March 19, 2025-- As New York City marks five years since the first confirmed case of COVID-19, the NYC Preparedness & Recovery Institute (PRI) is reflecting on the city's response to the COVID-19 public health emergency and pandemic. A newly published article, COVID-19, Five Years Later: What We're Learning About NYC's Societal Response to Emergencies , outlines interim insights from PRI's ongoing COVID-19 Review, which draws from hundreds of reports, interviews, and community discussions to assess the city's response and identify strategies to strengthen emergency preparedness moving forward.
Launched in 2022, PRI is a resource that advances preparedness, builds resilience, and promotes public health throughout the five boroughs of NYC and around the globe.
Key report findings on the role of mutual aid networks in emergency response include:
- Strengthening protections for essential workers
- Rebuilding public trust in health authorities
- Combating misinformation and addressing health inequities
- Economic resilience strategies for small businesses and marginalized communities
- The need for ongoing, sustained public health funding
- Preventing prejudice and discrimination during public health crises
PRI faculty can discuss key findings on:
- Socio-cultural and Environmental Factors influencing diseases in immigrant and Latino populations.
- Racial Equity and Social Determinants of Health including breast cancer etiology and health disparities.
- Workforce Capacity and Preparedness covering occupational health, exposure science, and industrial hygiene; response evaluation, and risk communication.
- Community Health centering on communication, health literacy, and strategic diplomacy.
- Epidemiology and Modeling Expert in infectious disease transmission, environmental determinants, and disease forecasting.
