Bottom Line Up Front:
Due to widespread transmission in New Rochelle, New York (Westchester County), CDC recommends extensive community mitigation activities to support slowing the spread of respiratory virus infections. These approaches are used to minimize morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19 and minimize social and economic impacts of COVID-19. Individuals, communities, businesses, and healthcare organizations are all part of a community mitigation strategy. Given the widespread community transmission in New Rochelle, New York, including involvement of faith-based organizations and health care exposures, substantial interventions at the community level should be implemented at this time, based on the urgency of protecting the health care system with expected rise in cases by slowing the spread within the community.
Goals
The goals for using mitigation strategies for New Rochelle at this time are to protect:
- Individuals at risk for severe illness, including and persons of any age with underlying health conditions including immune suppression and especially seniors with underlying health conditions (See Appendix A).
- The healthcare workforce and critical infrastructure workforces
These approaches are used to minimize morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19 and minimize social and economic impacts of COVID-19. Individuals, communities, businesses, and healthcare organizations are all part of a community mitigation strategy.
Implementation emphasizes:
- Emphasizing individual responsibility for implementation of recommended personal-level actions,
- Empowering businesses, schools, and community organizations to implement recommended actions, particularly in ways that protect persons at risk of severe illness such as older adults and persons with serious underlying health conditions (e.g., people requiring dialysis , or those with congestive heart failure or emphysema)
- Focusing on settings that provide critical services to implement recommended actions to protect critical infrastructure and individuals at risk of severe disease
- Minimizing disruptions to daily life to the extent possible