PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed many social, economic, environmental, and healthcare determinants of health in New York City (NYC) and worldwide. COVID-19 potentially heightened the risk of heat-related health impacts in NYC, particularly on the most vulnerable communities, who often lack equitable access to adequate cooling mechanisms such as air conditioning (AC) and good quality green space. Here, we review some of the policies and tools which have been developed to reduce vulnerability to heat in NYC. We then present results from an online pilot survey of members of the environmental justice organization WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT) between July 11 and August 8, 2020, which asked questions to evaluate how those in Northern Manhattan coped with elevated summer heat in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also make some policy recommendations based on our initial findings. Results of our pilot survey suggest that people stayed indoors more due to COVID-19 and relied more on AC units to stay cool. Survey responses also indicated that some avoided visiting green spaces due to concerns around overcrowding and did not regularly frequent them due to the distance from their homes. The responses also demonstrate a potential racial disparity in AC access; AC ownership and access was highest amongst white and lowest amongst Latino/a/x and Black respondents. The impacts of COVID-19 have highlighted the need to accelerate efforts to improve preparedness for extreme heat like the City of New York\'s AC and cooling center programs, heat ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) retrofitting, equitable green space expansion, and stronger environmental justice community networks and feedback mechanisms to hear from affected residents. Conducting a survey of this kind annually may provide an additional effective component of evaluating cooling initiatives in NYC.
摘要：
2019年冠状病毒病(COVID-19)大流行改变了许多社会，经济,环境,以及纽约市（NYC）和全球健康的医疗保健决定因素。COVID-19可能会增加纽约市与热有关的健康影响的风险，特别是在最脆弱的社区，他们往往缺乏公平的机会获得足够的冷却机制，如空调(AC)和优质的绿地。这里,我们回顾了一些已经制定的政策和工具，以减少在纽约市对热的脆弱性。然后，我们展示了2020年7月11日至8月8日期间对环境司法组织WEACT环境司法(WEACT)成员进行的在线试点调查的结果，该调查提出了一些问题，以评估曼哈顿北部地区的人们如何应对COVID-19大流行期间夏季高温的天气。我们还根据我们的初步发现提出了一些政策建议。我们的试点调查结果表明，由于COVID-19，人们更多地呆在室内，更多地依赖空调来保持凉爽。调查答复还表明，由于担心人满为患，一些人避免参观绿地，并且由于与房屋的距离较远，因此不经常光顾绿地。答复还表明，在AC访问方面存在潜在的种族差异；AC所有权和访问权在白人中最高，在拉丁裔/a/x和黑人受访者中最低。新冠肺炎的影响凸显了我们需要加快努力，提高对极端高温的准备，比如纽约市的空调和制冷中心计划，热通风和空调（HVAC）改造，公平的绿色空间扩张，以及更强大的环境司法社区网络和反馈机制，以听取受影响居民的意见。每年进行此类调查可能会为评估纽约市的冷却计划提供额外的有效组成部分。
