A medical worker walks past people lined up at Gotham Health East New York, a COVID-19 testing center Thursday, April 23, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced that it's supporting states in helping them build and execute contact tracing programs to control the spread of COVID-19.
A major contract tracing program is getting underway in New York with hopes that it will prevent the spread of coronavirus and serve as a model for other states trying to quell their own outbreaks.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg have teamed up to launch the program.
Kelly Larson, program director for Bloomberg Philanthropies, told Cheddar Friday the organization is providing support to the state in four areas: online training, technical support, recruitment, and evaluation.
“We are also providing technical support to the state, in helping them ramp up this contact tracing program," she said. "The governor announced that the state would hire up to 17,000 contact tracers and so, we’re also helping them with recruitment.”
Contact tracing, which has been used to stymie the spread of diseases such as HIV, Ebola and tuberculosis, is a public health strategy that allows officials to identify people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus and don't know it.
Larson said organizers are working at “exponential speed” to get the program up and running. The pilot program will run throughout the state of New York, beginning in low-risk regions upstate and will make its way down to New York City in the coming weeks.
Over 30,000 people have applied for the contact tracing positions. However, the number of new COVID-19 cases will determine how many contact tracers are actually needed.
“What we need to look at is the number of new cases. As the number of those new cases go down, it will require fewer contact tracers. If, in fact, we loosen restrictions a bit and we see people tested with COVID go up, we’ll need to increase the number of contact tracers,” Larson said.
Bloomberg Philanthropies plans to share its evaluations with other states so they can provide support in controlling the spread of the virus across the country.
“We know that there will be mistakes, there will be opportunities to learn lessons, and we want to learn from those lessons and share this model with other states around the country, if not the world,” she said.
Orangetheory Fitness is redefining the future of workouts with smarter tech, strength-based programming, and community-driven studios built for what’s next.
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
