Expert pins hope on remote learning, model change to help NYC rise from COVID-19

NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- An expert has urged New York City to tap more potential from remote learning and adeptly consider model changing in order to better survive the COVID-19 pandemic to re-emerge strong and resilient, New York Daily News reported on Sunday.

Dennis Walcott, president Queens Public Library, underlined the need to make remote learning more inclusive by increasing access to computers and Wi-Fi in underserved communities.

Not only is that a necessary component to getting education back on track in the city, but it's also a business opportunity for local entrepreneurial tech firms to cash in on, he said.

"That's exactly where the synergy comes in," Walcott said. "You have people who are totally knowledgeable in this area who can come in. That type of mentality creates opportunity for entrepreneurs. People have that entrepreneurial spirit inside of them."

Walcott wore a lot of different hats before he became president of the Queens Public Library. He was the city's schools chancellor, a deputy mayor, and president of the New York Urban League, jobs that inform his ideas about how to move the city forward.

Walcott has another business philosophy: If the business model isn't working, change the model.

For a restaurant owner forced to close her kitchen, or an out-of-work chef looking to start out on his own, Walcott said the opportunity might come in the form of a food truck or cart.

"People can come up and get their local meals," Walcott said. "You can have that throughout various neighborhoods. There's always a need. I've always been surprised by the lack of service skills in the neighborhoods."

Walcott also said that incentives must be created to tap into neighborhood potential. But, again, he said, it's about the mindset, and changing the model.

"We have to start to pivot mentally in terms of what our potential is," Walcott said. "The more businesses we have going in, the more tax revenue we can generate to make the city a richer place."

The goal should not be to get back to where the city was, and the goal should be to make the city even better, he said.

"I'm always the eternal optimist," Walcott said. "We can't let the city go down the drain. Even if people are leaving the city, there's a whole wealth of people with talents to tap into."

New York City's COVID-19 test positivity rate on a seven-day average reached 9.08 percent, compared with 9.39 percent one day earlier, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted on Sunday.

The rate was announced on Jan. 1 to top 9 percent, on Dec. 31 to top 8 percent and on Dec. 27 to top 7 percent. It topped 3 percent in late November, which was believed by the city government to signify the arrival of a second wave of the coronavirus, and has remained above the level ever since.

As of Saturday evening, the coronavirus deaths added up to 25,211 and confirmed cases to 436,581 in NYC, according to The City, a project that tracks the spread of confirmed COVID-19 infections and fatalities in New York City, based on information provided by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the governor's office, The COVID Tracking Project and the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.