Tech:NYC Newsletter
Posts
Tech:NYC Digest: December 11

Tech:NYC Digest: December 11

December 11, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Friday, December 11, 2020As NYC’s reopening and recovery efforts continue, the digest focuses on the resources that help you make decisions about your businesses and your lives as New Yorkers.Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

The latest: Pfizer vaccine expected to be formally approved tonight; Cuomo changes cluster zone criteria, closes indoor dining in NYC; 364,000 Moderna vaccines coming to New York before the end of the year; Facebook won’t require employees to get vaccinated before returning to the office.

Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 753,837 (+10,595)
New York City: 347,691 (+3,347)
Statewide Fatalities: 27,587 (+87)
NYC Positivity Rates:
- NYS reports: 4.0 percent (-0.1 percent)
- NYC reports: 5.4 percent (+0.1 percent)

General Updates:

While NYC has a four percent positivity rate, according to state data, several other regions upstate are approaching an eight percent positivity rate. As a result, Gov. Cuomo announced today several new updates for how the state will recalibrate the data it considers when requiring new restrictions moving forward. (The Journal News) More on that below.
Among them: indoor dining will shut back down in NYC beginning Monday. (New York Times) Outdoor dining, takeout, and delivery may continue in the city, and there are currently no changes to indoor dining rules in other regions.
The FDA advisory panel reviewing the Pfizer vaccine voted in favor of emergency authorization for people 16 and over. (Wall Street Journal) The FDA expects to officially grant the approval this evening, a day earlier than expected, barring any last-minute legal or bureaucratic requirements. (New York Times)
- New York’s own review panel, which Gov. Cuomo set up to double-check any federal decisions on a vaccine, evaluated those findings and unanimously voted to endorse the FDA’s recommendations.
The FDA has also authorized the first over-the-counter, non-prescription COVID-19 test for at-home use. (CNN) Anyone 18 and older can buy the kit, which collects nasal swabs that the user sends to a lab for testing. Results are delivered over the phone or online.
In addition to the 170,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine expected in New York imminently, another 346,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to be delivered the week of Dec. 21. (New York Post)

One good read: These Google and Apple apps work and aren’t stealing your data. More people should use them. (New York Times) And ICYMI: we helped build one of those apps! Get Covid Alert NY here.

Yesterday's results: Now nine months into the pandemic, many aspects of our normal habits and personal lifestyles have been upended. We began cooking more, but then we got tired of it. Some of us have been working out less, while some of us began working out more. When the vaccine is widely available and we get to a post-pandemic stage, how do you think your lifestyle habits will be impacted?

Today's poll

: Many companies are taking imminent vaccine distribution as an encouraging sign employees will be able to return to the office in the first half of next year. But Facebook became one of the first companies

to indicate the vaccine won’t be required

or a factor in when an employee returns. Do you think taking the vaccine should be a requirement in order for employees at your company to return to the office?

*|SURVEY: Yes, the vaccine should be required to return to the office|*
*|SURVEY: No, the vaccine shouldn’t be required to return to the office|*
*|SURVEY: No, the vaccine shouldn’t be required, but companies should encourage employees to get the vaccine|*

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

Reopening:

Gov. Cuomo will begin considering a reworked set of data when deciding to declare an area a hotspot zone. (Democrat & Chronicle)
- In addition to monitoring positivity rates and hospitalization rates, the Rt (rate of transmission) number and the risk level to economic activity will now be factored in.
- The Rt number is a value that measures how quickly the virus is growing. It defines the average number of people who become infected by one infectious person, given a population’s density. The current Rt value in New York is 1.3 (eg: current levels shows 1 person is infecting 1.3 people). The goal is to keep the Rt number below 1.0, which would indicate spread has stopped.
Here’s what that means for the adjusted hotspot zone designations:
- An area will get a “red zone” designation if it is 21 days from a projected 90 percent hospital capacity. Areas in this zone will effectively return to a full lockdown, with only essential businesses permitted to remain open.
- An “orange zone” will be designated for areas with a four percent positivity rate over the previous ten days plus an 85 percent hospital capacity level.
- A “yellow zone” will be designated for areas with a three percent positivity rate over the previous ten days plus a high cluster of new hospital admissions
- New zones will be announced on Monday. For now, find the current zones and restrictions associated with each here.
New analysis of more than 46,000 data points tracing the source of COVID-19 exposure between September and November shows that 74 percent of new cases are coming from private household gatherings. (NBC New York)
- The next highest exposure source was healthcare delivery at just below eight percent, followed by colleges and universities and restaurants.
- Gyms were found to be responsible for just 0.06 percent of exposure and salons and barbershops come in 0.14 percent.
In school news: NYC plans to administer new assessments to public school students to gauge how far behind they have become due to school closures, remote learning loss, and other factors. (Wall Street Journal)
With just 10 percent of office workers reporting to offices and 14 percent of office space in midtown Manhattan vacant — the highest rate since 2009 — real estate industry leaders are proposing that 1 million square feet of office space be turned into housing. (New York Times)