During the exercise, which took place between January and June 2026, stakeholders visited 73 health facilities. Most were in New York (52), including 15 in New York outside the city, three in New Jersey, and three in the U.S. Virgin Islands (which the United States considers part of the same health region).
Stakeholders primarily visited emergency departments (42 of 73), but also hospital outpatient clinics (19 of 73) and urgent care centers (12 of 73). The facilities had agreed to participate in the exercises but did not know when they would take place.
Fail grades
Overall, only 60 percent (44 of 73) of facilities masked and isolated actors. Only about 55 percent of emergency departments did both, while 68 percent of clinics and 67 percent of urgent cares succeeded. Eighteen percent of facilities did not offer masks to patients who had a cough and reported a fever.
Of those who masked and isolated, less than half (43%) did so within the one-minute time limit, and less than half (48%) transferred the patient to an isolation room within the 10-minute time limit. Outpatient clinics had a median isolation time of 20 minutes, with at least one clinic taking almost an hour. Overall, the median time to mask was 2 minutes and the median time to isolate was 11 minutes.
Most healthcare facilities (93%) reviewed the actor’s symptoms. But despite the dead duck story, staff at only seven of the 73 facilities asked questions specific to avian flu exposure.
Clinicians interacting with actors inconsistently wore recommended personal protective equipment (gloves, mask, gown, and eye protection). Only 25 percent wore all recommended PPE; 6 percent did not wear one. Nineteen percent of clinicians did not wear masks or respirators. Staff at only 40 of 73 facilities (55%) notified or planned to notify internal infection prevention and control (IPC) staff, as recommended.
Low success rates and long lead times spell trouble. “Waiting areas in healthcare facilities can be high-risk environments for transmission of respiratory viruses if appropriate IPC measures are not implemented,” the authors point out.
These poor results may also overestimate readiness. Not all health facilities invited to participate in the exercises agreed to do them – and those that refused may have had even worse results. Additionally, even if the exercises were not announced, some facilities may have been notified, which could have improved their results.
Gn Health
