A report out last week from city Comptroller Scott Stringer confirms it: During the crucial early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, the city was woefully unprepared.
“The city’s initial response to COVID was hampered by a lack of planning, coordination and preparedness across city government,” fumed Stringer, whose mother died from COVID-19 during the early days of the pandemic.
His audit placed blame on agency infighting, breakdowns in communication and inventory-tracking failures.
“We discovered at the outset of the COVID-19 threat the city did not have a complete citywide operational plan for responding to a pandemic,” said Stringer. “The best they had was a draft plan from 2013 — a plan that was never finished and that hadn’t been updated for seven years.”
Officials had no solid blueprint for obtaining supplies, distributing medication, tracking available hospital beds or dealing with schools. The Health Department had collected a mere 100,000 N95 masks, enough to last at public hospitals just days — and many were already expired.
True, the pandemic hit with little warning. But that’s why just-in-case plans are needed. A competent administration, and mayor, would help, too.