NYC Plans Pandemic Response Center as Positivity Rate Tops 5%

NYC Plans Pandemic Response Center as Positivity Rate Tops 5%

New York City plans to partner with private companies to create an institute devoted to predicting and responding to future pandemics, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.His announcement came as new reported cases reached a weekly average of 1,962 and the citywide infection rate hit 5.19% -- the highest levels since May for both.The latest Covid updatesMake sense of the headlines and the outbreak's global response with the Coronavirus Daily.The city will request proposals from drug and biotech companies, hospitals and other public health centers for a Pandemic Response Institute. The institute will be housed at its Alexandria Center for Life Science on Manhattan's east side. The center worked with companies to spur inventions of locally made ventilators and protective equipment in the spring, when Covid-19 hospitalizations averaged more than 1,600 a day.