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Connecting Communities | 6th April 2020
Dear colleagues / friends
Greetings from lock-down. Here is today’s newsletter. Thank you for all good suggestions and we are working on incorporating ideas into next issues
Send us links to ‘local’ and other articles for wider sharing - in all languages.
Adapt the newsletter for use in your local networks. Personal stories can be found on our blog at https://bit.ly/39we6RC
Stories with pictures on website at cccovid19.org
Please share with your networks especially community support groups.
’Connecting Communities’ is drafted by WHO public health experts aggregating news from around the world. It aims to provide a selected sampling of 'news for you to use, inform behaviour and help others. Please contribute and pass on to your friends, family, networks. Send stories in any of the eight areas listed below.
Isolation
Hygiene
Working remotely
Virtual classrooms
Community action
Public policies
Maintaining services & health care challenges / opportunities.
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Isolation
Science behind 14-Day Quarantine exposure
If you're one of the many people who are being asked to quarantine for a fortnight, you might be asking: Why 14 days, exactly? The answer has to do with how viruses invade cells and replicate.
1st Apr 2020 - NPR
How not to go crazy with family in isolation
`Very strange times have come. We are trying to overcome them and not lose our temper,` says 34-year-old Annie Reedout. She and her husband and three young children are in isolation after two of the children develop symptoms of coronavirus. Usually Annie conducts online training courses for groups of different ages, now she pays special attention to her school children and compiles a daily schedule for them.
19th Mar 2020 - BBC World Service
Helena and Marissa, two members of MS Trust team who live with MS, chat about how they are coping with self-isolation, and the things that are helping them get through this very strange time.
3rd Apr 2020 - MS Trust
Psychologist shares quarantine tips
The two largest cities of Kazakhstan - Almaty and Nur-Sultan are quarantined, many have switched to remote work, some have chosen a self-isolation mode, and some have been isolated forcibly for medical reasons. Now there's a need to understand how not to succumb to fear and maintain an upbeat frame of mind in such a difficult situation? Psychologist Victoria Chebotnikova, PhD in Psychology, with experience of 14 years, shares her advice with correspondents from MIA Kazinform.
25th Mar 2020 - MIA Kazinform
Hygiene help
Life under coronavirus means staying at home as much as possible - but you'll likely need to make a trip to the grocery store or pharmacy at some point. Download or print this tip sheet to make sure you don't bring the virus back home with you.
6th Apr 2020 - CNN
A guide to Grocery Shopping for families
We spoke with experts about how to stay safe while grocery shopping during the pandemic. Here are their top seven tips for keeping the coronavirus (and the disease it causes, COVID-19) at bay.
4th Apr 2020 - msnNOW
Should You Keep Wearing Contacts? Glasses maybe a better choice
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) recently revealed that conjunctivitis-aka pink eye, an irritation of the eye that can cause redness, swelling, and discharge-may be a rare, early symptom of COVID-19. Now, the AAO is issuing a number of coronavirus eye safety tips-and one includes opting out of wearing contact lenses for the time being.
3rd Apr 2020 Health.com
One of the reasons all this cleaning is so essential is that some now believe the virus can `live` on some surfaces. In fact, we've been pretty much inundated with headlines - written, of course, to maximize the scare factor - that the bug can last for up to three days on certain surfaces. All these stories are quoting a National Institutes of Health study that says, in laboratory conditions, the novel coronavirus could survive for up to three days on plastic and stainless steel.
3rd Apr 2020 - The Telegram
The coronavirus outbreak has nearly everyone super conscious about what sort of germs and viral detritus they are traipsing into their home after spending time outside. After all, no one wants to bring any unwanted contagion into their house. So, what are the best practices for keeping your living space safe and virus-free? Here are some essential coronavirus hygiene tips to follow right now.
3rd Apr 2020 - Best Life Online
CNN shows how to disinfect groceries
@drsanjaygupta demonstrates how to properly disinfect your groceries - The risk of contracting coronavirus from handling food or food packaging is very low, but for those who are concerned, here are a few guidelines: Any household cleaner will do. Be sure to have a clean area and a dirty area. And if you wear gloves, be sure to take them off the right way so you don't contaminate yourself.
