The rapid spread of COVID-19 has prompted containment measures across continents to respond to this urgent crisis. National health care systems, and city/local health care resources have been stretched to the limits. Hospitals and clinics have had to protect their workers on the front-line. Government policies have restricted movement and to varying levels of degree enforced or advised social distancing measures. These stories highlight how communities are containing the virus, stopping or reducing its spread, and how these responses are effectively reworking distribution systems and re-strategizing emergency preparedness.
To explore Containment stories, click on our collections or the selection of tags below.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/26/navajo-nation-covid-19-youth-response-elders-health
Mona Gable
STAT
26 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Across Navajo Nation, young people are coming together to protect their elders through grassroots efforts and campaigns. They’ve created online campaigns, like Protect the Sacred and #NavajoStrong to help provide accurate information, collect donations, deliver medical supplies, and recruit medical professionals. They’ve come together on-the-ground, creating the Northern Dine Covid-19 Relief Effort to get clearing products, fresh food, and other supplies to households on the reservation.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/sweden/2020-05-20/swedens-coronavirus-strategy-should-not-be-worlds
Josh Michaud
Foreign Affairs Magazine
20 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Others can learn from the so-called Swedish model for managing the pandemic, while at the same time should be wary of adopting its undeclared mission to achieve herd immunity. From the start of the crisis, Sweden has placed the responsibility for risk reduction on individuals and businesses rather than through government mandates. The gamble appears to have paid off, as people for the most part behaved responsibly and cautiously, suggesting a less damaging approach for the long haul. But whatever progress the country has made toward widespread immunity carries a big health cost.
https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2020/05/19/powwows-online-indigenous
Dylan Simard
Jennifer Alvarez
Cronkite News - Arizona PBS
19 May 2020
Broadcast TV News / 3-5 Minutes
Powwow season has been curtailed by the social distancing mandates set by the coronavirus, but a Facebook group called Social Distance Powwow is allowing tribes all over the world to participate in a virtual multi-tribal powwow. The group now has over 180,000 members and serves as a space for Indigenous people to share personal stories, sell Indigenous-made artwork, or celebrate their heritage. Nearly 60,000 people participated in one early online powwow, and the co-founders talk about how pleasantly surprised they were to form a space for healing.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/05/17/856016429/senegal-pledges-a-bed-for-every-coronavirus-patient-and-their-contacts-too
Ricci Shryock
NPR
17 May 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
Senegal's success thus far in keeping coronavirus cases at manageable levels is due largely in part to a prioritization of increasing the number of beds available for COVID-19 patients. After years of running epidemic simulations, the Senegalese Health Emergency Operation Center was able to act swiftly when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, and convert hospital beds into ICU beds and hotel room beds into non-emergent beds.
http://tribuneonlineng.com/covid-19-will-south-koreas-model-help-save-nigerias-hospital-bed-shortage
Ifedayo Ogunyemi
Nigerian Tribune
15 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
As a response to hospital bed shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea developed a strategy that divides individuals who tested positive into four categories – mild, moderate, severe, and extremely severe – and placed those on the low end of the spectrum in self-quarantine or Living Treatment Centers (residential buildings requiring few medical personnel). As Nigeria grapples with the same issue, they look to South Korea as a model, but hesitate on making it work in different cultural contexts.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/terminal-island-federal-prison-coronavirus_n_5ebc20f5c5b6f021bf47c008
Ryan J. Reilly
The Huffington Post
15 May 2020
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By rapidly instituting mandatory testing of all inmates at a covid-19-stricken federal prison and segregating ill inmates, authorities reduced the number of new infections within weeks. At one point, nearly 70% of the inmates at the Terminal Island federal prison in San Pedro, California, had tested positive for the coronavirus as it raced through a facility where inmates normally interact constantly in crowded communal areas. As of mid-May, eight inmates had died and more than 500 had recovered.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cszl3c
Kavita Puri
BBC
14 May 2020
Podcast / Over 15 Minutes
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Germany has seen some of the lowest death rates in the world. Reasons behind that rate have been attributed to the widespread, accessible testing and subsequent quarantining of individuals who test positive, as well as the country’s health care capacity and infrastructure. While a success story right now, there is worry that the immediate wins may lead to relaxing on protocol and a second wave.
https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/amid-the-coronavirus-crisis-a-regimen-for-reentry
Atul Gawande
The New Yorker
13 May 2020
Text / Over 3000 Words
As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, attention is starting to shift toward reopening and recovery. Looking to healthcare professionals as models for doing so can help. A five-part strategy, tested and implemented at Boston’s Mass General Brigham hospital, has shown promise in its ability to reduce spread amongst hospital workers. It includes: hand-washing, social distancing, mask-wearing, regular health screenings, and cultural shifts toward working better together as communities. Key to this strategy is employing all of the measures in synchronicity.
