As the university notes, graduate housing is ‘extremely limited,’ which means that the vast majority of NYU’S 25,000 graduate students live somewhere in the five boroughs of the city or over the bridge in Hoboken or Jersey City. No testing is provided by the university on the weekends, and students who wish to get tested and do not live in NYU administered housing (which offers more readily available testing options) must schedule a test in advance. This makes testing and navigating exposure more difficult for graduate students than advertised.

My roomate, David Sheckel, 24, got tested ‘more than 50 times’ by his own estimation while completing his Masters in Public Policy at Northeastern University in Boston, where he lived before moving to Brooklyn. Half a hundred negative results later, he began to feel like he’d never contract Covid-19 – especially after reaching full-vaccination status near the end of April. 

“Actually getting a positive one, I didn’t process it at first,” he said, having only gotten tested in the first place as a courtesy before heading in for the first day of a new job. “I was a little congested, but kinda figured it was my seasonal allergies. It’s kind of shocking.”

David, who is not a student at NYU, had been keeping a low profile for the most part. He tries to avoid large gatherings and crowded areas, congregating mostly with small groups of friends. He says that upwards of 10 people he potentially exposed all tested negative. 

“I guess it’s proof the vaccine is doing its job,” he said. “But it’s also proof that breakthrough infections happen.”

Data collected by the New York Times suggests that fully vaccinated people have a one in 5,000 chance of contracting the virus – half as likely if you live in an area with low transmission. As of September 15th, 68% of New York City’s adults 18 and older have received their first dose of the vaccine, according to NYC Health Department data. Those figures for the university are more impressive, thanks to NYU’s back to school vaccine mandate: 99% of students, 98% of faculty, and 96% of employees are fully vaccinated. 

Even in an environment where inoculation is high, evidence of breakthrough infections is beginning to emerge. 

NYU releases testing data on a weekly basis, which can be found buried on the university’s website four clicks from the homepage. Last week (September 6-12), NYU returned 48 positive PCR tests out of 3,457 PCR conducted on campus, for a reported positivity rate of 1.36%. The total number of cases for the same time period was 157, which includes cases reported by students, faculty and employees from testing conducted off campus. NYU’s Covid Response and Prevention team could not be reached for comment. 

All publicly available data for the first two weeks of the semester shows a cumulative total of 249 reported positive cases. 

Living about four miles from campus in Brooklyn, I found myself not wanting to travel via public transportation to NYU’s BioReference testing site located on campus at 18 Cooper Square out of an abundance of caution. Once David notified me of being infected, we read articles from the Cleveland Clinic and Bustle about how to best proceed, in addition to consulting the ACCESS NYC covid hotline. NYU advised me that as long as I was vaccinated and wasn’t showing symptoms that quarantining wasn’t necessary. 

David and I committed to staying in our respective rooms and double masking everytime we needed to use the common areas like the kitchen or the bathroom, each of us waiting for the other to leave before taking our turn and being sure to thoroughly disinfect with Lysol wipes afterwards. Although our apartment fits the standard New York City shoebox stereotype, it’s got enough doors and a deck to make staying out of each other’s way relatively easy. 

Getting tested, on the other hand, wasn’t as straightforward. 

“Google Maps has a feature to find covid testing near you, but I don’t think that’s a very good resource,” said David about our search for local testing. The only options within a mile radius of our apartment were urgent care centers and private clinics. Several of these options featured reviews lamenting how disorganized the process was and how it took days for results on tests that purportedly are ready in less than thirty minutes. 

“The city’s website offers a great resource to find covid testing near you, with an option to search for testing by zip code,” said David. “If I end up getting tested again, I’ll probably go to one of the city’s mobile units, even though there aren’t any that are super convenient for us here.”

I ended up getting both a rapid antigen and PCR test at an urgent care center in Bushwick. Thankfully, both came back negative. 

While the PCR test was covered under my university-provided insurance, the rapid antigen test ran me $100. I called five testing options that purported to offer free rapid antigen testing near me but either never made it off hold or was told to plan to come first thing the following morning, when they’d be less busy. Two separate Walgreens within walking distance told me they were no longer conducting rapid antigen testing, and they were also sold out of the take home versions of these tests. 

While rapid testing is thought to be less reliable than PCR testing, it’s almost a necessity when it comes to informing classmates and professors about your status while they figure out how to proceed themselves. Real time results enable real time decisions. And without a clear playbook for graduate students, those decisions are all the more complicated.

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About 1,200 miles away from Beijing, the reopening in Sichuan was promising. But the salmon cutting board news hits the seafood markets and restaurants hard.

“The restaurant was still full on Saturday, but we only have several tables tonight,” said Lyu, the owner of  the market’s Fude Hao Seafood Restaurant.

 Now all sellers at Qing Shi Qiao must  tell customers the imported types of seafood on sale. Salmon is temporarily removed from the stock in the markets. 

