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COVID-19 Digest: September 21

COVID-19 Digest: September 21

September 21, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Monday, September 21, 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: WHO urges countries to coordinate vaccine distribution under COVAX agreement; 90,000 NYC kids start in-person learning in first phase of school reopening; commercial eviction moratorium extended to Oct. 20; new foot traffic data shows most residential neighborhoods are back to pre-pandemic levels, while areas like Times Square remain at lower than 50 percent.Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 450,473 (+573)
New York City: 240,456 (+260)
Statewide Fatalities: 25,428 (+1)
Daily NYC Infection Rate: 1.0 percent (+0.1 percent)

General Updates:

As the pandemic drags into its seventh month, it remains a debate on when the US may be able to eliminate COVID-19 — or if it can at all. (Axios) After several spikes this summer, the US overall is moving in the right direction with its daily count of new coronavirus cases. But problem spots are sticking in the Midwest, where seven states set new highs for daily infections last week. (Axios)
But across the world, at least 73 other countries are seeing surges in new cases, and in regions where cold weather is pushing more people indoors, worries are mounting. (New York Times)
On Friday, the CDC updated its guidance to confirm widely-accepted evidence that coronavirus is spread by aerosols and airborne transmission. (Washington Post) But this morning, it quietly withdrew that language, citing a publication error and scrubbing the webpage of all references to airborne spread. (New York Times)
The World Health Organization today unveiled more of its plans for distributing a coronavirus vaccine, urging more countries to sign on to its “COVAX” agreement. (Washington Post) Under COVAX, countries pool money to provide to manufacturers in a way that discourages hoarding and focuses on vaccinating high-risk people in every participating country first. Vaccine allocation would first be distributed proportionally to each country’s share of population, at three percent to start, and then would increase based on each participating country’s risk level and case counts. Noticeably missing from the agreement: China and the US.
Reminder: any New York resident can request a mail-in ballot here now through Oct. 24 for the general primary election. And if you’re worried about it getting through the Postal Service system on time, you can now track it online. (Washington Post)
And finally: let us reintroduce our hometown: the Anarchist Jurisdiction of New York.

One new thing: We’re launching a podcast! Talk:NYC will bring you biweekly conversations hosted by our own Julie Samuels on the future of urban life. We’ll sit down with all kinds of city leaders committed to the future of New York, from business and civic leaders to journalists and activists. Stay tuned for the first episode, featuring Union Square Ventures founder (and Tech:NYC chair) Fred Wilson, slated to drop on Sept. 29.

One good read: A hometown tribute to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Nation Lost a Titan. Brooklyn Lost a Native Daughter (New York Times)

Survey

The latest results: How will your plans with people outside your household take shape in the colder months?

55.5%: I will still only see people outdoors
39.7%: I will see small groups indoors at restaurants and homes
4.8%: I will revert to virtual meetings only

Today’s poll: We’re now entering the seventh month since New York’s PAUSE order was put in place, and companies are continuing to assess their remote work plans. While workers are slowly returning to offices in greater numbers, most remain fully remote and are looking ahead to more permanent plans for where they spend the work day. When it’s safe to go back to your office, how will your remote work habits compare to pre-pandemic?

*|SURVEY: I’ll work from home more.|*
*|SURVEY: I’ll work from home about the same as I did before.|*
*|SURVEY: I’ll return to the office and work from home less.|*

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

What You Need to Know

What to Know: Reopening:

Up to 90,000 children enrolled in 3-K and pre-kindergarten public school programs, plus students in District 75, returned to classrooms in-person today. (New York Times) The return marks a major milestone in NYC’s reopening and will serve as the first test for other students and school staffers scheduled to phase in their returns in the coming weeks. (Gothamist)
Last week was the first week in which the MTA’s mask requirement rule was in effect, with noncompliant riders being threatened with $50 fines. But on Friday the agency reported that no tickets had been issued. (NY1) Instead, riders were instructed on how to wear their masks properly, and at least 900 riders without masks were given one.
Now that the fall semester has started, 51 percent of college students say it was the wrong choice to allow students back on campus. 61 percent say they’re learning less. (College Reaction) A new web site is issuing report cards to colleges and universities based on whether they have COVID-19 dashboards and how adequately they are sharing information about their virus response plans. (New York Post)
New York’s moratorium on commercial evictions has been extended to at least Oct. 20. (The Real Deal) The moratorium was initially set to expire on Sept. 30.
New foot traffic data shows that people are spending money closer to home, helping smaller neighborhood corridors to rebound faster than Times Square and the Financial District. (Wall Street Journal) Foot traffic in Morris Park in the Bronx, Jackson Heights in Queens, and New Dorp on Staten Island have all returned pre-pandemic levels, for example, and the area around Union Square is about 50 percent lower than before the pandemic.