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Coronavirus in N.Y.: It’s Coming. Should We Panic or Shrug? Coronavirus in N.Y.: It’s Coming. Should We Panic or Shrug?
(8 days later)
This past week saw New Yorkers fully absorbing, with varying degrees of fright or indifference, that the coronavirus was destined to arrive in the nation’s biggest city, with eight million potential victims. Would the past serve as any guide to how it might be handled?This past week saw New Yorkers fully absorbing, with varying degrees of fright or indifference, that the coronavirus was destined to arrive in the nation’s biggest city, with eight million potential victims. Would the past serve as any guide to how it might be handled?
Last spring, health officials from New York and New Jersey conducted an exercise in disease preparedness that involved 70 people and a pretend Ebola patient who was transported 41 miles to Bellevue Hospital on the east side of Manhattan.Last spring, health officials from New York and New Jersey conducted an exercise in disease preparedness that involved 70 people and a pretend Ebola patient who was transported 41 miles to Bellevue Hospital on the east side of Manhattan.
The experiment was meant to test the effectiveness of a series of protocols and biocontainment devices at a moment when the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history was unfolding in the Democratic Republic of Congo and had claimed 700 lives.The experiment was meant to test the effectiveness of a series of protocols and biocontainment devices at a moment when the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history was unfolding in the Democratic Republic of Congo and had claimed 700 lives.
The biggest outbreak had occurred five years earlier, when a young doctor who had been to West Africa to treat Ebola patients returned home to New York and tested positive for the virus. By then a man had already died in Dallas and infected two nurses. In New York, the doctor’s fiancée and friends were quarantined; a bowling alley where he had been in Brooklyn was temporarily shut down.The biggest outbreak had occurred five years earlier, when a young doctor who had been to West Africa to treat Ebola patients returned home to New York and tested positive for the virus. By then a man had already died in Dallas and infected two nurses. In New York, the doctor’s fiancée and friends were quarantined; a bowling alley where he had been in Brooklyn was temporarily shut down.
The doctor survived but the broader result was to prompt an awakening among public health officials to the risks that globalization presented to the rapid migration of deadly pathogens across continents and through major cities.The doctor survived but the broader result was to prompt an awakening among public health officials to the risks that globalization presented to the rapid migration of deadly pathogens across continents and through major cities.
Before this point, New York had focused its catastrophic imaginings on the threat of terrorism at the expense, arguably, of the ways in which nature could unravel us. After 9/11, the city deployed vast resources to prevent further attacks — something it did very successfully.Before this point, New York had focused its catastrophic imaginings on the threat of terrorism at the expense, arguably, of the ways in which nature could unravel us. After 9/11, the city deployed vast resources to prevent further attacks — something it did very successfully.
But when Hurricane Sandy arrived eight years ago, the miseries it delivered seemed to come as a surprise, even though the city’s precarious infrastructure and overbuilt waterfront leave New York so obviously vulnerable to the worst outcomes of even relatively minor disruptions of the weather.But when Hurricane Sandy arrived eight years ago, the miseries it delivered seemed to come as a surprise, even though the city’s precarious infrastructure and overbuilt waterfront leave New York so obviously vulnerable to the worst outcomes of even relatively minor disruptions of the weather.
Now that the coronavirus seems like an inevitability in New York, worry is heightened in a place so heavily reliant on public transportation and its own sense of fluidity. At the level both of federal and local government, the mixed messaging has stoked anxiety as we are told simultaneously that things could get “bad” but not to “panic.” Covid-19, the disease brought on by the virus, can spread quickly and easily, and because most of us have no immunity, most of us are susceptible.Now that the coronavirus seems like an inevitability in New York, worry is heightened in a place so heavily reliant on public transportation and its own sense of fluidity. At the level both of federal and local government, the mixed messaging has stoked anxiety as we are told simultaneously that things could get “bad” but not to “panic.” Covid-19, the disease brought on by the virus, can spread quickly and easily, and because most of us have no immunity, most of us are susceptible.
The cautions suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for those who contract the virus but don’t need to be hospitalized are the sort of measures that might be workable in Denver or Houston but seem less so in New York, where the average size of an apartment built during the past 20 years is 866 square feet. They include the directive to “stay in a specific room and away from other people in your home” and to use “a separate bathroom.”The cautions suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for those who contract the virus but don’t need to be hospitalized are the sort of measures that might be workable in Denver or Houston but seem less so in New York, where the average size of an apartment built during the past 20 years is 866 square feet. They include the directive to “stay in a specific room and away from other people in your home” and to use “a separate bathroom.”
