Tech:NYC Digest: February 4

Tech:NYC Digest: February 4

February 04, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Thursday, February 4, 2021As NYC works through another surge of the coronavirus, 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: Statewide positivity lowest since Thanksgiving; eight percent of New Yorkers have now received their first vaccine dose; Yankee Stadium opens tomorrow as a mass vaccination site exclusive for Bronxites;  Microsoft launches Viva, new platform to support businesses going remote long term.

Confirmed Cases:

  • New York State: 1,440,718 (+7,414)

  • New York City: 613,285 (+2,939)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 35,767 (+135)

  • NYC Positivity Rates:

    • NYS reports: 5.0 percent (-0.1 percent)

    • NYC reports: 8.5 percent (+0.4 percent)

General Updates:

  • New coronavirus infection rates continue to improve nationwide, falling another 16 percent over the last week. (Axios) In New York, Gov. Cuomo said today the statewide positivity rate has now dropped to its lowest points since Nov. 28 and hospitalizations have dropped by more than 500 over the last week. (PIX 11)

  • The five boroughs have about 320,000 doses being reserved as second shots, but Mayor de Blasio is asking the state to allow the city to reallocate some of those as shortages continue to loom. (New York Daily News) According to state officials, approval for that would have to come at the recommendation of the CDC.

  • Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, New Jersey is easing indoor dining restrictions, increasing capacity limits to 35 percent from 25 percent and allowing restaurants to remain open beyond the 10pm curfew. (ABC New York) But if you’re planning on going out or hosting a Super Bowl party of your own this weekend, Dr. Fauci says...don’t.

One read we love: 11 Mayoral Candidates Share Their Favorite New York Moments (New York Times)

 

The latest results: A new poll shows that Americans are increasingly worried about transmission of the variant strains of the coronavirus — some of which could be slightly more resistant to current vaccines — and could mean further delays on when we can return to “normal” daily life. Others are hopeful an accelerated vaccination plan will get us back to pre-pandemic life. When do you think we’ll get to a pre-COVID normal?

Today's poll

: There has been general consensus among employers that employees will not return to offices until summer 2021 at the earliest. With case rates starting to drop and vaccinations ramping up, some are hopeful the timeline can actually be met. Others, however, caution that variant strains and uncertainty about when the vaccine will be made available to the general public will delay reopening plans further. When do you now expect to be back in the office?

 

 

 

  • *|SURVEY: By summer 2021|*

  • *|SURVEY: By the end of 2021 or later|*

  • *|SURVEY: In 2022|*

  • *|SURVEY: I’m already back in the office|*

  • *|SURVEY: I plan to work from home permanently|*

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

  • Eight percent of New York’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. (New York Times) Compared to other states, we could be doing a bit better, but we could also be doing a lot worse. See how New York’s rollout stacks up against the rest of the country here.

  • Less successfully, NYC is sequencing and screening just one percent of the city’s new cases for variant strains, far below a rate of at least 10 percent experts say is needed to understand the threat variants are causing. (New York Times)

  • A new mass vaccination site will open at Yankee Stadium tomorrow, accepting Bronx residents only who fall in the 1A and 1B priority groups. (NY1) The site will be open 8am – 8pm seven days a week, and appointments can be made here. 

  • Gov. Cuomo announced another 35 pop-up sites, including nine in Brooklyn and the Bronx, will open this week in churches and community centers now that more vaccine supply is coming into the state. (Democrat & Chronicle)

  • The vaccines being produced by Johnson & Johnson, Oxford-AstraZeneca, and Novavax, as well as Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, have all reported positive outcomes in the last week, and when approved for use in the US, would drastically improve the country’s supply of doses. (New York Times) Novavax is hoping to begin delivery of 110 million doses to the US by June. (New York Times) At the same time, Moderna is working to adapt the manufacturing of its vaccine to be responsive to the mutating variants of the virus. (Axios)

Related reading:

  • People trust black COVID-19 masks more than others. But why? (Fast Company)

  • Some things to know before going to your vaccine appointment (Medium)

  • Coming Soon: The ‘Vaccine Passport’ (New York Times)

Working:

  • Microsoft today launched Viva, a new platform for improving remote work and helping businesses adjust to it long term. The platform integrates into Microsoft Teams and works like a sort of intranet by collecting essential parts of a business into a central location. (The Verge)

  • And if you thought you’d heard from everyone under the sun on the future of work, Wu-Tang’s manager would like a word.

Related reading:

  • Remote work was easy. Hybrid is hard. (Protocol)

  • From a Zoom know-it-all to an easily-distracted warrior, here’s what your star sign says about your WFH style (Glamour)

  • Nine WFH Daytime Looks That Don’t Involve Sweatpants (Wall Street Journal)

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:

  • February 8: Virtual: Section 230 – Cooling to Consensus: Maintaining the Competition Constitution, with Sen. Edward Markey, Pinterest’s Braden Cox, National Urban League’s Clint Odom, and Tech:NYC’s Julie Samuels. Hosted by INCOMPAS. (Details) 

  • February 9: Virtual: Meet the VCs Taking on Climate Change, with Union Square Ventures’ Albert Wegner. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. (Details)

  • February 11: Virtual: The Future of Work, with Pursuit CEO Jukay Hsu, Pymetrics CEO Frida Polli, and others. Hosted by Savills. (Details)

  • February 17: Virtual: Section 230 and Your Startup, with US Senate Committee on Finance Chief Adviser Jayme White, Engine Executive Director Kate Tummarello, and more. Hosted by Engine. (Details)

  • February 23: Virtual: Bitcoin Brunchwork, with Future\Perfect Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Jalak Jobanputra. Hosted by brunchwork. (Details)

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

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