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COVID-19 Digest: October 20

COVID-19 Digest: October 20

October 20, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Tuesday, October 20, 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: NYC’s census response rate higher than any major US city; NJ, CT, and PA caseloads meet travel advisory criteria, Cuomo claims enforcement impossible; 25 percent of city-government workers expected to return to offices by year’s end; read how Lynn McMahon (Accenture) and Julie Samuels (Tech:NYC) envision the future of New York’s digital workforce.Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 486,480 (+1,201)
New York City: 255,207 (+436)
Statewide Fatalities: 25,672 (+12)
Daily NYC Infection Rate: 1.3 percent (no change)

General Updates:

This wave of the coronavirus is ramping up. Positivity rates have increased nationwide since last week, and unlike the initial outbreak of the virus, there are no apparent geographic concentrations as infections spread indiscriminately coast-to-coast. (Axios)
The US economic rebound is losing steam against the backdrop of an ongoing delay in new federal stimulus, rising cases, and cooler weather. (Bloomberg) Several economic indicators — like new jobless claims, new job postings and even restaurant bookings — have worsened or shown no improvement in recent weeks.
Relatedly: New York government officials are now projecting a $59 billion revenue shortfall through 2022, one of the deepest funding holes of any state resulting from the ongoing pandemic. (Wall Street Journal)
NYC’s final census self-response rate came in at 61.8 percent, the highest of all major cities and beating out prior projections from federal and state officials. (New York Daily News)
We’re two weeks out until Election Day. Here’s a good interactive feature showing a few things to pay attention to when you vote so your ballot doesn’t get rejected.
Downloads for New York’s contact tracing app, developed by Tech:NYC and other tech and government partners, are increasing. As of Monday, COVID Alert NY has been downloaded approximately 600,000 times. (POLITICO) The app detects a user’s proximity to other devices and alerts the user if any of those close contacts are associated with a confirmed COVID case. The app uses Bluetooth, not GPS location, to retain user privacy. If you haven’t yet, download COVID Alert NY for your smartphone here.

One request: The New York City Economic Development Corporation is working on building NYC’s resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus area on childcare. NYCEDC is seeking insights from the tech employees, HR/people leaders, and tech executives on childcare benefits and related company policies for employees. Please complete the short survey here.

One good read: From Accenture’s Lynn McMahon and Tech:NYC’s own Julie Samuels: New York needs to be reimagined with technology and job training (Crain’s NY)

Survey

The latest results: This week, New York will move into its eight month since the state’s PAUSE order went into effect, and people are increasingly weary, frustrated, and downright fed-up with the new COVID social norms. The result: greater burnout and “pandemic fatigue,” which may in part be causing rising cases around the country. Have you experienced pandemic fatigue and a loosening of your COVID safety behaviors in recent months?

0.0%: Yes, I am wearing a mask less often
13.4%: Yes, I am sanitizing/washing hands less often
19.8%: Yes, I am social distancing less often
20.3%: Yes, more than one of the above
46.5%: No, I have not experienced “pandemic fatigue”

Today’s poll: New York’s travel advisory list has ballooned to 40 states and territories as case counts surge across the country. Another three states (NJ, CT, PA) have met the criteria to be added, but Gov. Cuomo said they won’t be because it would be impossible to enforce the quarantine order. Have you traveled to another state while it’s been on the advisory list?

*|SURVEY: Yes, and I quarantined for 14 days when I returned|*
*|SURVEY: Yes, and I didn’t quarantine for 14 days when I returned|*
*|SURVEY: No, I haven’t traveled to a state on the list|*

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

What You Need to Know

What to Know: Reopening:

The MTA launched a new Live Subway Map today. (Curbed) It uses real-time data to redraw itself so you can see exactly where trains are throughout the system and get more accurate times for when they arrive in stations. It has nighttime and weekend service modes, as well.
- Get the map directly here.
Three neighboring states — New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania — now meet the criteria for New York’s travel advisory, which requires travelers to quarantine for 14 days. But, according to Gov. Cuomo, they haven’t been officially added to the advisory list because there’s “no practical way” to enforce a quarantine with them. (NY State of Politics) Arizona and Maryland were, however, added to the list today, bringing the total to 40 states and territories.
The state’s moratorium on commercial evictions has been extended to Jan. 1. (Daily Mail) This matches the moratorium on residential evictions already set to expire the same day.
This past Sunday, for the first time since mid-March, more than one million people were screened at airport checkpoints. However, that number is still down 60 percent from the same day a year ago. (New York Times)
The latest data shows that, of 16,348 students and staff randomly tested from NYC’s school system, only 28 returned positive — a positivity rate of 0.17 percent. (NYC)