We are New York tough and want our state to lead the nation in our response to COVID. After a year of the pandemic, of lives and livelihoods lost, Long COVID, numbers going up and down, it appears that we have quit trying. We are relying only on defense, while variants from abroad and within are working to escape our mitigation. We want to go on offense against the virus.

As such, we would like to offer a solution to this pandemic. A return to the concept of a PAUSE, but paid, and with a purpose: elimination of COVID in our state. It works in mere weeks, and ends the cycle of illness and death. This is the strategy to save thousands of lives and rebuild our battered economy.

Why not try this? Using all available resources to eliminate the virus has been shown to work in Australia, China, New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Atlantic Canada and in more places around the world.

Other countries have locked down with far fewer cases, case rates, hospitalizations and deaths than ours. Yet we are reopening businesses, demanding workers go into unventilated buildings, and removing a quarantine for travelers.

Our memories must be longer than yours. We remember exponential growth and the horrific scenes of one year ago. We have lost people, and many have lost their health.

We have also learned about variants. You may think you can win in your vaccine versus the variants race. But we know who has the head start. We remember that COVID has always been given the head start.

Let us stop this now, before it is too late. New York can do better. We can be a beacon for the rest of the country to follow.

Everyone wins with our proposal:
1. The people, particularly the vulnerable who may not be able to take the vaccine, or for whom the vaccine will not work as well.
2. Businesses that will be able to open at 100% capacity and will not lose customers who are higher risk.
3. Our leaders who have put the needs of the people first.

A study was recently released by the Molinari Economic Institute showing “the elimination strategy (Zero Covid) to be more effective in both health and economic terms than the mitigation strategy applied in many countries.” Zero COVID is fast, it is effective, and will allow us all to live our lives like it is 2019. It does not have to be perfect to work. There will be no more capacity announcements, no limits, and you will have the freedom of waking up in the morning knowing everyone you care about is safe.

We would only need to start with one region, and move across the state, in rolling circuit breaker shutdowns. COVID could be eliminated in some regions in a month. In an average of five weeks, region by region, our state will become a COVID Green Zone. These have well defined criteria and do the opposite of our red zone strategy, in that cases get to zero, stopping transmission.

Specifically, we are asking that you support this Zero COVID Green Zone Strategy:

1) After a positive public information campaign, use the strongest possible action to prevent transmission

Take a 5-week pause on any unnecessary activities that bring people in contact with each other. Only essential services should be allowed to continue operating using maximal transmission prevention protocols (delivery, curbside pickup, wearing masks, social distancing, air purification, and other measures).

Prevent importing cases into and around New York through strict travel restrictions, including mandatory 14-day quarantines for visitors in designated areas. The smaller the local area protected by travel restrictions, the faster the process of getting to zero cases. Then, use a Green Zone Exit Strategy to open protected areas slowly and progressively over a few weeks.

2) Rapidly test and provide support to help people isolate

Rapidly identify cases, isolate them, and offer optional care for them in designated facilities to protect family, friends, and neighbors for those who feel they are unable to isolate safely at home. This prevents household transmission, while providing care for individuals who are sick with testing, contact tracing, and coordination by public health and medical organizations. Testing should include symptom-based mass-testing and other methods such as sewage testing.

3) Ensure a livelihood for all – make the shutdown a paid one

Protect the livelihood of everyone in need of financial support. Vulnerable individuals should receive help—financial resources, employment assurance, mental health care, and other needs—from the community and the government. Regular check-ins with individuals and families by the community make rapid case identification and other forms of support possible.

4) Rapidly Vaccinate
Rapidly vaccinate high-risk individuals—with a focus on essential workers. Mass vaccination may help with transmission prevention and should be used as one of—but not the only—tool to do so.

5) Educate people that COVID is Airborne
Finally, we believe that most people do not understand how COVID is transmitted, and think it is important to have a campaign to educate people about aerosol transmission to speed the pause.

If we take these steps, we can eliminate the virus much sooner than currently projected. If we deploy the ZeroCovid strategy well, we have an opportunity to control the virus, eliminate it neighborhood by neighborhood, and progressively eliminate it across New York. We do not have to live with the virus anymore. Now is the time for New York to take swift, strong, and coordinated action. We could be the first state in the nation to have not just small cookouts by July 4, but concerts, sports, and businesses open at 100% by then as well.

A second ask: There is additional information and contacts at endcoronavirus.org, zerocovid.us, and covidzerony.com, but we ask that you speak with representatives from these organizations; world renowned scientists, who are happy to speak with you at any time to review this information. We can also be contacted via covidzerony@ gmail.com

Some information used in this petition:
Molinari Economic Institute: https://www.institutmolinari.org/2021/04/03/the-zero-covid-strategy-protects-people-and-economies-more-effectively/
COVID Zero: https://www.kxnet.com/news/national-news/after-eliminating-covid-19-new-zealand-pm-says-flattening-curve-wasnt-enough/
Economy and COVID: https://indianapublicmedia.org/news/a-false-choice-how-the-coronavirus-married-public-health-the-economy.php?s=09
Substantial majorities (6 in 10, or more) of Americans support all seven restrictive measures. http://www.thecovidstates.org/ THE COVID STATES PROJECT: A 50-STATE COVID-19 SURVEY REPORT #25: PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR MEASURES AIMED AT CURBING COVID-19
USA, November 2020
Closing schools, bars, workplaces, public events reduces R to safe levels https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30785-4/fulltext
Aerosols: https://time.com/5883081/covid-19-transmitted-aerosols/ https://www.ashrae.org/about/news/2021/ashrae-epidemic-task-force-releases-updated-airborne-transmission-guidance
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132321001955?via%3Dihub#appsec4
Variants: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-as-outdoor-covid-19-transmission-in-alberta-increases-experts-warn-to/
Five reasons why COVID herd immunity is probably impossible: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00728-2