Tech:NYC Digest: March 21

Tech:NYC Digest: March 21

March 21, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Monday, March 21, 2022 

Happy first day of spring, we made it! (And a Happy Nowruz to those who celebrate!) In today’s digest, Dr. Fauci's outlook on the Omicron subvariant, the rise of “long social distancing,” and New York state drops some COVID-19 workplace safety mandates. 

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 1,099

    • New positive cases, NYC: 518

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 1.4 percent (no change)

  • NYC Hospitalizations: 292 (+1)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 89.3 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 75.9 percent

In today’s latest:

  • Dr. Fauci predicts there will be an uptick in coronavirus infections in the US similar to the increases being seen across Europe, largely due to the spread of the Omicron subvariant. (New York Times) However, he doesn’t predict the uptick will rise to the level of a new surge in many parts of the country.

    • In NYC, the BA.2 subvariant accounts for about 30 percent of current cases. (amNY)

    • Dr. Fauci will discuss the risks around the subvariant tomorrow afternoon. Details here.

    • If you want to learn more, we found this thread from Myoung Cha, chief strategy officer of virtual healthcare startup Carbon Health, helpful.

  • Dr. Ashwin Vasan, NYC’s new health commissioner, said in his first briefing on Friday that mask mandates for children under the age of 5 would remain in effect “indefinitely.” (New York Times) Over 100 parents and their children rallied in City Hall Park on Sunday against the decision. (New York Post)

  • New research indicates that many people don’t intend to end some pandemic safety behaviors, like avoiding elevators and indoor dining, in a trend the researchers are calling “long social distancing.” (New York Times) 

  • The first day of confirmation hearings to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court began today. You can follow along and receive updates over the next four days here.

In other reading:

  • Can Eric Adams Cheerlead New Yorkers Past the Pandemic? (New York Times)

  • How a photographer & journalist captured the haunting start of the pandemic in NYC (Gothamist)

  • This interactive map ranks over 200 of NYC's best bagels (Time Out New York)

  • Just In Time for Spring, Mister Softee’s Jingle is the Sweetest Song I Know (Grub Street)

In a sign things are inching closer back to normal, the state is rolling back one of its primary pandemic protocols for workplaces: Employers are no longer required to implement the workplace health and safety plans they were required to develop under the NY HERO Act.

  • The implementation rule, which requires certain masking, cleaning, and disinfection rules in the office, is withdrawn (for now) because the Dept. of Health has ended its “designation of COVID-19 as an airborne infectious disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health.”

  • That designation has been in place since September 2021, and if reinstated, the implementation rule will be triggered back into effect.

That doesn’t mean companies can throw their protocols in the trash bin:

  • Under the NY HERO Act, employers are still required to maintain a plan, provide it to new hires, and include it in any employee handbook.

  • It also doesn’t change the city’s vaccination mandate. NYC’s new Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan also said on Friday that the vaccination mandate for all businesses will remain in place indefinitely. (ABC New York)

The changes come as more tech companies move forward with their reopening plans this spring:

  • Google will begin enforcing its hybrid work model, which requires at least three days in the office, in NYC and other US cities on April 4. (Wall Street Journal)

  • Tech:NYC has heard from several other companies this month who have begun enforcing one or two-day minimums for employees to work from the office each week.

Our takeaway: The update is a vote of confidence that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. But with the spread of the Omicron subvariant just beginning, employers should keep their plans ready should they need to be reinstated quickly.

In other reading:

  • As Offices Open and Mask Mandates Drop, Some Anxieties Set In (New York Times)

  • Tableau CEO Mark Nelson: Giving these skills to workers can help counter the Great Resignation (Fast Company)

  • Using Technology to Make Work More Human (Harvard Business Review)

  • Applied XL, a NYC-based real-time data tracking platform for enterprises, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Hearst Ventures led the round and was joined by Boston Globe Media Partners and STAT. (VentureBeat)

  • Glia, a NYC-based digital customer service startup, raised $45 million in Series D funding at a valuation above $1 billion. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Wildcat Capital Management and RingCentral. (TechCrunch)

  • Nectar, a NYC-based allergy care platform, raised $8 million in seed funding. Juxtapose and Obvious Ventures co-led the round. (Newswire)

  • Optimism, a NYC-based Ethereum scaling startup, raised $150 million in Series B funding at a $1.65 billion valuation. Paradigm and Andreessen Horowitz co-led the round. (TechCrunch)

  • Ramp, a New York-based corporate card and spend management platform, raised $200 million in Series D funding, as well as $550 million in new debt financing. Founders Fund led the round and was joined by Stripe, D1 Capital Partners, Iconiq Capital, Thrive Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Coatue Management, Iconiq, Altimeter, Stripe, Lux Capital, Vista Public Strategies, Spark Capital and Definition Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • Recora, a NYC-based healthcare platform focused on cardiac rehabilitation, raised $20 million in Series A funding. SignalFire led the round and was joined by Valor Equity Partners and Pear VC. (Newswire)

  • March 22 – 23: Virtual: Bloomberg Equality Summit, with Meta vice president for civil rights Roy L. Austin, Jr., Microsoft corporate vice president Sarah Bond, NYSE chair Commissioner Sharon Bowen, and others. Hosted by Bloomberg. Register here. 

  • March 23: Virtual: Are you eligible for additional Employee Retention Tax Credits?, with Justworks director of payroll tax Matthew Oberting and Aprio partner-in-charge Justin Elanjian. Hosted by Justworks. Register here.

  • March 31: Virtual: The Future of NYC: Charting an Equitable Recovery for All, with Federal Reserve Bank of New York president and CEO John C. Williams, BlocPower founder and CEO Donnel Baird, Regional Plan Association president and CEO Tom Wright, and more. Hosted by the New York Fed. Register here.

  • April 6: Virtual: Data Science Day 2022, with White House Director of Science and Technology Policy Alondra Nelson and IBM Research AI vice president Sriram Raghavan. Hosted by the Data Science Institute at Columbia University. Register here.

  • April 7: In-person: New York Product Conference, with Squarespace VP of product Natalie Gibralter, 1stdibs chief product officer Xiaodi Zhang, Noom VP of product Raj Krishnan, and others. Hosted by Product Collective. Use code TechNYC to save 20 percent off any pass by registering here.

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