills and reskills the frontline workforce with interactive training delivered over text message. We help businesses up and down the supply chain keep their teams engaged, productive, safe, and happy. Employees stack up skills and earn certifications, while managers track compliance and spot high potential team members.

Opus provides training to frontline teams in all kinds of industries and sectors, but of course, the frontline workers anyone is talking about this year are those responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. How is Opus supporting them — did you have to create new COVID training from scratch, or how did you adapt existing Opus tools to meet the moment?

RN: When COVID hit, there was no question that we could help companies keep their employees, customers, and communities safe by leveraging our existing product to deliver COVID training. There are 50 million essential frontline employees who have been working this year without a full stop. In order to meet this need, we developed training that is compliant with CDC and WHO guidelines — all delivered via text message and WhatsApp and in multiple languages. With Opus, employees train for three minutes a day throughout the year in order to stay fresh in best practices. Managers can track their team via mobile and send them digital applause or even a nudge. Executives are insured in more ways than one — not only is their business compliant, their workforce is behaving safely at work which supports a healthy work environment, mentally and physically.Read the full interview here.

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.

Events:

October 16: Virtual: The Path Forward: Digital Acceleration, with Accenture CEO Julie Sweet. Hosted by the Washington Post. (Details)
October 19 – 21: Virtual: WSJ Tech Live, with Melinda Gates, Priscilla Chan, Eric Schmidt, and more. Hosted by the Wall Street Journal. Use code TechNYC for 30% off the ticket of choice. (Details)
October 21: Virtual: Centering Inclusivity in Your Team’s Strategy, with General (ret.) Stanley McChrystal, Atlassian Head of R&D Dominic Price, Bloomberg L.P. Head of D&I Chris Michel, and more. Hosted by Bloomberg. (Details)
October 27: Virtual: Functions.NYC: What’s Next for Transportation in NYC, with Transportation Alternatives executive director Danny Harris. Hosted by Tech:NYC. (Details)

When In Doubt

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

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