New York City has emerged as the global epicenter for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The city's public health system, New York City Health + Hospitals, has been key to the city's response because its vulnerable patient population is disproportionately affected by the disease. As the number of cases rose in the city, NYC Health + Hospitals carried out plans to greatly expand critical care capacity. Primary intensive care unit (ICU) spaces were identified and upgraded as needed, and new ICU spaces were created in emergency departments, procedural areas, and other inpatient units. Patients were transferred between hospitals to reduce strain. Critical care staffing was supplemented by temporary recruits, volunteers, and Department of Defense medical personnel. Supplies needed to deliver critical care were monitored closely and replenished to prevent interruptions. An emergency department action team was formed to ensure that the experience of front-line providers was informing network-level decisions. The steps taken by NYC Health + Hospitals greatly expanded its capacity to provide critical care during an unprecedented surge of COVID-19 cases in NYC. These steps, along with lessons learned, could inform preparations for other health systems during a primary or secondary surge of cases.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Sacred and Profane LivelihoodTIINA ÄIKÄS, ANNA-KAISA PUPUTTI, MILTON NÚÑEZ, JOUNI ASPI and JARI OKKONEN In this paper, animal offerings at Sámi sacrificial sites, sieidi (SaaN), will be discussed from an archaeological and a zooarchaeological point of view. Offerings are seen as a part of daily subsistence activities where the border between sacred and profane was fuzzy and transient. We take the position that animal offerings cannot be interpreted as ritual actions clearly separated from everyday life, but, rather, we have to take into account that the relationship between offerings and livelihood was seen as a dynamic one in a holistic worldview. We discuss archaeological finds from three sieidi sites as examples and claim that the offerings taken to sieidi sites tell us about daily subsistence strategies but at the same time also about the relationship between people and animals in the worldview of the Sámi.