In the winter of 1893-94, there was a smallpox outbreak in Brooklyn. While that was a long time ago — Brooklyn wouldn’t officially become part of NYC for another 4 years — many of the strategies used to fight the outbreak look familiar to us today. 🧵
Thanks to @NYCRecords’ efforts to digitize an enormous number of records from the municipalities that eventually became part of NYC as we know it, we can see how the Kings County Board of Health acted to stem the smallpox outbreak and keep residents safe.
Just like now, vaccinating workers was an important part of the effort — like at this bakery where a team of vaccinators took care of the whole workforce.
Numerous sites offering free vaccine were opened near the location of the outbreak.
Vaccinating children against smallpox was so critical that the Department of Public Instruction in Brooklyn began requiring proof of vaccination for students as well.
Thankfully, the efforts of the Board, the Health Department, and many more succeeded so well that by the following month, the Brooklyn Health Commissioner received this very kind note from the local medical society.
These historical echoes remind us that even when confronting the “dread diseases” of the modern day, we can derive inspiration from our forebears. Then, as now, a strong public health response is vital to enable the rest of society to function.
archives.nyc/blog/2021/12/1…

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More from @NYCHealthCommr

8 Jan
Pediatric hospitalizations for #COVID19 have increased in New York City as part of the Omicron surge, particularly among unvaccinated children. 🧵
Statewide, during the week of December 20th, 91% of 5-11 year old children hospitalized were unvaccinated, and 65% of 12- to 17-year-olds admitted were unvaccinated.
health.ny.gov/press/releases…
In NYC, our data show the markedly higher risk for unvaccinated kids 5 to 17 years old, who are over 4 times more likely to be hospitalized compared with all kids in that age range.
Read 6 tweets
6 Jan
Hearing about “flu-rona” in the news? Co-infection with influenza and COVID-19 is not new. NYC has seen some cases of co-infection, and this is expected. That’s why we have been encouraging all New Yorkers to get BOTH their flu & COVID-19 vaccines. 🧵
washingtonpost.com/health/2022/01…
The previous flu season in NYC was unusually mild, partially due to the public health measures we had in place to prevent COVID-19. This year, flu is circulating widely in NYC. Graph showing influenza pos...
COVID-19 and flu are both respiratory illnesses and spread in similar ways. Precautions against both are similar and familiar to New Yorkers: masking, improving ventilation, physical distancing and staying home when you are sick.
Read 4 tweets
6 Jan
Resources for New Yorkers during the #omicron surge, from @nycHealthy and @NYCHealthSystem 🧵⬇

If you need a COVID-19 test, and are immunocompromised and 65 years or older, schedule an appointment to have your test done at home.
☎ Call 929-298-9400
We also continue to ramp up free COVID-19 testing capacity at dozens of community-based sites through mobile testing vans and clinics. Find a testing site near you here: on.nyc.gov/3F3q9Fw
If you tested positive for COVID-19 but your symptoms are mild and you are not in a high risk group, use non-emergency services for medical advice.
Read 6 tweets
28 Dec 21
During the COVID-19 pandemic, @nycHealthy had to develop new ways to understand the impact of the pandemic on physical health, mental health, and social determinants of health – so we pivoted and adapted our survey tools to better fill this need: ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJ… Screen shot from article in AJPH. Text reads: Adapting Surve
@nycHealthy conducts routine surveys to understand the health of NYC residents. When COVID-19 hit, we adjusted our strategies and developed new surveys that gave us actionable insights into the pandemic and NYC’s health and explicitly incorporated measures of racial inequities.
Our Community Health Survey was adapted to ask questions about COVID-19 and recruit respondents for a population-based serosurvey. This let us measure the percentage of the population who had symptoms of COVID-19 even if they did not seek care or testing.
Read 5 tweets
28 Dec 21
Today’s “Stay Safe, Stay Open” plan for @NYCSchools reaffirms our dual mission to keep schools safe and prioritize in-person learning in the new year – even as we make some adjustments due to #Omicron. 🧵
What we know from our data over the school year so far is that schools remain among the safest settings in our communities. For any case identified in an NYC public school between October to December, only 1 in 120 close contacts developed COVID-19 – that’s 0.83%.
When compared to the rate outside of schools, about 1 in 7 contacts in a household develop COVID-19, or over 14%. This marked reduction in risk is the result of layered prevention measures: vaccination, testing, ventilation, distancing, and kids staying home if they’re ill.
Read 10 tweets
16 Dec 21
Omicron is here in NYC and spreading quickly. We’re seeing a surge of #COVID19 cases ahead of the holidays – the 7-day average for new cases has tripled in the last month. All boroughs remain in high transmission. 🧵
In response to the increase in #COVID19 cases, I am updating my November Commissioner’s Advisory to call on New Yorkers to take additional steps to protect themselves and each other: on.nyc.gov/3dVZ2B9
✅ New Yorkers are still advised to wear face masks in all indoor public settings. Higher quality masks, like KN95s, KF94s, or N95s, offer better protection than cloth face masks.
Read 10 tweets

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