The line between an appropriate response and an excessive one is not terribly clear. This week I encountered a friend who had transitioned to Clorox wipes as a means of disinfectant because “this was not a time for Seventh Generation.” Someone else described herself as only mildly concerned about the spread of coronavirus but, nevertheless, she was planning to stock up on canned goods.The line between an appropriate response and an excessive one is not terribly clear. This week I encountered a friend who had transitioned to Clorox wipes as a means of disinfectant because “this was not a time for Seventh Generation.” Someone else described herself as only mildly concerned about the spread of coronavirus but, nevertheless, she was planning to stock up on canned goods.
At the same time, some companies have told employees who have recently been to Italy, where 400 cases of infection had been identified by Thursday, to remain at home. Members of New York’s fashion industry are at particular risk because so many have been in Milan for the Fall 2020 shows held this month. Recently, Hearst Magazines instructed editors and others who had returned home from Italy, Iran and parts of Asia during the past 30 days to work remotely for two weeks.At the same time, some companies have told employees who have recently been to Italy, where 400 cases of infection had been identified by Thursday, to remain at home. Members of New York’s fashion industry are at particular risk because so many have been in Milan for the Fall 2020 shows held this month. Recently, Hearst Magazines instructed editors and others who had returned home from Italy, Iran and parts of Asia during the past 30 days to work remotely for two weeks.
Food markets and restaurants in Chinatown are bearing the greatest burden of collective fears, even though no cases of Covid-19 have been identified in New York as of this writing. The Chinatown Partnership has estimated a 40 to 60 percent drop in sales for these businesses since the coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, China.Food markets and restaurants in Chinatown are bearing the greatest burden of collective fears, even though no cases of Covid-19 have been identified in New York as of this writing. The Chinatown Partnership has estimated a 40 to 60 percent drop in sales for these businesses since the coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, China.
Updated August 6, 2020 Updated August 12, 2020
That the safety of meat and fish is more strictly regulated in this country, Tiffany Chau, the Partnership’s policy director told me, has had little effect on shopping and eating habits. Chinatown’s retail model is built on low prices to attract a high volume of sales. Now that model is imperiled. A few weeks ago, a campaign called “Show Some Love in Chinatown’’ was devised in an attempt to lure people back.That the safety of meat and fish is more strictly regulated in this country, Tiffany Chau, the Partnership’s policy director told me, has had little effect on shopping and eating habits. Chinatown’s retail model is built on low prices to attract a high volume of sales. Now that model is imperiled. A few weeks ago, a campaign called “Show Some Love in Chinatown’’ was devised in an attempt to lure people back.
In the coming weeks, city officials will remind New Yorkers to wash their hands, cough into their elbows and wed themselves to bottles of Purell, but they are unlikely to assume any culpability for what could now or someday be the most serious rupture to the safe management of a major outbreak of infectious disease.In the coming weeks, city officials will remind New Yorkers to wash their hands, cough into their elbows and wed themselves to bottles of Purell, but they are unlikely to assume any culpability for what could now or someday be the most serious rupture to the safe management of a major outbreak of infectious disease.
Since 2004, 17 hospitals have closed in New York resulting in a net loss of beds and the chance that if the city were beset by an epidemic, it might not be able to accommodate the needs of everyone who got sick.Since 2004, 17 hospitals have closed in New York resulting in a net loss of beds and the chance that if the city were beset by an epidemic, it might not be able to accommodate the needs of everyone who got sick.
“If we reach the outer limits of what we fear,’’ Mark Levine, the chair of the City Council’s health committee said, referring to the coronavirus, “we could face a shortage of beds.”“If we reach the outer limits of what we fear,’’ Mark Levine, the chair of the City Council’s health committee said, referring to the coronavirus, “we could face a shortage of beds.”
In several instances what we have in place of hospitals are luxury condominiums. Where this is felt most poignantly is the former site of St. Vincent’s in Greenwich Village, where so many AIDS patients were treated in the 1980s and ’90s. Three years ago, a penthouse apartment in one of the buildings where the hospital stood sold for $40 million to a buyer whose anonymity was shielded by a purchase made under veil of a limited liability corporation. So often greed is the worst contagion of all.In several instances what we have in place of hospitals are luxury condominiums. Where this is felt most poignantly is the former site of St. Vincent’s in Greenwich Village, where so many AIDS patients were treated in the 1980s and ’90s. Three years ago, a penthouse apartment in one of the buildings where the hospital stood sold for $40 million to a buyer whose anonymity was shielded by a purchase made under veil of a limited liability corporation. So often greed is the worst contagion of all.