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/philadelphia-based-artists-fill-walls-with-hope-and-public-safety-know-how
Emily Nonko
Next City
13 May 2020
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In Philadelphia, a project called Fill the Walls With Hope has come together, pairing public art with hyper-local information. The initiative, which has collaborated with various local organizations, came together as a response to COVID-19 and the need to get out timely, factual public safety messaging. Run by volunteers, the project pays local, participating artists, and has been working with local news outlets to help creatively engage residents.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-13/coronavirus-vietnam-no-deaths-success-in-south-east-asia/12237314
Max Walden
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
12 May 2020
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Vietnam has reported less than 300 COVID-19 cases and no related deaths, earning the government and citizens praise for how the country has thus far tackled the spread of the virus. The country's comprehensive methodology of scalable testing, closure of borders, mandatory quarantine, and public messaging such as "staying home is loving your country," resulted Vietnam not just emerging as an outlier for containment, but has also allowed for local businesses and some tourist attractions to reopen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08cw2yc
Ruth Evans
BBC
12 May 2020
Podcast / Over 15 Minutes
Scientists from Uganda and Australia have worked together to come up with a device that produces oxygen without the use of electricity. Although this solution was originally intended to help address the high rate of children suffering from pneumonia, it is now also relevant for those suffering from respiratory issues due to COVID-19, especially in rural areas.
https://southerlymag.org/2020/05/12/how-a-coastal-louisiana-tribe-is-using-generations-of-resilience-to-handle-the-pandemic
Barry Yeoman
Southerly
12 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw has long had a culture of cyclicality which is now coming in handy during the Coronavirus pandemic. Because they assume that hardship will come after periods of abundance, tribal members prepare for times of scarcity by making do with less, strategizing new ways to produce food, and regularly checking in with elders to ensure their needs are met. The tribe also lives on the coast of Louisiana, so climate change and environmental degradation remain an issue that they include in their future-planning.
https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/ghana-model-developing-countries-coronavirus-pandemic/321842
Eromo Egbejule
OZY
12 May 2020
Multi-Media / 800-1500 Words
Faced with limited resources and the pressure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Ghana implemented a variety of measures during the early stages of the pandemic. Those measures, which include pool testing and drone deliveries to rural areas, may prove to be successful after the country reported "a fatality rate of 0.7 percent per 1 million population." Can other African countries and beyond learn from Ghana's example?
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-52584494/coronavirus-how-south-korea-crushed-the-curve
Laura Bicker
BBC
10 May 2020
Broadcast TV Programs / Under 3 Minutes
South Korea has effectively crushed the curve in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by using extensive tracking and tracing on its citizens. Using a combination of GPS tracking, monitoring CCTV footage, and even checking bank accounts to see where people visited, the government released that information publicly to track those who tested positive and warn those who might be at risk. Acknowledged as an invasion of privacy, it has also kept the country out of lockdown.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2020/05/10/care-center-took-quick-action-stop-coronavirus-and-worked/3099157001
Rory Linnane
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
10 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
A nursing home in Slinger, Wisconsin has emerged as a model for mitigating worst-case scenarios during the COVID-19 pandemic, a stark contrast to many other assisted living facilities across the nation, where the virus has devastated populations. While nursing homes around the nation are changing protocols to address the issue, Autumn Oaks' method of enacting both proactive action and preventative measures has provided a model that health officials are saying could be replicated elsewhere.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-the-pandemic-is-reshaping-hospital-architecture-and-design
Christopher Booker
PBS NewsHour
10 May 2020
Broadcast TV Programs / 5-15 Minutes
Adaptations made as Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City during the COVID-19 outbreak to keep health care workers and patients safe are now being used as a blueprint for how to prepare for future health care crises. Working with doctors, health experts and architects, the hospital documented all changes and studied the effectiveness and applicability of enacting the same measures as a more permanent protocol.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/08/us/seattle-reversed-course-coronavirus/index.html
Jason Kravarik
Sara Sidner
CNN
8 May 2020
Broadcast TV Programs / 3-5 Minutes
When coronavirus first appeared in the United States, Seattle emerged as an epicenter, but just a few months later, the city and state have largely reduced the overall caseload. Local officials say that a unified approach, consisting of a combination of measured governmental action and strategic conversations between leaders and tech giants, was the key to slowing the spread while also gaining buy-in from state residents.
