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Tech:NYC Digest: November 10

Tech:NYC Digest: November 10

November 10, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

Tuesday, November 10, 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 may rollout for specific groups by year’s end, but won’t be widespread until spring; new data shows 22 percent of NYC residents have COVID-19 antibodies; city’s largest charter school group extends all-remote learning; “lockdown” wins 2020 Word of the Year.

Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 536,145 (+3,965)
New York City: 273,583 (+1,208)
Statewide Fatalities: 26,005 (+32)
Daily NYC Infection Rate: 1.9 percent (+0.1 percent)

General Updates:

New York’s statewide case count continues inching upward, with almost 4,000 new cases and a statewide positivity rate above three percent. (Bloomberg) NYC’s positivity rate is above two percent for the sixth day in a row, standing at 2.3 percent, but Mayor de Blasio has stopped short of calling the surge a "second wave." (Gothamist) And just across the river, New Jersey reported a staggering 3,800+ new cases, an 87 percent jump from a day earlier. The Newark metro region is responsible for the largest share of those with 675 cases. (Bloomberg)
A new study of mobile phone data from 98 million people has modeled how mobility impacts infection, indicating that the highest risk of spread was linked to restaurants, gyms, and hotels. (Bloomberg) Concurrently, the models said that full lockdowns aren’t necessary to hold the virus at bay, and reducing maximum occupancy numbers was a more effective way to curb the virus, while also offering some economic benefits.
A lot of news swirled around yesterday following Pfizer’s announcement that its vaccine showed a 90 percent efficacy rate. Here’s a helpful rundown of 11 things to know on what it means. (New York Times) TL;DR: Don’t get rid of your mask anytime soon: the vaccine could be authorized by the end of the year, but only for high-risk populations, and only if all safety and approval processes go according to plan.
A couple of (non-presidential) election updates to look ahead to:
- Results from last week’s general election have awarded higher office to five local officials, setting up a sprint of special elections to fill the seats those officials will leave. (New York Daily News) Two of those contests, for former NYC Council Members Andy King’s seat in the Bronx and Rory Lancman’s seat in Queens have already been scheduled for Dec. 22 and Feb. 2, respectively.
- New Yorkers are now also turning their attention to next year’s mayoral race. (POLITICO) Mayor de Blasio’s term ends on Dec. 31, 2021, and the race will be a first of sorts, not just because a crowded field of candidates will have to find nontraditional ways to campaign with the pandemic ongoing, but because voters will make their choices via a ranked-choice voting system for the first time.
And, in unsurprising-but-still-depressing news: Collins Dictionary selected its 2020 Word of the Year: “lockdown.” Runners up: “social distancing” and “TikToker.”

One good read: Carnegie Mellon professor and CyLab director Lorrie Cranor: Take my word for it: privacy and COVID alerts apps can coexist (The Hill)

Friday's results: Do you think New York should follow the rest of the tri-state area with the sort of encompassing restrictions we had in place in the spring and early summer?

Today's poll

: New York State last week began

enforcing new guidance

to its travel advisory and quarantine rules, which allows travelers to

“test out” of the 14-day quarantine rule

if they obtain a COVID-19 test within 72 hours of both departure and of arrival in the state. Travelers who receive negative results on both tests may exit quarantine. Do these new guidelines have an impact on your plans to travel?

*|SURVEY: Yes, I am more likely to travel for business reasons|*
*|SURVEY: Yes, I am more likely to travel for personal reasons|*
*|SURVEY: Yes, I am more likely to travel for both reasons|*
*|SURVEY: Nope, I'm not going anywhere|*

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

Reopening:

New data from Mount Sinai suggests that the presence of COVID-19 antibodies in NYC is around 22 percent, a level still far from the threshold that would indicate “herd immunity.” (Crain’s NY)
Here’s some reopening rollbacks in the tri-state area as cases continue to surge:
- New Jersey will end indoor dining at 10pm daily and bars will return to only serving patrons seated at tables. (NBC Philadelphia)
- Connecticut is going back to a “Phase 2.1” level, a modified version of its previous Phase 2 rules. Beginning Friday, private gatherings — both indoor and outdoor — are limited to ten people, and while there’s not a curfew, residents are encouraged to stay home between 10pm and 5am. (ABC New York)
- Pennsylvania is seeing a similar spike in cases, with COVID-19 cases up 79 percent in Bucks County. Philadelphia reported the largest single-day increase of new cases since the pandemic began, and as result, all city schools will remain fully virtual until further notice. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
And some school updates:
- Success Academy, the city’s largest charter network, will stay fully remote through March 2021. (Chalkbeat NY)
- Mayor de Blasio warned that the city’s positivity rate is inching closer to three percent, a level where he will have to consider reverting all schools to an all-remote learning structure. (Fox New York)
- And higher education institutions are setting new rules for students traveling to and from campus during the Thanksgiving holidays. (New York Times) Most universities have planned to end in-person classes before the holiday and require students to finish the term remotely to avoid the possibility of bringing the virus back to campus. In New York, the SUNY system’s 64 institutions will require all students to test negative for COVID-19 within 10 days of their departure and quarantine if they test positive, regardless of if they are on or off-campus. (NBC New York)
And fishing enthusiasts, tomorrow is your lucky day: New Yorkers can fish for free without a license tomorrow for Veteran’s Day. (Troy Record)