Lack of Proper COVID-19 Tests Pose Greatest Threat to NYC Businesses, Say Execs

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, is having an increasingly broad impact on every aspect of our lives. New York City is currently a hot spot for the infection, with businesses implementing work-from-home policies or severely modifying their typical practices to protect their employees and to aid in halting the rapid spread of the disease.

To gauge how COVID-19 is impacting NYC-based businesses, the Partnership for New York City in conjunction with GLG, conducted a survey of top NYC executives.

Of the professionals we surveyed, the majority stated that “increased testing” and “clear communication” are the most important steps that the government must take to restore business confidence. They also regard “insufficient healthcare resources” as the greatest threat to their businesses.

The survey, COVID 19 Impact, was conducted March 13-18 and collected both quantitative and qualitative data from more than 150 leaders representing more than 130 companies. The results present a snapshot of a key period in the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation.

Key findings from the survey include:

• 95% of businesses have implemented work-from-home policies.
• 91% expect the crisis to moderately or significantly hit their industry’s revenue over the next six months.
• 97% of business leaders have confidence in the state government to manage the crisis (versus 79% confidence in the city and 61% in the federal government.)

The survey demonstrates that the concerns of business leaders largely align with those voiced by public healthcare officials. According to the survey, 2/3 of business leaders cite that the lack of testing capacity as a concern and resolving that lack is essential to increasing business confidence. Similarly, 3/5 of the executives surveyed said that “insufficient healthcare resources” posed the greatest threat to their businesses.

More than 50% of the executives ranked the banning of travel in and out of New York as one of the most concerning threats.

To see the full results, click here.

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