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Tech:NYC Digest: November 23

Tech:NYC Digest: November 23

November 23, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Monday, November 23, 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: Upper Manhattan and Staten Island get upgraded hotspot zone distinctions; more students expected to stay remote even if NYC schools reopen; emergency field hospital to reopen on Staten Island to handle overflow; New York small business loan program doled out $20 million and counting to those left short by federal efforts.

Confirmed Cases:

New York State: 602,120 (+5,906)
New York City: 296,547 (+1,782)
Statewide Fatalities: 26,390 (+33)
NYC Positivity Rates:
- NYS reports: 2.6 percent (+0.1 percent)
- NYC reports: 3.1 percent (no change)

Editor’s note: we’ve written a few times in this digest about the differing — and often confusing — data points used by the city and the state to track positivity rates, but this explainer in the New York Times serves as a good overview for why we now include both numbers above.

General Updates:

Heading into the holiday, New York’s statewide positivity rate inched upward to 2.93 percent, and a handful of new cluster zones were announced today in various parts of the state, including in upper Manhattan and Staten Island. (Gothamist) More on that below.
- But one factoid worth mentioning: Gov. Cuomo said that if all US states were subject to New York’s risk metrics, 46 states would be designated as “orange zones.” (NYS)
AstraZeneca became the third major drugmaker to announce promising results in its late-stage clinical trials to develop a coronavirus vaccine, with a 70 percent average effectiveness, and up to 90 percent in one of its dosing regimens. (New York Times) The company’s treatment would cost only $3 to $4, a fraction compared to competitor’s prices. AstraZeneca pledged to make it available at-cost around the world until at least July 2021, and in poorer countries in perpetuity.
- The head of Operation Warp Speed said this weekend said that Americans will "hopefully" begin receiving the vaccine in less than three weeks. (Bloomberg)
While the continuing news of vaccine candidates is encouraging, doctors and nurses are also calling for more information, particularly about the government’s review process and the long term safety and effectiveness data projections. (Washington Post)
Despite recommendations to forego holiday travel, it is nonetheless happening across the country — more than one million people passed through US airports on Friday, the second-highest number of daily travelers since the pandemic began. (Washington Post)
The New York Times asked 635 epidemiologists what they were doing for Thanksgiving. Those that are gathering with family and friends are rethinking their rituals, but 79 percent of them said they’ll stay home and celebrate with only those already in their household. (New York Times)

One request: Our friends at New Stand want to hear about your office's reopening plans (or lack thereof) and how it might impact any perks and benefits employees are offered. Take their 3 minute survey here!

Yesterday's results: New York currently has the fourth-lowest positivity rate in the country, but officials are concerned that could soon change. Do you think New York will be able to keep its rates low relative to the rest of the country in the coming weeks?

Today's poll

: The discrepancy between how the city and state

report COVID infection data

has often left New Yorkers with mixed messages — while Gov. Cuomo uses state data to impose restrictions on areas that fall in his micro-cluster zones, Mayor de Blasio uses city data to determine rollback orders like last week’s public school closure. Both sets of guidance can have meaningful consequences on New Yorkers’ work and home lives. Which data do you rely on?

*|SURVEY: I primarily follow the positivity rate and related data reported by the city|*
*|SURVEY: I primarily follow the positivity rate and related data reported by the state|*
*|SURVEY: I follow the data from both sources|*
*|SURVEY: I didn’t know there was a difference in city and state data|*

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

Reopening:

Yesterday, Gov. Cuomo announced several new cluster zones where additional restrictions must be implemented.
- Upper Manhattan will be designated as a “yellow zone,” and part of Staten Island’s “yellow zone” is upgraded to an “orange zone.” (New York Post)
- Restrictions in the new zones take effect Wednesday for businesses and Thursday for schools.
Gov. Cuomo clarified details on how more citywide restrictions might go into effect in NYC. (Daily Mail) First, the seven-day rolling average according to the state’s data must hit three percent, and second, it must remain at three percent or higher for ten consecutive days before an “orange zone” designation is implemented.
- For perspective: the state’s data doesn’t yet show the three percent threshold for NYC, so new citywide restrictions are still far from imminent.
Mayor de Blasio has not yet announced a plan for when in-person instruction can restart, but even when it does, 700,000 students don’t plan to return to classrooms, falling short of the mayor’s predictions. (New York Times) By way of reminder: schools in NYC are likely not causing COVID-19 spread, and positivity rates inside school buildings are consistently lower than those in the communities the schools are in. (Washington Post)
In Staten Island, hospital administrators have reported that local hospital capacity is quickly filling up, and, at their request, Gov. Cuomo is reopening an emergency facility for COVID patients on South Beach. (CNBC)
The New York State Bar Association released a resolution that recommends the state consider the possibility of enacting a vaccine mandate. (NY State of Politics)
Unlike many other airlines, Delta will continue blocking middle seats through March 2021 as the virus surges across the US. (Bloomberg) And in another effort to get travelers back in the skies, an airline group is developing a “Travel Pass” app that will display test results or vaccination documentation, alongside national entry rules and other destination-specific safety requirements. (Bloomberg)
A law passed this summer legalizing electric scooters went into effect today, allowing New Yorkers to use their own electric scooters and throttle-controlled electric bicycles. (New York Post)