Seafood market in the evening. Photo by Bohao Liu

An empty seafood table. Photo by Bohao Liu

Seafood in the restaurant. Photo by Bohao Liu

A waitress stands outside an empty restaurant. Photo by Bohao Liu

“Declared. June 15, 2020” All sellers must declare the types of seafood on sale. Photo by Bohao Liu

Sellers in a seafood market in Sichuan, China. Photo by Bohao Liu

A crab sits in a tank inside an empty seafood restaurant. Photo by Bohao Liu

An empty seafood restaurant. Photo by Bohao Liu

Full tank, empty restaurant. Photo by Bohao Liu

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Businesses will be required to provide protective equipment to their employees and to establish occupational safety measures, in accordance with the guidelines of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

“This is about establishing an agenda that allows us a gradual transition within the quarantine to gradually reactivate those activities that, without neglecting protection measures and maintaining physical distancing, represent low risk of contagion for Puerto Rico,” said Vázquez Garced during a televised message.  

As countries and states consider lifting restrictions, the World Health Organization recommended that “health system capacities are in place to detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact.” But the U.S. territory, as of last week, had the lowest coronavirus testing rate in the country, performing an average of 15 tests a day for every 100,000 people.

Vázquez Garced said the plan to reopen the economy was approved by the medical and economic task forces, but did not mention if the island has reported a downward trajectory of cases or positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period as established by White House guidelines. 

Secretary of Health Lorenzo González Feliciano has said the island expects to reach its apex between May 4 and 8, when the new executive order goes into effect. He acknowledged yesterday that there have been problems tracing passengers that arrive to the island through its main airport. 

Puerto Rico has been on lockdown and under an overnight curfew since March 15 to contain the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The island’s Department of Health has reported 1,539 cases and 92 deaths as of Thursday.

Vázquez Garced said she will extend the 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew until May 25. People should only leave their house for essential services like medical appointments, grocery shopping and visits to the pharmacy, and they must wear masks when they go outside. But the new executive order will allow citizens to walk dogs, run, ride bicycles and perform other activities outside from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m., maintaining at least six feet apart between each person.

Starting next Monday, lawyers, engineers and accountants can reopen their offices, working with one client at a time and by appointments, and dentists, optometrists, can provide services again. Doctors and mental health professionals can continue to use telemedicine, but will now have the option to see patients in their offices. Meanwhile, moving, laundry, transportation, limited to taxi drivers and public carriers, financial, mortgage, insurance, real estate notary services will be allowed to reopen. 

Services in hardware stores, maintenance, repair, inspection and sale of vehicle parts can open from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., following preventive measures and working by appointment.

Pharmacies and gas stations will continue to operate regularly seven days a week, and supermarkets and grocery stores will open from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., allowing delivery services until 10 p.m., as established in previous executive orders. 

On May 11, construction and manufacturing industries can begin to operate again. Employers, in these cases, must develop specific plans to prevent infections and issue compliance certifications to the Department of Labor and Human Resources.

Vázquez Garced said she will evaluate the possibility of reopening retailers, barber shops, beauty salons, restaurants, among other businesses, between May 18 and 25.

“Little by little we are going to continue evaluating the reactivation of the economic movement, with mechanisms that allow the operation of more industries and services,” Vázquez Garced said. “But the health of all the families that live in this land is the priority.”

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“No, I don’t agree with him on that. No, I think we’re doing a great job on testing,” Trump said during a White House briefing. “If he said that, I don’t agree with him.” 

Trump said that he thinks the U.S. has done “a great job” testing for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, and claimed that the nation is more advanced than other counties. 

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview with TIME published earlier today that the U.S. needs to “significantly ramp up” the number of tests and the capacity to perform them.

“I am not overly confident right now at all that we have what it takes to do that,” said Fauci, member of the White House coronavirus task force. “We are doing better, and I think we are going to get there, but we are not there yet,” he continued.”

Fauci was not present at today’s briefing. 

The doctor’s statement contradicts the White House’s assurances on the country’s testing capabilities. The U.S. has performed over 4.6 million tests so far, lagging behind Italy in per capita tests conducted. 

Fauci’s comments come as governors begin to relax containment measures to reopen their state’s economies despite warnings of a resulting surge in Covid-19 cases. In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp plans to restart the economy before the state’s shelter-in-place order is lifted on April 30 even though Trump yesterday said he “very strongly” disagreed with the move.  

This evening, Trump reiterated he’s “not happy” with Kemp’s decision to reopen some nonessential businesses, such as fitness centers, hair and nail salons, and barbers. 

“I want the states to open, more than he does, much more than he does,” Trump said. “But I didn’t like to see spas at this early stage, nor did the doctors.”

The president said he may extend social distancing guidelines past May 1, but assured he thinks the worst will be over by early summer.  

Bill Bryan, an undersecretary at the Homeland Security Department, said at the press briefing that the virus doesn’t last long when exposed to sunlight, according to experiments with coronavirus samples. He said solar light appears to have a powerful effect on killing the virus. 

