WASHINGTON HEIGHTS – Although the city has done a good job of keeping the Zika virus in check — with no cases reported so far this summer — there is plenty residents can do to remain cautious and safe, city officials say.
Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett is hosting the city's first-ever Town Hall Meeting on Monday, June 27, at 6:30 p.m. at 504 W. 158th St., where she'll present the city’s plan on the Zika virus, officials said.
Bassett will also talk about the steps New Yorkers can take "to keep safe from Zika when they travel and at home,” DOH spokeswoman Carolina Rodriguez wrote in an email to DNAinfo.
Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that can spread from an infected pregnant woman to her baby, has been linked to microcephaly — a condition in which the head is smaller than usual and can be linked to brain damage and other developmental delays in infants.
The town hall is co-sponsored with the Community League of the Heights (CLOTH), Community Board 12, State Sen. Adriano Espaillat, Council members Ydanis Rodriguez and Mark Levine, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
These events are part of a citywide effort, Rodriguez said, adding that more town halls will be scheduled in the coming months in different neighborhoods and boroughs.
The Health Department held a “Zika Day of Action” last Wednesday, where staffers from several city agencies distributed information materials on the virus at different subway stops across the city, officials said.
“To date we have made over 120 community presentations on Zika across the City, and we will continue to make these presentations in addition to convening town halls in different communities,” Rodriguez said.
The meeting comes days before the American Museum of National History holds a free educational panel on what New Yorkers need to know about the Zika virus.
The meeting, which will be held at the museum's Cullman Hall of the Universe at 81st Street between Columbus and Central Park West, kicks off Thursday at 6 p.m. It will focus on facts and preparation in the face of a worldwide health scare, with panelists including members of the National Institute of Health and the city's Department of Health as well as scientists from AMNH and Columbia.