3rd Apr 2020 - CNN
Hygiene tips to see you through the crisis
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, sales of hand sanitisers have soared. It's become such a sought-after product that pharmacies and supermarkets have started limiting the number that people can buy at one time. New York state has even announced it will start producing its own hand sanitiser to meet demand. Though hand sanitisers can help reduce our risk of catching certain infections, not all hand sanitisers are equally effective against coronavirus.
19th Mar 2020 - We Forum
Community Activities
1,000 volunteer therapists sign up to provide free support to NHS workers
A group of therapists set up the website frontline19.com so doctors, nurses and other NHS staff can access counselling services online during the Covid-19 lockdown. Organisers said 2,000 NHS staff had registered for help in the first three days alone, with a further 10,000 people attempting to access the service in the past two days.
3rd Apr 2020 - The Independent
Video applauding NY medical workers
Video applauding and celebrating the medical workers on New York
6th Apr 2020 - Personal Video
Edinburgh Airbnb help homelessness crisis
Housing bosses in Scotland's capital have finally moved all homeless families with children out of unsuitable B&Bs after Airbnb properties and hotel rooms were left empty by the coronavirus lockdown. With assistance by charity Streetwork, 120 hotel bedrooms, currently empty due to the lockdown, and 65 flats including former Airbnb properties, have been transformed into safe accommodation for Edinburgh's homeless families and rough sleepers.
5th Apr 2020 - HeraldScotland
'Dalek' tells humans to 'stay inside' and 'self isolate'
One thing that we really didn't expect to see in all of this was a Dalek from Doctor Who, parading the streets telling everyone to self-isolate. Yes. That is something that has actually happened and was captured by Twitter user Ben and at the time of writing has already been viewed more than 2 million times.
5th Apr 2020 - indy100
Elton John launches $1m fund to help protect people with HIV during pandemic
Elton John has launched a new $1 million (£815,000) fund to help protect those who have HIV during the coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday, the singer shared a video on his social media accounts to announce the launch of the `Covid-19 Emergency Fund`, which has been made available by his non-profit organisation the Elton John Aids Foundation.
4th Apr 2020 - The Independent
Brooklyn landlord cancels rents
3rd Apr 2020 - The New York Times
Landlords offer free homes to NHS workers
Merilee Karr, a co-founder of the Short Term Accommodation Association, set up NHS Homes a fortnight ago. The site aims to put health staff in touch with landlords willing to offer properties for free or next to nothing. Mrs Karr, who also runs the luxury letting service Under the Doormat, said the short-term letting market was down by 90%. As a result, many in the industry had empty properties and were willing to help out. About 400 rooms are now listed through NHS Homes, worth a combined total of £1.2m in rent a month.
3rd Apr 2020 - BBC News
North Bristol NHS Trust staff thank public
Staff at Southmead Hospital have thanked members of the public for staying inside in a new video filmed at the hospital. `You've clapped for us, now it's our turn,` said Hannah Cook, video co-director. To the tune of I'll Be There For You by The Rembrandts, best known as the theme from Friends, North Bristol NHS Trust staff dance and sing through Southmead Hospital.
3rd Apr 2020 - Bristol247
Virus leads to 15 free Internet programmes
Various companies and services and famous people make their content free so that users around the world, while quarantined, have something to do in their free time.
25th Mar 2020 NV.ua
Working remotely
Creating and organising home office spaces can be a great way to find balance in places that once signified rest and privacy, but have more recently been split between peoples' professional and personal lives. For some workers, this has meant bringing pieces from their workplace offices to their home work stations, while others seek ways to make their work stations feel cosy and inviting.
3rd Apr 2020 - CNBC
Permanent shift of employees - Survey
Finance leaders, scouring balance sheets for costs to cut, are considering reducing the need for office space by permanently shifting a portion of employees to working remotely, according to a survey released Friday. Allowing employees to work from home, which was once considered a perk for senior employees or hotly sought-after hires, is now a lifeline for countless companies hoping to keep operations running amid social-distancing measures aimed at slowing the COVID-19 outbreak.
3rd Apr 2020 - Forbes
Goldman Sachs - Remote working could 'attract' new employees
Even after the coronavirus pandemic calms down, Solomon believes the company will continue to see an increase in the use of video conferencing and become more comfortable with that type of technology. `It will make us more comfortable in providing more flexibility to employees, which, by the way, makes this a more attractive place for people to work,` said Solomon.
