Tech:NYC Digest: December 2

Tech:NYC Digest: December 2

December 02, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Wednesday, December 2, 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: Cuomo says NY to have 170,000 vaccine doses by mid-December; CDC reduces quarantine guidance from 14 days to 10; NYC adjusts school closing protocols, in-person learning can continue despite “red” or “orange” distinctions; new Atlassian research finds Americans work an extra 32 minutes daily during the pandemic.

Confirmed Cases

  • New York State: 664,238 (+8,973) 

  • New York City: 371,746 (+3,198) 

  • Statewide Fatalities: 26,889 (+69)

  • NYC Positivity Rates:

    • NYS reports: 3.3 percent (+0.2 percent)

    • NYC reports: 4.8 percent (+0.7 percent)

General Updates:

  • The independent committee advising the CDC on vaccine distribution released its recommendations, which assert that nursing home staff and residents be the first people in the US to receive the vaccine, along with frontline healthcare workers. (New York Times)

  • Gov. Cuomo said the first round of distribution in New York would follow that federal guidance, and he anticipates 170,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be delivered to the state by Dec. 15. (CBS News) After nursing home staff and residents, healthcare workers in emergency room and ICU settings will be next to receive the vaccine.

    • A new survey shows that a vast majority of doctors in New York — 80 percent — will take the vaccine as soon as it becomes available. (NY State of Politics)

  • Across the pond, Britain has approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the first Western country to do so. (New York Times) The country will begin vaccinations next week, with priority going to nursing home staff and residents.

  • A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a $908 billion package that they hope will break the months of gridlock in passing another round of stimulus relief. (Washington Post) That proposal would extend emergency relief funding through March, including $160 billion in aid to state and local governments, but there is still far from a unified approach. Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are still floating separate proposals with very different price tags. (Bloomberg)

  • In the first real audit of the program, the Small Business Administration released PPP loan data showing that many businesses may have received more than their fair share. (New York Times) One percent of borrowers received more than a quarter of money available, about $143 billion.

One good read: Reinventing the Workforce for the Post-COVID Economy (New York Times)

Yesterday's results: With emergency use requests on the FDA’s desk, the CDC ironing out distribution strategy, and drugmakers ramping up production to tens of millions of doses, the vaccine horizon is fast approaching. When do you plan to get the vaccine?

Today's poll

: The latest update from the CDC shortens its guidance for how long someone should quarantine after coming in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, down to 10 days — or just seven days if they’ve received a negative test result — from 14 days. Does this new guidance change any of your holiday travel plans? 

  • *|SURVEY: I am more likely to travel during the holiday season|*

  • *|SURVEY: I am still canceling travel plans during the holiday season|*

  • *|SURVEY: I am not sure what my holiday plans will be this holiday season|*

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

Reopening:

  • Updated CDC guidance shortens the recommended quarantine time for COVID-19 exposure from 14 days to 10 days — and just seven days if a negative test result is received. (AP)

  • NYC has amended its guidance so that public schools will no longer be required to close if they fall in an “orange” or “red” hotspot zone. (New York Daily News) Previously, schools in those zones had to close for at least four days, but a revised state plan, coupled with a city plan to provide more aggressive weekly testing, means they will be permitted to continue in-person instruction uninterrupted.

  • The bipartisan proposal for a second round of stimulus funding falls short for transit agencies. (amNY) It allocates just $15 billion nationwide, and the MTA has said it needs $12 billion to be able to sustain operations through 2021.

  • The city’s Independent Budget Office released its annual report outlining recommendations to help ease the looming budget shortfall. (New York Daily News) Among them, increasing ferry and express bus fares and introducing a “pay-as-you-throw” program that could save the Sanitation Dept. hundreds of millions each year.

  • UPS is imposing shipping restrictions on Gap, Nike, and other larger retailers as online shopping skyrockets and is pressuring its delivery capacity during the pandemic. (Wall Street Journal)

Related reading:

  • Waiting for you: Please come home, affluent New Yorkers (New York Daily News)

  • This Japanese Shop Is 1,020 Years Old. It Knows a Bit About Surviving Crises. (New York Times)

Working:

  • New research from Atlassian shows that Americans have been working an average of 32 minutes more per day since the beginning of the pandemic. (Atlassian) Even those without caregiving responsibilities reported struggling to delineate between work time and personal time, with more than half of respondents saying it’s harder now to maintain work-life boundaries than before the pandemic.

  • Airline experts estimate that as much as 36 percent of business travel will disappear permanently and report it could force airlines to adjust the frequency of flights they consider to business routes, including New York, Chicago, London, and Tokyo. (Wall Street Journal)

Related reading:

  • How to manage remote workers when their productivity dips (Quartz)

  • Should I Give My Boss a Holiday Gift? (The Cut)

Request: please let us know as your return-to-office policies are developed and what considerations your companies are taking for developing them. Sharing this information is helpful to companies and employees across the NYC ecosystem and can be kept anonymous.

Recruit: A tech talent and job opportunities board from Tech:NYC and AlleyCorp compiles NYC tech workers looking for new roles and NYC-based tech companies hiring open positions. To contribute to the board, click here.

Events:

  • December 3: Virtual: The Future of Broadband Connectivity: COVID-19 and Beyond, with FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, Per Scholas CEO Plinio Ayala, and DreamBox CEO Jessie Woolley-Wilson. Hosted by Axios. (Details)

  • December 3: Virtual: The Future of Work, with Lyft cofounder and president John Zimmer and Sen. Mark Warner. Hosted by Washington Post. (Details)

  • December 8: Virtual: Ask Me Anything Live, with Revolution CEO and AOL cofounder Steve Case. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. (Details)

  • December 8: Virtual: Functions:NYC: What’s Next for Climate and Sustainability, with NYC Chief Climate Policy Officer Daniel Zarrilli and BlocPower CEO Donnel Baird. Hosted by Tech:NYC. (Details)

Check these sources for verified information from government agencies and public health authorities:

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