I received an email today from New York City’s Office of Emergency Management asking CERT members, like myself, to “spread the word to your fellow New Yorkers on how to avoid spreading the flu.” So, I am posting the email below. (Several hours earlier, I had watched with some amusement Mayor Bloomberg explain at news conference why only a handful of City schools have been closed while some towns around the U.S. had shut entire districts after one H1N1 diagnosis: “New Yorkers tend to get on with it as opposed to other places.”)
As you know, New York City has a number of confirmed and suspected cases of the H1N1 virus. DOHMH, OEM, and many other City agencies are working to coordinate the City’s response, but as always we are relying on you as CERT volunteers to spread the word to your fellow New Yorkers on how to avoid spreading the flu. These include common sense health practices that should be part of your daily routine, but especially when we are in the midst of a public health event:
*Wash your hands thoroughly and often, and especially after being out in public.
*Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your arm – not your hand.
*Stay away from obviously sick people.
*Stay home if you are sick.
Also, DOHMH and OEM have released the Ready New York: Pandemic Flu guide in 14 languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, Russian, Haitian Creole, Greek, Arabic, Bengali, Urdu, Korean, Polish, and Yiddish. Click on the link below to download the guide, and please encourage others to do the same and follow its advice. OEM will have hard copies of the guide available shortly and we will work to distribute copies to your teams so you can distribute them in your communities.Â
Thank you from the OEM CERT Team for helping us to publicize this important message.
*Download the Ready New York: Pandemic Flu guide
*Visit the Health Department’s website
*Read more tips on how to stay healthy from the CDC
Members of New York City’s Tribeca CERT Team Handing Out Preparedness Information at the Tribeca Film Festival Fair on Saturday Morning.
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