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COVID-19 Digest: September 15

COVID-19 Digest: September 15

September 15, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Tuesday, September 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.Below and in our resource guide, you’ll find the latest information on government resources for businesses, city and state reopening measures, and return-to-office preparedness plans. If this can be useful to your colleagues and network, encourage them to sign up here.

The Latest in New York

The latest: Mayor de Blasio is encouraging more workers to return to offices; 2,000 teachers being added to prevent possible staff shortage in NYC schools; JPMorgan found productivity fell while WFH, but reports new COVID cases as more staff are transitioned back to offices; new survey finds DC workers not eager to return to in-person work before summer 2021. Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 445,714 (+766)
New York City: 238,373 (+306)
Statewide Fatalities: 25,045 (+11)
Daily NYC Infection Rate: 1.1 percent (+0.1 percent)

General Updates:

The US is nearing 200,000 coronavirus-related deaths, but the rate at which people are dying has slowed in the past two weeks. (NBC News) Around 20 percent of the cases currently in intensive care units are people between the ages of 18 and 34 whose chances of survival are better than the elderly or those already ill.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today that the House would not leave for the November elections without acting on another coronavirus stimulus package. (New York Times) A bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus has released a proposed framework for the new package, which includes $500 billion in aid for local and state governments. (NY State of Politics)
Mayor de Blasio is now encouraging employers to begin bringing its workers back to offices, following pressure from city business leaders. (POLITICO) Offices have been allowed to reopen at 50 percent capacity since June, but only about a quarter of office workers are expected to return by the beginning of 2021.
Six states have been removed from New York’s travel advisory requiring a 14-day quarantine — California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, and Ohio. The Northern Mariana Islands were also removed. See the most current list here.
Despite maintaining a daily infection rate below one percent for more than a month, Gov. Cuomo said one of the state's primary concerns now is college students who don’t follow mask and social distancing guidelines. (NY State of Politics) Colleges and universities in the state have been the source of more than 1,800 cases at 104 schools so far. (New York Times) Rubin Hall, a freshman dorm at NYU, has been placed under mandatory quarantine after four of its residents tested positive. (Gothamist)
And finally: the world’s oldest 26-year-old and “certified young person” Paul Rudd has a message for millennials: wear your mask.

One good read: Whoopi Goldberg, Misty Copeland, and other NYC locals pay tribute to everything that makes New York...New York. (Vogue)

Survey

The latest results: The global race to develop a coronavirus vaccine is still on, with many companies conducting late-stage clinical trials in record time. When do you think a vaccine will be widely available?

3.6%: Before the end of 2020
47.2%: The first half of 2021
45.1%: The second half of 2021
4.1%: In 2022 or later
0.0%: Never

Today’s poll: The wildfires raging on the West Coast have now charred more than five million acres across multiple states, and smoke from the fires has even reached NYC. The ongoing damage is forcing many employers and families alike to temporarily implement additional safety measures on top of those already in place for the pandemic. Have the wildfires impacted your work or home lives?

*|SURVEY: Yes, they directly impact me personally|*
*|SURVEY: Yes, they directly impact me professionally|*
*|SURVEY: Yes, they directly impact me both personally and professionally|*
*|SURVEY: No, they don’t directly impact me|*

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

What You Need to Know

What to Know: Reopening:

NYC will bring in about 2,000 additional teachers this fall to meet the increased staffing demands of the city’s blended learning system and to compensate for those who won’t return to classrooms this fall. (NY1) The infusion comes as the number of NYC public school students choosing to instead opt for all-remote learning climbs to 42 percent, or more than 422,000 students. (New York Post)
A group of elected officials are calling on Mayor de Blasio to allow outdoor dining indefinitely. (New York Daily News) The mayor has voiced his support for permanent outdoor dining, but by “permanent,” he means as a seasonal tradition each year during warmer months, not as a year-round fixture. (Eater NY) The program currently has more than 10,000 participating restaurants and is scheduled to expire on Oct. 31.
Gov. Cuomo said today the state isn’t ready to reopen concert venues like Madison Square Garden and comedy clubs, citing them as sites for mass gatherings, which pose the highest risk for spreading the virus. (NY1)