 Cities have triumphed over disease in the past and they will again now, says Catherine Brinkley, assistant professor of community and regional development at University of California Davis. The 1793 yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia killed 10% of the city's population. In response, the city took on the costly job of cleaning the streets. The city had relied on pigs to remove waste and slops thrown out of windows. Over the next 50 years, cities added alleyways to allow for garbage removal. Central Park in New York City was put in place in the wake of cholera outbreaks in the 1850s. Authorities began to believe that open space in cities improved human and environmental health. The park also has a reservoir to deliver fresh clean water, limiting the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera. Airborne diseases, however, are harder to combat even today. That's because physical distancing and business closures are difficult to maintain over a long period of time. But cities are trying some measures, such as closing some streets to cars. That allows people to get outside and walk while still maintaining some distance from others, a benefit for residents physical and mental health. Anti-poverty centers, city agencies launched after the 2008 Great Recession, are now focused on anti-eviction legislation to prevent homelessness during the pandemic. The thinking is that protecting the most vulnerable protects everyone.