Here are some recent updates on the coronavirus crisis.
Businesses Ordered to Reduce On-Site Workforce
Governor Cuomo has ordered all businesses in the state to reduce the number of employees they have reporting to work by 50%.He is expected to sign an executive order enacting this new mandatory requirement, with some exemptions, including food, pharmacies, health care and shipping. According to Crain’s New York Business, Cuomo said he could increase the fraction of people required to work remotely if the 50% rule does not slow the spread of COVID-19.
In Any Event, Try to Stay Home
The virus is spreading rapidly throughout the world, and it’s socially responsible to stay home, if possible. (We are taking our own advice, with only one BID staffer onsite… and that may change soon.) You can be seemingly healthy and asymptomatic, but you have likely been exposed. Even if you avoid high risk populations, you could expose someone else, who could expose someone else… until at some point in the chain high risk individuals are exposed. Click here for guidance from the NYC Health Department.
Personal Care During Difficult Days
Local businesses can help you get through these difficult days.
Morledge Medical, 150 East 58th Street, still has flu vaccine shots available. COVID-19 is not the flu, of course, but a flu shot can help keep your body strong.
Meanwhile, Stretch Relief, 133 East 58th Street, has launched a new virtual stretch service that can help you stay healthy and flexible during this time of working from home and not being able to stay as active as usual. Their Stretch Relief Virtual Stretch offers 1-on-1 or 1-on-2 guided sessions with a certified trainer to help you understand your muscle imbalances and customize an in-home DIY stretches to improve flexibility, posture and mobility. It’s a great way to relieve stress as well during this time of high anxiety and uncertainty.
If you are feeling anxious, stressed or overwhelmed, connect with trained counselors at NYC Well, the City’s confidential helpline. Call 888-NYC-WELL (888-692-9355), text “WELL” to 65173. Or chat online at nyc.gov/nycwell.
There is No “Shelter In Place” Order
Although the Governor and Mayor don’t see eye to eye on this, apparently the Governor has the final say, and at this point he refuses to restrict movement in the City. For more, click here. To get accurate information and avoid rumors, text COVID to 692-692 for updates from Notify NYC, and click here to access the NYC Office of Emergency Management website.
