As of June 27, 2022, deliveries of “Take Care” packages and food through Take Care and the GetFood program ended. Two years since their inception, Take Care and its GetFood program have worked hand-in-hand to provide the best possible resources for New Yorkers isolating or quarantining at home. These services helped to keep those at home safe with all the assistance they needed.

If a positive case or their close contact decided they wanted to separate at their own home, the NYC Test & Trace Corps provided them with meals and medication delivery on top of equipment for daily health monitoring of COVID-19 symptoms in their “Take Care” packages.

The “Take Care” package contained enough personal protective equipment for a household of three to quarantine or isolate for 10 days. Cases and contacts were asked whether they’d like a package and to verify their address when they completed their intake.

By working with Resource Navigators, the Test & Trace Corps provided information and support to improve access to services, often local to the neighborhoods where cases and contacts resided. Clients then could ask their Case Investigator or Monitor to refer them to a Resource Navigator who could connect them to the resources they needed delivered.

Resource Network

Impact

The legacy of the programs remains as a vital and integral part of New York City’s pandemic response to New Yorkers with COVID. GetFood reached nearly 200,000 clients during its program tenure – all in all, delivering more than 2.1 million meals to isolating New Yorkers. In June 2022, more than 2,000 Care Packages were delivered – bringing the total to more than 581,000 packages during the course of the pandemic. In total, Resource Navigators reached more than 524,000 New Yorkers with acute COVID during the pandemic for wraparound services.

Other notable achievements of Take Care and GetFood by the end of June 2022:

• 86% COVID hotline calls connected to resources
• 11 meals on average sent to isolating New Yorkers
• 4.8 million separate interactions with clients since the launch of Take Care

Looking forward

Test & Trace continues to work in the best interest of New Yorkers and to make sure that anyone who tests positive for or has been exposed to COVID-19 has the resources they need to stay home and safely separate from others to help prevent the spread of the virus.

For the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAB), please call 311 or visit https://access.nyc.gov/programs/emergency-food-assistance/ to learn more about enrolling and/or where to find local food pantries.

For assistance with COVID-19 treatments, vaccination appointments, and resources for Long COVID (Aftercare), please call 212-COVID-19 (212-268-4319).

See additional resources on the “How to Safely Separate at Home” page.