So far, the U.S. has confirmed more than 866,600 Covid-19 cases and over 47,800 deaths. In New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak in the country, 16,388 people have died from the virus. 

More than 21 percent of people tested in New York City for coronavirus antibodies this week were found to have them, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said earlier today. 

The results are part of a statewide effort to test residents for antibodies, which indicate they have had the virus and recovered from it. 

The state tested 3,000 random people across 19 counties, and nearly 14 percent of the results came back positive, according to preliminary data. 

The numbers indicate that the actual number of coronavirus cases in the state may be much higher than the confirmed 260,000. If the preliminary results hold true, as many as 2.7 million New Yorkers, with more than 1.7 million people in the city,  may have been infected with the virus. It also means the mortality rate could be lower than previously thought. 

“What we found so far is that the statewide number is 13.9 percent tested positive for having the antibodies,” Cuomo said during a press briefing. “They were infected three weeks ago, four weeks ago, five weeks ago, six weeks ago, but they had the virus, they developed the antibodies and they are now recovered.”

Before Cuomo’s briefing, Dr. Demetre C. Daskalakis, New York City’s top official for disease control, warned against using antibody tests to make decisions about social distancing and reopening the economy. The World Health Organization earlier this week cautioned that there’s no evidence to suggest that antibody tests can show that a person that had the virus is immune to reinfection.  

During his presentation, Cuomo slammed Republican Sen. Mitch McConnel for suggesting that states hit hard by the virus should file for bankruptcy instead of seeking financial aid from the federal government. 

“This is one of the really dumb ideas of all time,” said Cuomo, a Democrat.

Cuomo has criticized Congress and the federal government for not providing enough funding for states to cover the costs of battling the coronavirus.

The House of Representatives today passed a $484 billion coronavirus rescue package to aid small businesses and fund hospitals and testing. 

The bill aims to replenish a small business loan program as unemployment soars during the crisis. The package allocates $321 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, $60 billion in loans for small businesses, $75 billion in relief for hospitals and $25 billion for coronavirus testing. 

Trump said he will sign the bill.

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Governor Andrew Coumo announced today an executive order ordering people in the state of New York to wear masks or mouth and nose coverings in public spaces where they cannot maintain social distance. This will go into effect in three days.

At his daily press conference, Cuomo explained this includes places such as crowded streets, public transportation, busy neighborhoods and anywhere else where people can’t maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from other individuals.

Disobeying  this rule will not subject anyone to civil penalties, at least for the time being.

“You’re not gonna go to jail for not wearing a mask,” Cuomo said. “We haven’t seen flagrant non-compliance.”

However, the governor maintained that that might just change if people don’t comply with the new rule and added that New Yorkers themselves would likely act if they see someone disregarding the rule.

Last week, New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy announced a similar measure, ordering everyone to wear a mask in grocery stores.

New York is flattening the curve, with hospitalizations and intubations going down, but the state is still experiencing an average of 2000 new coronavirus cases per day. In total, there have been a total of over 100,000  confirmed cases and 10,000 deaths.

Cuomo said that the healthcare situation has stabilized, with New York having increased its healthcare capacity by 50% in one month. Two weeks ago, Cuomo called out for health professionals in other states to come in and offer their help. And at least 90,000 retired and active health care workers have come to aid in the battle, including 25,000 from outside New York.

“The fear of overwhelming the health care system has not happened,” Cuomo said today.

The state is now giving away a total of 100 ventilators to Michigan and 50 to Maryland, both states that have been experiencing an increase in the number of coronavirus cases.

However, the fight is long from being over.

“We’re still in the woods,” he said. “Just because that number has plateaued, doesn’t mean it anytime to relax what we’re doing.

But, in good news, the governor said the numbers show that we can change the curve and control the spread.

Cuomo also touched on the reopening of the economy,  which he projected to take around 18 months, when a vaccine for the coronavirus is expected to be approved.

“I say it’s over when we have a vaccine,” Cuomo said.

Capitalizing on the completion of the Tappan Zee Bridge, which he campaigned on back in 2010, he said that we have to build a bridge from today to the “new normal”. He also offered up New York as a testing ground for a future vaccine.

It will be a “phased reopening” as  New York, could still see an increase in infection rate, if social distancing measures are lifted too soon, Cuomo said.

This phased reopening would be based on a model that would take into consideration two main criteria: how essencial a business is and what the risk of infection within the work environment is.

Reopening the economy will rest fundamentally on large-scale testing, Cuomo said. Everything from diagnostic to antibody, saliva, finger prick and blood sampling. So far New York has conducted a total of 500,000 tests, but Cuomo hopes that a yet to be approved by the FDA test could improve the numbers to up to 100,000 a day. The New York population is over 19 million.

Pointing to what happened earlier on with state and federal governments fighting over ventilators, the governor warned against a repeat of this with testing.

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