Pandemic Influenza Plan - Questar III

Section 8: Travel-Related Disease Control and Community Prevention
meet these needs (e.g., American Red Cross). Local agencies already engaged in
providing services to the homebound (e.g., Meals-on-Wheels) may become the nucleus
for voluntary efforts to provide services to people confined to their homes or specialized
facilities. Additional volunteers may be needed to assist with community support
activities.
Certain groups will be hard to reach, including people whose primary language is not
English, people who are homeless, and people who are hearing and visually impaired.
Services may be especially important for older adults who are likely to be most impacted
by pandemic influenza. Service providers must be identified who can ensure that
information and services are accessible to these hard to reach/special needs groups.
D. Additional Considerations
1. Public Information and Understanding of Disease Containment Measures
The success of travel-related disease control and community prevention activities
described above relies on a coordinated public information campaign targeted at
improving public understanding of pandemic influenza and the benefits of individual and
community wide disease control practices, including social-distancing measures that
reduce disease transmission and prevent illness and death. The success of disease control
will be facilitated by clear communication of the rationale for and duration of
containment measures. The public information campaign may include information
hotlines and community triage resources.
2. Legal Implications
A general guide to New York State laws governing public health emergency
preparedness and response (including reference to isolation and quarantine) is included in
Section 1: Command and Control.
A review of pertinent legal authorities, laws and procedures for isolation and quarantine,
closing businesses or schools, and suspending public meetings during a declared state of
emergency is necessary. The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH),
Division of Legal Affairs, has developed a Model Voluntary Home Isolation Agreement
and a Model Voluntary Home Quarantine Agreement (Appendix 8-H) for LHD use when
asking a suspect or probable influenza patient or contact to submit to voluntary isolation
or quarantine. The LHD should provide the appropriate agreement to patients with
influenza symptoms or contacts as a means to instruct them on the necessary infection
control precautions to be taken to prevent transmission to family members, friends, and
other outside contacts. These agreements are not legally binding contracts with the
patient or contact, but they clearly spell out what the LHD expects of the patient or
contact and his/her family. These agreements may also be useful as evidence for the
LHD in any subsequent court proceeding seeking involuntary isolation or quarantine, as
it would show what was expected of the patient or contact and that the patient or contact
was informed of these expectations, and that the LHD tried voluntary measures prior to
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