3rd Apr 2020 - CNBC
Virtual Classrooms
Pandemic is reshaping education
Students will take ownership over their learning, understanding more about how they learn, what they like, and what support they need. They will personalize their learning, even if the systems around them won't. Schleicher believes that genie cannot be put back in the bottle. `Real change takes place in deep crisis,` he says. `You will not stop the momentum that will build.`
3rd Apr 2020 - Quartz
5-point model to deliver online learning
When I took a fresh look at Rosenshine's Principals of Instruction, I saw that there was enormous potential in using them as guiding principles for setting work remotely in a way that would have the greatest chance of helping pupils to learn at home. This is what I learnt
3rd Apr 2020 - TES News
Teachers must lead schools' response
One of the world's leading educationalists outlines 17 points that may have been overlooked by system-leaders in the rush to react to coronavirus
3rd Apr 2020 - TES News
Biggest online education push by BBC
The BBC will offer daily programmes to help parents and children with schoolwork at home during the lockdown. Starting on 20 April, videos, quizzes, podcasts and articles will appear on BBC Bitesize Daily via the BBC iPlayer, red button, BBC Four and BBC Sounds. Children's lessons will feature presenters including Oti Mabuse, Katie Thistleton and Karim Zeroual. BBC director general Tony Hall called it "the biggest education effort the BBC has ever undertaken."
3rd Apr 2020 - BBC News
Does your kid hate remote learning?
Even so, getting him to sit down and actually do it has been hard at times. Typically, he's the kid who runs into the classroom every morning without looking back at us once. He loves his teachers and his classmates. But Zoom morning meetings with a bunch of fidgety 5-year-olds on mute are painful. His father and I don't have the skills or the patience to make even his super simple math exercises fun. Often, he'll resist, begging for Legos again. Or TV. Anything but learning with mom and dad.
3rd Apr 2020 - Huffington Post
Virtual Learning in the future of Higher Ed
By freeing resources from courses that can be commoditised, colleges would have more resources to commit to research-based teaching, personalized problem solving, and mentorship. The students would also have more resources at their disposal, too, because they wouldn't have to reside and devote four full years at campuses. They would take commoditized courses online at their convenience and at much cheaper cost.
31st Mar 2020 - Harvard Business Review
Is his is what freedom means for students?
Italian students and students all over the world back CNN's #MyFreedomCampaign which highlights the plight of some young people without it across the world and encourages the young to become knowledgeable about how to recognise it and how to help. With the advent of virtual schooling as a consequence of the coronavirus lockdown, events like this have growing importance in educating and informing young people about how they can get involved
11th Mar 2020 - La Repubblica
Public Policies
Tokyo wrestles with possible lockdown
The Northeast Asia democracies - Japan, South Korea and Taiwan - have so far resisted China- or Europe-style lockdowns in their major cities to counter the spread of the novel coronavirus. Now, Tokyo is quietly making preparations for exactly that. However, Tokyo's governor, lacking legal mechanisms, may have to rely on Japanese culture to empower her move. As a result, it is not clear whether the lockdown - if, indeed, it happens - will come in the form of a polite request from the city governor for Tokyoites to stay home, or will be backed by tough measures with police on the streets and public transport at a standstill.
6th Apr 2020 - Asia Times
India Ban on Hydroxychloroquine, Malaria
U.S. president has continued to tout the unproven remedy - Hydroxychloroquine not approved in U.S. for Covid-19 treatment
5th Apr 2020 - Bloomberg
Sweden determined it has smarter strategy Some scientists back the government in not bringing in a lockdown but others fear the nation is blindly heading for a cliff edge.
4th Apr 2020 - Sky News
Most workplaces to close, schools move to full home-based learning
Explaining why the Government decided to take such a step, the Prime Minister Lee said Singapore has routinely seen more than 50 new cases daily over the past two weeks, despite best efforts of the authorities to curb the outbreak. "Initially, many of the new cases were imported from overseas, mostly returning Singaporeans. Then last week, we began to have more local cases. Furthermore, despite our good contact tracing, for nearly half of these cases, we do not know where or from whom the person caught the virus," he said. "This suggests that there are more people out there who are infected, but who have not been identified. And they may be passing the virus unknowingly to others," he said.
