Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a series of new aggressive initiatives to combat the Zika virus in New York State. At the Governor’s direction, the state Department of Health, in partnership with the MTA, is deploying larvicide tablets to standing water within the subway system to decrease the prevalence of potential breeding grounds for the albopictus mosquito. In addition, the Department of Health will coordinate with all state agencies, including the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Department of Environmental Conservation, to ensure all measures possible are being taken to proactively address the situation. The state is also redoubling its efforts to protect New Yorkers from the virus – ramping up distribution of larvicide tablets to homeowners and providing more Zika protection kits to pregnant women at health and family planning centers and WIC programs across the state.
VIDEO of the Governor’s remarks is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h264, mp4) format here.
B-ROLL VIDEO of the Governor surveying standing water subject to larvicide treatment at the South Ferry–Whitehall Street subway station in Manhattan with MTA Chairman Prendergast and State Health Commissioner Zucker is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h263, mp4) format here.
B-ROLL VIDEO of the Governor surveying standing water subject to larvicide treatment at East River State Park in Brooklyn with State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey and State Health Commissioner Zucker is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h263, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the Governor’s remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is below:
Good afternoon to everyone. Welcome. Thank you for making the time. We would like to speak, once again, about the Zika virus and the current information on it and what we are doing and what people in the cities do, in New York should be doing to protect themselves and their neighbors. Zika has not been found in New York State as a mosquito-borne communicated illness. This is an illness that by mosquito transmission is primarily is in the Southern part of the country. Dr. Zucker will explain the different types of mosquitos and which one carries it and which one does not. But it is something we want to make sure that we are prepared for because we have been through enough of these situations where information starts in one place and then the information migrates and the best way to handle a crisis is to prevent it. I feel very strongly in a situation like this, the best course is always to get ahead of it. That is exactly what we have been doing, we have been working on it for months.
As the season is heating up, we are also increasing our efforts twofold. First, the Department of Health is going to work with every state agency to do what they need to do in that agency’s portfolio to stem the spread, possible spread of Zika, which would be stopping the proliferation of mosquitos. For example, with the MTA, this morning we went, there is a common occurrence in the MTA where you have standing puddles of water on the tracks. That could be a breeding ground for mosquitos. We visited a state park which had also standing water, puddling and that could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes and literally the Department of Health will go agency by agency looking at their specific portfolio and making sure they are doing everything they should be doing.
We also want homeowners to be diligent and homeowners to take action. The state will make available, at no cost, what looks like a small donut, an insect repellant, a prevention larvicide that we will give to the homeowner, drop it in standing water and for 30 days it will kill or stop any mosquitos from breeding in that water.
Why is that important? Well, it's important because Zika, and beyond Zika, West Nile Virus and to the extent we have a few mosquitos around your home, it's a better experience in any event. The good news is this mosquito only travels about 200 yards from its birthplace, which is often standing water. So, it’s a circumference of 200 yards and if you take care of your property and your surroundings, that greatly reduces the chance that you're going to get infected or bitten by these mosquitos. So, it's actually something homeowners can make a real difference about. And again, with the number that we'll give out today, the phone number we'll give out today, you call that phone number, 888-364-4723, 888-364-4723, and we will send, free of charge to the homeowner, a packet. If the homeowners are doing what they need to do, we've been speaking with commercial property owners who are aware of it and then the government facilities are ahead of it, then we're doing everything we can do and that is the goal. With that, let me turn it over to Dr. Zucker.
