Patient-zero drill put health facilities to the test—40% of them failed

Health officials in New York conducted unannounced tests between January and June 2026 to evaluate pandemic preparedness across healthcare facilities. During the drills, professional actors visited 73 facilities feigning symptoms of an H5 bird flu infection, a virus with pandemic potential. To pass the test, facilities were required to give the patient a mask and move them to an isolation room.

Overall, 40 percent of the tested locations failed the evaluation. Only 60 percent of all facilities successfully masked and isolated the actors. Emergency departments performed at 55 percent, while clinics passed at 68 percent and urgent care centers at 67 percent. Among the facilities that passed, fewer than half met the speed goals of masking the patient within one minute and isolating them within 10 minutes.

Additionally, staff at only 55 percent of the facilities notified or planned to notify internal infection control staff. Officials noted that the drills exposed a clear need for further staff training on earlier identification, masking, and isolation of infectious patients.