Daily Briefing – 238
COVID Update – NYC Dining Can Open Friday, 2 Days Sooner Than Planned
Governor Cuomo issued a press release yesterday morning providing an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Sunday February 7th. The Governor also announced that New York City indoor dining can reopen at 25 percent capacity on February 12, Lunar New Year Day. The reopening was previously scheduled for Valentine’s Day, but restaurants requested an earlier reopening date to allow staff to prepare and the request has been granted. The reopening is subject to strict state guidance, which can be found here.
Hospitalization tracking data for the Mid-Hudson region and the rest of the State are below.
Hospitalizations
- Patients Currently in Hospital statewide: 7,716
- Hospitalizations Mid-Hudson Region: 870
ICU Beds In Use (All Uses)
- Occupied ICU Beds Statewide: 4,363
- Occupied ICU Beds Mid-Hudson Region: 427
Other Data
- Statewide Transmission Rate (R0): .91
- Statewide Positivity Rate: 4.28%
- Mid-Hudson Positivity Rate: 5.30
Useful Websites:
- Read the press release
- Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)
- See the school districts dashboard
- See the SUNY Dashboard
- State Vaccine Information Site
- Johns Hopkins Vaccine Tracker
- State transmission rates (R0)
NYS Vaccine Update
The state Vaccine dashboard was not updated as of 7:30 p.m. yesterday – information below is from Sunday. The state has administered over 2,136,209 vaccine doses through the state’s vaccination program. New York’s health care distribution sites have received 1,874,975 first doses and already administered 87 percent 1,627,191 first dose vaccinations and 76 percent of first and second doses. Delivery of the week 9 allocation from the federal government begins mid-week. In the Mid-Hudson Region a cumulative total of 264,710 FIRST and SECOND doses have been distributed, 193,678 have been administered (73%).
The Governor announced Monday that New Yorkers with comorbidities and underlying conditions can make appointments at state-run mass vaccination sites beginning February 14, with the first appointments scheduled for February 15. Excess vaccine supply meant for hospital workers can be used to open eligibility for New Yorkers with comorbidities and underlying conditions. Local health departments will determine how, where and when to schedule appointments in their jurisdictions, and those appointments will begin as early as February 15.
- Read the press release
- See the list of eligible underlying medical conditions
- Visit the vaccine tracker site
- Visit the am I eligible site
US Vaccination Progress
As vaccinations speed up across the U.S., key Covid-19 metrics are declining from a record-setting fall surge. Newly reported cases fell below 100,000 for the first time this year. Hospitalizations dropped for the 26th day in a row, and the number of Covid-19 patients requiring intensive-care treatment fell to its lowest level since Nov. 19. The country is now averaging about 1.4 million vaccinations a day, and nearly 10% of the U.S. population has been given at least one dose, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Demand is so high in some states it is overwhelming local providers and frustrating people seeking shots.
Yellen: Biden’s Plan Could Restore Full Employment By 2022
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday the country was still in a “deep hole” with millions of lost jobs but that President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan could generate enough growth to restore full employment by next year.
Republican senators argued that Biden’s proposal was too expensive and they cited criticism from Larry Summers, a treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, that passage of the measure could run the risk of triggering runaway inflation. Summers also contended that Biden’s plan would make less money available for other initiatives such as improving the nation’s infrastructure.
Read more about Secretary Yellen’s Testimony and the Relief Package at the AP
The U.S. Has an Emerging Industrial Policy
The Biden plan – characterized by some as “misguided” and “awful economics” – has sparked a debate about the wisdom of industrial policy. Largely ignored is the fact that the United States has an emerging industrial policy, created in piece-meal fashion over the last few years.
For sure, this isn’t the kind of industrial policy practiced during the Cold War by Soviet-block nations behind the Iron Curtain. Yet it does involve the government picking winners and losers, but in a targeted manner as might be expected of a nation that values capitalism. This American Industrial Policy is characterized by its focus on capabilities critical to national security, supported by resilient supply chains, and achieved through political consensus. Each attribute deserves elaboration.
Manufacturing Economy Report – Jobs, Productivity, Mfg Construction and More
The ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index® slowed in January but continued to expand solidly, declining from 60.5 in December to 58.7 in January. New orders and production growth remained robust, but respondents cited lingering supply chain disruptions, and raw material costs rose at the fastest pace since April 2011.
Factory orders rose 1.1% in December, increasing for the eighth straight month but declining 0.8% year-over-year. At the same time, durable goods have rebounded strongly since the pandemic. Over the past 12 months, new orders for durable goods have risen 1.9%, but with transportation equipment excluded, sales increased a solid 7.0% year-over-year.
Monday Economic Report 0208 2021
Cold Reality Dawns That Illness Is Likely Here to Stay – What Does That Mean For Business
The ease with which the coronavirus spreads, the emergence of new strains and poor access to vaccines in large parts of the world mean Covid-19 could shift from a pandemic disease to an endemic one, implying lasting modifications to personal and societal behavior, epidemiologists say.
“Going through the five phases of grief, we need to come to the acceptance phase that our lives are not going to be the same,” said Thomas Frieden, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I don’t think the world has really absorbed the fact that these are long-term changes.”
Rolls-Royce to Temporarily Close Jet-Engine Plants This Summer
Rolls-Royce is planning to temporarily close its jet-engine factories for two weeks this summer to preserve cash, marking the first time it has been forced into such a drastic move since it became a listed company in the 1980s. The aero-engine maker is consulting unions and employee representatives at its civil aerospace division, which manufactures jet-engine parts, about how the shutdowns will work as it cuts costs to cope with a prolonged collapse in the aviation market arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
The division employs 19,000 staff globally in countries including Germany and Singapore, although the majority — 12,500 — are based in the UK. Rolls-Royce has also started talks with British unions about a separate target to deliver a permanent 10 per cent improvement in productivity and efficiency at its UK civil aerospace operations. These are predominantly focused on its historic engine production facilities in Derby, but also include smaller sites in Solihull, Tyne and Wear and Glasgow.
What You Need to Know About OSHA’s Jan. 29 COVID Guidance
Though mostly the same as earlier guidance, the new document’s differences are significant.
What is different about the new OSHA guidance that employers need to watch out for and is likely to end up being the draft the agency will work off of to create its ETS? For one thing, employers are now responsible for providing their employees a COVID-19 vaccine at no cost. However, when it comes to applying the guidance, because at this time there is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines prevent transmission from person-to-person, employers are expected to continue following protective measures in the workplace even if workers are vaccinated.
Empire Center Breaks Down State Budget and Taxes in Updated Budget App
The Empire Center’s online New York State budget database has been updated to reflect all the key numbers from Governor Cuomo’s proposed Executive Budget for fiscal year 2022.
The Explore the Budget app at SeeThroughNY.net allows users to search and compare actual results, estimates and projections for major spending and tax categories from state fiscal years 2011 through fiscal 2025. In addition, the budget search tool includes total annual disbursements dating back to 1984 and tax receipts in major categories since 1976, presented in both nominal and inflation-adjusted terms. All of the state budget data can be downloaded in spreadsheet form.