https://laist.com/2020/05/07/homeless-coronavirus-carter-settlement-camping.php
Matt Tinoco
LAist
7 May 2020
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In Los Angeles, a government-sanctioned camp has been developed for individuals experiencing housing insecurity. The camp, with around-the-clock security, offers residents water, meals, health care, and electrical outlets. While more have popped up as a response to slowing the spread of COVID-19 among those living on the streets, there have been arguments made for keeping them as a step toward more secure housing for individuals.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/07/coronavirus-lessons-learned-in-asia-show-us-is-at-risk-of-a-resurge-in-cases-as-states-reopen-businesses.html
William Feuer
CNBC
7 May 2020
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South Korea and Hong Kong have been able to contain the coronavirus without imposing restrictive lockdowns by implementing an aggressive and widespread testing, data sharing and contact tracing regime. In the case of South Korea, the country was able to not just flatten the curve of coronavirus cases in only 20 days, but also maintain a decrease in cases even after a parliamentary election with record-setting turnout numbers.
https://www.richlandsource.com/thrive/catalyst-life-services-provides-masks-to-staff-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-clients/article_252906b2-8f9b-11ea-9392-d3dfb5d476a0.html
Tierra Thomas
Richland Source
7 May 2020
Text / Under 800 Words
Lip-reading is very important for clarification for those who are deaf and hard-of-hearing, but the masks mandated by the coronavirus pandemic hinder that. In response, the nonprofit Catalyst Life Services (which currently serves about 90 deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Richland County) created masks that feature a "window" over the mouth made of clear plastic so that the wearer stays protected and interpretable. So far the nonprofit has made 20 for their community and another 100 for local first responders, but they are looking for more donations and help going forward.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/the-underground-efforts-to-get-masks-to-doctors
Anna Russell
The New Yorker
7 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Communities and medical professionals are working together to create their own mutual aid supply chain as shortages of personal protective equipment plague U.S. hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic. This "temporary but necessary" solution has helped disperse nearly 200,000 masks and thousands of gloves, gowns, goggles, and face shields to hospitals throughout the country by using using community members as the quality control and delivery team for equipment provided by local suppliers.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/07/i-might-have-died-if-hadnt-rescued-me-hotels-for-homeless
Amelia Gentleman
The Guardian
7 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Across England and Wales, over 5,000 individuals experiencing homelessness have found temporary accommodations in hotels. Paid for by the government as part of it’s COVID-19 relief efforts, hotels are working with social services to help provide housing, food, and other basic necessities to those going through housing insecurity. Not without challenges, the initiative has seen zero deaths from the pandemic but those working to help this initiative worry about the long-term.
https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/05/06/roots-community-health-clinic-is-offering-free-testing-starting-tomorrow-and-allen-temple-baptist-church-and-lifelong-medical-care-plans-to-open-another-test-site-soon
Sarah Belle Lin
Berkeleyside
6 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Rather than send local residents to city-run testing sites in the East Bay of California, clinics in East Oakland are now running their own testing sites to better serve their community. Although one of the sites has already tested nearly 100 people and residents who are underinsured or uninsured can be tested for free, some believe the effort should have started much sooner.
https://www.wabe.org/georgia-counties-deploy-ballot-drop-boxes-but-how-long-will-they-be-used
Emil Moffat
WABE
6 May 2020
Radio / Under 3 Minutes
In an emergency COVID-19 measure, the Georgia allowed counties to deploy secure drop boxes for absentee ballots throughout the state. The drop boxes, which are emptied daily and under constant video surveillance, allow for contactless drop offs, without the use of postage.
https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20200505/pandemic-pivoting-how-malaysia-s-social-enterprises-are-responding-the-covid-19
Julie Pybus
Pioneers Post
5 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
As COVID-19 challenges businesses around the world, two Malaysian social enterprise companies have seen success in shifting their offerings. The Biji-biji Initiative, a fashion producer linked with the grassroots Social Textiles movement, quickly pivoted to making face shields and have been able to keep people employed while making the PPE for essential workers. PichaEats, a catering company, quickly shifted to making and delivering food for families and healthcare workers, delivering over 20,000 meals so far.
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