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COVID-19 Digest: October 7

COVID-19 Digest: October 7

October 07, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Wednesday, October 7, 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.Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe to get it directly here.

The Latest in New York

The latest: White House approves new FDA vaccine requirements, pushing back Pres. Trump’s timeline; Gov. Cuomo’s isolated lockdown guidelines to require more school, business closures starting tomorrow; some restaurants imposing meal time limits to control occupancy and boost turnover; new teleworking survey from Slack shows more workers feel isolated from their teams.Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 468,268 (+1,360)
New York City: 248,000 (+548)
Statewide Fatalities: 25,545 (+8)
Daily NYC Infection Rate: 1.5 percent (+0.1 percent)

General Updates:

Among New York’s hotspot zip codes, the latest positivity rate is hovering just over five percent. (NYS) Here’s a list of the top 20 hotspot zip codes, 11 of which are in Brooklyn and three are in Queens.
Late yesterday afternoon, Gov. Cuomo announced new rules directing areas with high case counts to return to more restrictive lockdown measures like those put in place at the peak of the outbreak. (Gothamist) More on that below.
After blocking new rules for vaccine safety for two weeks, the White House approved new FDA requirements on drugmakers developing vaccines after all. (POLITICO) The stricter requirements all but ensure one won’t become available until after Election Day.
The NYC Board of Elections says that 99 percent of all absentee ballot applications have been processed. (New York Post) 685,000 mail-in ballots have been processed for the general election so far, and 99,000 more have been resent to Brooklyn voters who got inaccurate ones at the end of last month.
The first vice presidential debate airs tonight at 9pm ET. (New York Times) Like the presidential debate last week, it’ll be 90 minutes long and commercial-free, but let’s hope that’s where the similarities end.

ICYMI: our own Julie Samuels spoke with Cheddar about COVID Alert NY, New York’s new exposure notification app, and the impact it could have as the state responds to increasing hotspots. (Cheddar)

Survey

The latest results: It’s been about one week since indoor dining was reinstated across the city at 25 percent occupancy. Have you dined indoors at a NYC restaurant yet?

9.0%: Yes, I’ve dined indoors
63.9%: No, I’ve only dined outdoors
27.1%: No, I still haven’t dined at a restaurant at all

Today’s poll: As estimated 73 million people tuned in for the first debate with Pres. Trump and VP Biden last week, higher than almost any other debate in modern American history. The debate with VP Pence and Sen. Harris airs tonight. Historically, vice presidential debates historically draw much lower viewership, but uncertainty and speculation around Trump’s COVID-19 infection and the chaos at the White House could change that. Will you be tuning in to the debate tonight?

*|SURVEY: Yes|*
*|SURVEY: No|*

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

What You Need to Know

What to Know: Reopening:

Gov. Cuomo announced yesterday afternoon several new details about the lockdown measures that would return to zones across the state seeing sustained high infection rates. (New York Times)

The plan classifies those zones with either a yellow, orange, or red color code, based on level of severity. Here are the maps of the zones, including one in Brooklyn and two Queens:
Yellow zones:
- Schools: remain open with increased testing requirements;
- Businesses: remain open, indoor and outdoor dining still allowed;
- Religious institutions: limited to 50 percent capacity.
Orange zones:
- Schools: close starting Thursday and move to all-remote learning;
- Businesses: nonessential businesses identified as high risk (gyms, salons, etc.) will be closed, only outdoor dining allowed;
- Religious institutions: limited to a maximum of 25 people.
Red zones:
- Schools: already closed and moved to all-remote learning;
- Businesses: all nonessential businesses must close Thursday, restaurants can do takeout and delivery only;
- Religious institutions: limited to a maximum of 10 people.
Restrictions for places that fall in any of these zones must be in place no later than Friday and will be in effect for at least 14 days. It is up to local governments to implement them.
In other reopening news:
- New York State prohibits the public from attending live television shows and other production venues — unless the show “casts” its audience members and pays them as such. SNL did just that to have a live audience for its season premiere on Saturday. (New York Times)
- Mount Sinai’s new Center for Post-COVID Care has become an increasingly in-demand resource for “long-haulers,” those who are experiencing unexplained, lingering health issues months after contracting COVID-19. (Gothamist)
- Restaurants, facing ongoing capacity limits and revenue crunches, are introducing time limits for diners to spend on their meals. (Wall Street Journal)