Today--at this moment of crisis and pain--NYC begins Covid-19 contact tracing.
The City must guarantee that this will not under *any circumstances* be carried out via enforcement.
And it needs to bring in communities of color as full partners in leading the program. 1/
The City must guarantee that this will not under *any circumstances* be carried out via enforcement.
And it needs to bring in communities of color as full partners in leading the program. 1/
Starting today, those who test positive will be called by a City employee & asked to share names/contact info of anyone they've been in close contact with (defined as within 6ft for 10 min or more).
If you don’t answer the contact tracer’s call they will knock on your door. 2/
If you don’t answer the contact tracer’s call they will knock on your door. 2/
Those with the virus will be told to fully isolate for up to 14 days--meaning not leave home for any purpose, including getting food or walking the dog. And if remaining at home with other family members would be a risk, you will be asked to relocate to a hotel. 3/
Those who are identified as having come in contact with someone with the virus will be told to quarantine at home for up to 14 days under the same restrictions, even if they feel no symptoms. 4/
There is an enormous risk that all of this will be seen as punitive towards the Black and Brown which have been so disproportionately devastated by this pandemic. It would be an utter disaster if quarantining was seen as some form of house arrest. 5/
We need to see the quarantine order the City is using, to ensure that it avoids any threat of sanctions--including fines--for those who don’t participate.
We need to ensure people participate in tracing and isolating through *incentives* not punishments. 6/
We need to ensure people participate in tracing and isolating through *incentives* not punishments. 6/
We need to offer those quarantining not just food, prescriptions etc, but also income replacement or cash incentives. Otherwise it will be difficult to impossible for low-income workers to give up wages for 14 days. 7/
We need a massive program of outreach & education, led by community-based non-profits on the ground in the neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic.
We need a message that all of us have the power to stop this virus from spreading from ourselves to our family & community. 8/
We need a message that all of us have the power to stop this virus from spreading from ourselves to our family & community. 8/
NYC has--righty--invested tens of millions of dollars in promoting the census, and has funded many local CBOs to do this work. We need a similarly ambitious effort for testing and tracing. We need the message delivered in dozens of languages by trusted local activists. 9/
We need explicit, repeatedly expressed guarantees that extreme privacy measures are in place for the data collected by contact tracers, and specifically that under no circumstances will the data be shared w/ immigration authorities or any other arm of the federal government. 10/
Contract tracers are starting to call people *today*, so we are already behind on all this. We need to immediately build this into a program worthy of the trust and support of this city, especially the Black and Brown communities suffering most from the pandemic. 11/
To recap: Racism in healthcare--and society in general--has driven this profoundly unequal pandemic. We have a chance to slow it down now through contact tracing, but only if we listen to and empower the communities most affected. NYC can do this. We have no choice. 12/12
