Daily Update 91
Cuomo Delivers Final Daily Briefing – Future Briefings Will Be Conducted As Needed
Friday Governor Cuomo delivered a brief address from his Executive Office in the State Capitol. It was the 111th straight day the Governor gave a daily briefing. He recognized Juneteenth, a day he declared a holiday for state workers.
This was the Governor’s final daily coronavirus briefing. Going forward briefings will be held on an as-needed basis. The Governor said he will still provide New Yorkers the information they need, but because of the progress the State has made it is no longer necessary to do a daily briefing. The Governor delivered the address without his usual PowerPoint slides.
The Governor thanked his team, his daughters, and the many people who have reached out in support of New York during the crisis. He said he is proud of the people of the state for coming together to overcome the crisis. He said New York handled the crisis better than any State or Country on the globe.
The full address can be viewed here.
NYC Enters Phase Two Today
New York City is on track to enter phase two today (6/22). The global health experts the State uses to determine reopening eligibility reviewed New York City data and the Governor said businesses move ahead with phase two.
New York City specific guidelines for these industries can be found here.
NYC Real-Estate Brokers and Landlords Expect Only 10% to 20% of Manhattan’s Office Workers Will Return Today
Most companies are taking a cautious approach. Some are keeping offices closed, while others are opening them at reduced occupancy and allowing employees to decide if they prefer to keep working from home. Mary Ann Tighe, chief executive for the tri-state region at real-estate services firm CBRE Group Inc., said many New York City clients don’t plan on being fully back in the office before Labor Day. And maybe only then if schools have reopened.
Companies are worried about another wave of infections, Ms. Tighe said. Some are also concerned about commuting bottlenecks, if more drivers lead to traffic jams or public transit limits the number of riders. Lower maximum occupancy in elevators could also lead to lines.
Webinar: “Back to Work” A Complementary Legal Seminar Provided by Greenwald Doherty LLC
Monday, June 22, 2020, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
No Cost for Members
Hear experienced labor attorney, Joel Greenwald, discuss the legal issues related to your employees returning to work including:
- How do you avoid discrimination and wrongful death claims?
- What legal issues and safety concerns are confronting you now as you bring employees back?
- Can, or should, you be taking employees’ temperatures and/or requiring COVID-19 testing?
- What staffing levels do you need to be at for potential PPP loan forgiveness?
- How should you handle continued staff reductions?
- What will businesses need to do to accommodate disabled employees?
DiNapoli: State Tax Revenues Down $767 Million in May
State tax receipts in May were down $766.9 million or 19.7% from the previous year, according to the monthly state cash report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
Other items of note in the report:
- Personal income tax withholding revenues were $291.8 million below May 2019, a decline of more than 9 percent reflecting both depressed economic activity and timing factors.
- Local assistance spending through May totaled $17.9 billion, $1.4 billion less than the state Division of Budget (DOB) projected in the Enacted Budget Financial Plan. In addition, spending for capital projects totaled $915.8 million through May, $412.2 million lower than projected.
A Conversation with Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Thursday, June 25, 2020, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm, Zoom Discussion
New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins (D- Westchester County) will join with members of the The Council of Industry and the New York State Manufacturing Alliance to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and the State Legislature’s package of COVID-19 related bills, the future state and recovery of manufacturing in New York, and then answer questions from members on various state-related topics. The Senator would like to hear the challenges manufactures are facing as well as the opportunities we see. She also wants to know what the State can do to help the manufacturing sector grow in New York State.
Federal Infrastructure Investment for an American Renewal
Infrastructure investment will be key to the nation’s recovery, and the NAM’s “American Renewal Action Plan” calls for historic investments in our nation’s infrastructure. To help ensure these investments are made in an effective way, the NAM conveyed manufacturers’ priorities to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee ahead of a markup on surface transportation legislation.
You can read the NAM letter here
Learn more about the NAM’s infrastructure priorities here
Reskilling Workers for a Post-COVID Factory Floor
The world has transformed more in the last three months than it has for decades – and with it, so has the skillset required. Worker skills will need to be updated for the post-pandemic factory floor, especially with greater adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, writes Jasmeet Singh, global head of manufacturing at Infosys. This will require an “open and curious” approach that prioritizes creativity and problem-solving.
The Not-So-Silent Fallout from COVID-19—Stress
To understand the state of mental health, many are seeking resources. One especially helpful resource is a free, online, real-time screening offered by Mental Health America, a nonprofit organization.
“We are seeing a significant increase, around 20%, in the number of people who are taking our real-time assessment since mid-February,” explains Paul Gionfriddo, CEO of Mental Health America.
Since the organization was founded six years ago, 5 million people have taken the screening. Typically, 2,000 to 3,000 people a week complete a screening where they receive immediate results, education and other resources. The stress from dealing with COVID-19 is driving that 20% increase.
Tracking Covid-19 Excess Deaths Across Countries – Updated Data at The Economist
A better way to measure the damage caused by such a medical crisis is to look at “excess mortality”: the gap between the total number of people who died from any cause, and the historical average for the same place and time of year.
Compared to the baseline average of deaths from 2009-19, the flu seasons of 2017, 2018 and 2019 were all unusually lethal. But the covid-19 pandemic, which arrived much later in the year, has already reached a higher peak—and would have been far more damaging without social-distancing measures. EuroMOMO’s figures suggest that there were about 170,000 excess deaths between March 16th and May 31st.
The charts below use data fromEuroMOMO, a network of epidemiologists who collect weekly reports on deaths from all causes in 24 European countries, covering 350m people.
See the charts and read the article at The Economist
