Tech:NYC Digest: July 12

Tech:NYC Digest: July 12

July 12, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Tuesday, July 12, 2022 

Happy Tuesday — we trust you took a break to stare at the stunning new photos that NASA released today. In today’s digest, opening up second booster doses to all adults, a PSA to prepare you for a NYC nuclear attack, and checking in on those office COVID safety precautions.

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 8,730

    • New positive cases, NYC: 5,164

  • NYC Positivity Rate (Daily): 11.5 percent

    • NYC Positivity Rate (7-Day Average): 9.6 percent

In today’s latest: 

  • As NYC sees COVID cases and hospitalization rates and enters its sixth wave of the virus, few seem inclined to get themselves into high alert mode again. (New York Times)

    • Gov. Hochul indicated she doesn’t anticipate reinstating any business or other restrictions in the near future. (State of Politics)

  • Biden administration officials are developing a plan to allow all adults to receive a second coronavirus booster shot, pending federal agency sign-offs, as officials are concerned by new data that suggests immunity wanes within several months of the first booster shot. (Washington Post)

  • NYC is receiving another 15,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine from the federal government this week after previous shipments were quickly exhausted. (Gothamist) More information about eligibility and scheduling an appointment (when more slots open up) can be found here.

  • Gov. Hochul announced the first round of grant awards have been distributed to 13 abortion providers across 63 sites in New York. The fund follows a package of six bills signed into law that further protects both abortion providers and patients in New York. (NYC)

  • In case you didn't have enough to worry about, NYC also wants you to be prepared for a nuclear attack. 

In other reading:

  • Is BA.5 the ‘Reinfection Wave’? (The Atlantic)

  • The Sculptural Japanese Parfaits Stacking Dessert Menus Across NYC (Eater NY)

  • See gorgeous photos from last night's Manhattanhenge 2022 (TimeOut New York)

As you’ve surely noticed, COVID is certainly not over in NYC — or much of the rest of the country (someone should alert the 31 percent of Americans who believe otherwise).

  • When NYC’s vaccination requirement and other safety regulations for workplaces went into effect just before the beginning of the year, the Omicron variant had pushed positivity rates in the city to more than 20 percent

  • But when many tech companies started welcoming employees back into the office in March and April, rates had returned to a much safer 2-3 percent range.

Now NYC is hovering right in the middle, leaving employers a bit unsure of the degree of caution workplaces should implement as future spikes ebb and flow. (TIME) 

Fortunately — or unfortunately — employee preference is driving current responses.

  • “Different people have different levels of risk at this point,” said Brown School of Public Health epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo. ““People who are fully vaccinated are well-protected against severe illness. But if somebody’s caring for a medically fragile relative at home, they’re going to view the risk of the workplace much differently than the healthy 20-year-old who had COVID last year.”

This, naturally, impacts what policies — if any — companies are mandating now. Is it enough to trigger booster or mask mandates in the office during high-spread times?

  • Nuzzo doesn’t think so, recommending that improving ventilation systems and adjusting sick-leave policies are other important steps: “That’s the biggest thing — these out-of-sight mechanisms that operate in the background to keep us safer, that we don’t even have to think about.”

Whatever the policies, she said it’s important to have conversations with employees to understand what level of control the company is aiming for — but to also make room for flexibility for employees with various circumstances.

  • “Whatever it is, it needs to be clear, because some of the tension around [vaccines and] masks have been a lack of understanding and clarity about what the goals are,” she said.

In other reading:

  • What science says about having fun at work (Fast Company)

  • The Biggest Problem With Remote Work: Companies need a new kind of middle manager (The Atlantic)

  • What employees really think about your abortion policies (Protocol)

  • APDS, a NYC-based career readiness platform, raised $7 million in Series C funding. ETS Strategic Capital and New Markets Venture Partners co-led the round and were joined by Converge Venture Partners, ECMC Group’s Education Impact Fund, Juvo Ventures, the Partnership Fund for New York City, Rethink Education, and Strada Education Network. (FinSMEs)

  • Arise, a NYC-based virtual eating disorder care startup, raised $4 million in seed funding. BBG Ventures and Greycroft co-led the round and were joined by Wireframe Ventures and a group of angels. (FinSMEs)

  • Hidden Road, a NYC and British Virgin Islands-based crypto prime brokerage, raised $50 million in Series A funding. Castle Island Ventures led the round and was joined by Citadel Securities, FTX Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures, Greycroft, XBTO Humla Ventures, Wintermute, SLN Capital, Profluent Trading, and Coinbase Ventures. (Newswire)

  • Inspirna, a NYC-based small molecule therapeutics developer, raised $50 million in Series D funding. Sands Capital and Vivo Capital co-led the round and were joined by Dreavent 6, Novo Holdings, Sofinnova Capital, Sixty Degree Capital Fund, New York City Investment Fund, Lepu Holdings, and a group of angels. (FinSMEs)

  • Particle Health, a NYC-based patient data sharing startup, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Canvas Ventures led the round and was joined by Menlo Ventures, Story Ventures, and Pruven Capital. (Axios)

  • July 14: Virtual: How VCs Can Help Founders During a Downturn, with H/L Ventures managing partner Oliver Libby, 8VC executive in residence Lauren DeMeuse, and Build Talent cofounder Jose Guardado. Hosted by Getro. Register here.

  • July 18: In-person: New York’s New Jobs Engine: The Launch of Innovation Indicators, with Mayor Eric Adams, Maven founder and CEO Kate Ryder, Harlem Capital co-founder and managing partner Jarrid Tingle, Brooklyn Navy Yard president and CEO Lindsay Greene, and others. Hosted by Tech:NYC and Center for an Urban Future. Register here.

  • July 19: In-person: Bloomberg Crypto Summit, with FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Uniswap Labs COO Mary-Catherine Lader, Grayscale chief legal officer Craig Salm, and others. Hosted by Bloomberg. Register here.

  • July 20: In-person: The City’s Path to Becoming the World’s Crypto Capital, with New York State Dept. of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris, eToro US CEO Lule Demmissie, Genesis CEO Michael Moro, and others. Hosted by Crain’s New York Business. Register here.

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