3rd Apr 2020 - The Straits Times
WHO warns of Hasty Exits lockdown cycle
The World Health Organization warned countries against abruptly dropping restrictions aimed at slowing the new coronavirus's march around the world, saying that careful planning is needed to prevent an economically destructive cycle of repeated lockdowns. A transition strategy is vital to avoid repeated quarantines, Mike Ryan, the head of the WHO's emergencies program, said at a press briefing in Geneva. `If we lurch from lockdown to poor control back to lockdown and back to poor control, that is not what anybody needs right now,` Ryan said.
3rd Apr 2020 - Bloomberg
Maintaining Services
New anti-viral disinfectant used to clean London's transport network
A new anti-viral disinfectant that protects for up to 30 days is being used on London's public transport network, Transport For London (TFL) has said. The product has been used on "our entire fleet of over 600 Tube trains, all our London Underground stations that are open, Dial-a-Ride fleet, Victoria Coach Station and 33 of our key bus stations," TFL said.
3rd Apr 2020 - Sky News
Uber provide NHS staff free trips and meals
Uber will give away hundreds of thousands of free trips and meals to NHS staff working on the frontlines during the coronavirus outbreak. The taxi and food delivery company said that as of Monday 30 March, it will offer 200,000 complimentary trips and 100,000 meals to medical staff in order to support them while they work with patients who have been infected by Covid-19.
3rd Apr 2020 - The Independent
[Photo] Samsung support for ‘mask’ companies with production problems
The Samsung Group has announced that it has been providing technical and production support to companies making protective masks to alleviate the national shortage. Samsung said that it has been sending production experts to small and medium-sized firms to help them streamline their production processes. Samsung has also been directly making mask production moulds and providing them to companies. Samsung claims that its aid has helped companies produce 20% more masks and cut down on distribution time by 50%.
25th Mar 2020 - The Hankyoreh
Healthcare Innovations
U.S.Hospitals ventilator shortage. Rice Engineers offer solution.
The device they've designed has piqued the interest of government officials and large manufacturers hoping to address the coronavirus crisis.
30th Mar 2020 - Texas Monthly
Sleep apnea machines could help less severe patients during ventilator shortage
Vanderbilt University doctors and engineers have created a DIY ventilator made of a windshield wiper motor and plywood which can be easily replicated. Another potential solution -for less severely ill patients- could be machines which help treat an ailment affecting millions of Americans; CPAP and BiPAP machines. Both machines create positive airway pressure which helps to prevent the collapse of airways.
2nd Apr 2020 - WZTV
CPAP machines converted to ventilators
A group of Auburn University engineers has developed a way to quickly and inexpensively convert CPAP machines into ventilators, one of the most important tools hospitals have for helping COVID-19 patients. Continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machines are commonly used to help people with obstructive sleep apnea breathe more easily during sleep. The Auburn design, called RE-INVENT, is an accessory that would safely repurpose a CPAP into a functional ventilator. Ventilators are in short supply at hospitals across the nation as the number of patients requiring respiratory assistance due to COVID-19 rises.
2nd Apr 2020 - PR Newswire
2 more Nightingale hospitals announced
Two more Nightingale hospitals are to be opened to help deal with the rising number of coronavirus cases, the NHS has said. The new sites, in Bristol and Harrogate, will provide up to 1,500 extra beds for patients with Covid-19. Similar hospitals are also due to open at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre and Manchester's Central Complex. A 4,000-bed facility at London's ExCel centre is due to open later. The new hospitals will be used to treat patients from around their respective regions.
3rd Apr 2020 - BBC News
Formula 1 team build a breathing machine
Formula 1 team, Mercedes-AMG, obtained approval for a device which it can quickly manufacture by the thousand. The machine is not a ventilator, but a breathing aid of a type known as a continuous-positive-airway-pressure (CPAP) device. These are typically used to assist people who have breathing problems to sleep more soundly. The machine delivers air at slightly above atmospheric pressure via a mask placed over the nose and mouth.
3rd Apr 2020 - The Economist