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COVID-19 Digest: September 8

COVID-19 Digest: September 8

September 08, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

COVID-19 Digest

Tuesday, September 8, 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: NY marks one month of below one percent infection rates; face care treatments are now permitted at salons and barbershops; NYC malls will reopen tomorrow with reduced capacity; JPMorgan ups office presence in NYC, London to 50 percent capacity.Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 440,578 (+557)
New York City: 236,434 (+222)
Statewide Fatalities: 25,367 (+5)
Daily NYC Infection Rate: 0.9 percent (+0.1 percent)

General Updates:

Over the weekend, New York surpassed a full month of a positivity rate below one percent. (Crain’s NY) But at the same time, the US death toll is approaching 200,000, and forecasts show coronavirus-related deaths will surpass 400,000 by the end of the year. (Washington Post)
More than 100 colleges across the country have reported more than 100 cases each. (New York Times) Seven campuses in New York have experienced outbreaks, and Gov. Cuomo is requiring colleges that have more than 100 cases report it to the Dept. of Health, potentially forcing them to transition them to remote-only learning. (Bloomberg) Nationally, colleges and universities have already reported at least 51,000 confirmed cases. (New York Times)
The latest on New York’s travel advisory: Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia were added back to the list, requiring visitors from those states to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands were removed. (NYS)
Nearly 800 companies are participating in a CEO-led bipartisan group called Time to Vote, which encourages companies to give its employees paid time off to vote. (Reuters)
One voting update: if you’re concerned about mailing your ballot back in time, the Board of Elections will now have ballot drop-off locations at all polling sites. (1010 WINS) If you requested an absentee ballot, you can drop it off at your county BOE office now or at any site in your county during the early voting period beginning Oct. 24. Find more details here.
And some news you can use: doctors explain how to tell the difference between coronavirus and fall allergies. (CBS New York)

One way to stay connected: As we enter the post-Labor Day phase of the year, routines are changing and activity is increasing — schools are reopening, the election is approaching, and businesses are ramping up new office and work plans. If your company is implementing new procedures this season — office returns, remote work extensions, updates to employee benefits, company culture strategies — we’d love to hear about them. Send us a note here.One good read: Get Ready for the Great Urban Comeback (The Atlantic)

Survey

The latest results: Do you plan to travel over the Labor Day weekend and will you work while away?

10.3%: Yes, I am traveling, but plan to work over the holiday weekend
21.9%: Yes, I am traveling, and I don’t plan to work over the holiday weekend
12.3%: No, I am not traveling, and I plan to work over the holiday weekend
52.1%: No, I am not traveling, and I don’t plan to work over the holiday weekend
3.4%: What is a holiday weekend?

Today’s poll: As we officially enter the fall season, we are reaching the point that many early on thought would coincide with a full return to the workplace. While that’s still not the case for most employers, there are a variety of strategies being used to implement hybrid working environments. If you could advise all American workplaces, what would your office use plan be this fall?

*|SURVEY: Open offices and require all employees to return|*
*|SURVEY: Open offices and require employees to return in rotating shifts|*
*|SURVEY: Open offices for employees who need it, but make returning optional|*
*|SURVEY: Keep offices closed with employees working remotely|*

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

What You Need to Know

What to Know: Reopening:

Facials, face massages, beard trims, and other personal care services that require contact with the face are now permitted in New York. (Syracuse Post-Standard) Providers must wear a face shield in addition to a mask and must test negative for COVID-19 before administering any services.
Malls and casinos in NYC will be permitted to reopen, at 50 percent and 25 percent capacity respectively, beginning Sept. 9. (New York Daily News) Mask and social distancing are required, and any indoor food and beverage services inside malls and casinos must remain closed.
Indoor dining in NYC is still off the table, despite growing calls for it to be permitted like the rest of the state. (CBS New York) Gov. Cuomo said the city would have to build a more robust safety compliance and enforcement mechanism before it could move forward.
New York will publicly disclose a COVID Report Card for every school in the state. (CNBC) Schools will be required to report data on their safety implementation plans daily, including testing numbers, positivity rates, test result turnaround times, and number of students and staff onsite. When the daily reporting begins, it will be available here.
The SUNY system also released its own dashboard tracking case counts across its 64 institutions, following an outbreak that forced SUNY Oneonta to go fully remote for the fall. (Gothamist)