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://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seattles-success-at-fighting-the-pandemic/id699004174?i=1000513356546
Mike Baker
Bill Radke
KUOW
16 March 2021
Radio Talk Show / 5-15 Minutes
Despite a tumultuous start to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seattle area has one of the lowest per capita death rates of any metro area in the United States. Because of actions taken early on by government officials and individuals, they were able to save lives and prevent an economic downturn due to lockdowns. This longterm investment in public health infrastructure could be a model for other cities.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/03/how-the-west-lost-covid-19.html
David Wallace-Wells
New York Magazine
15 March 2021
Text / Over 3000 Words
Although no universal set of policies were likely to have prevented the spread of Covid-19, the general inaction and lax interventions by countries in the western hemisphere prevented Europe, North America, and South America from containing the spread of the virus. Comparatively, actions taken by governments and citizens in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia allowed that region to prevent a high death toll. Similarly in East Asia, South-East Asia, and Oceania, the region experienced "inarguable success."
https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/how-norways-prisons-have-weathered-pandemic
Ted Alcorn
Think Global Health
12 March 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
When Covid-19 threatened to disrupt Norway's correctional system, the country's prisons and jails were quick to pivot their practices to protect those who were incarcerated. Although it helped that the country's correctional system was already known for being "small, responsive, and humane," more protocols were put into place to allow some who were incarcerated to complete their sentence at home, while others were provided with iPads to decrease isolation while visits were restricted. So far, only 60 cases of Covid-19 have been reported throughout the entire prison system.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/us/coronavirus-seattle-success.html
Mike Baker
The New York Times
11 March 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
When Covid-19 cases began to be reported in Washington state, the state government – at the suggestion of local health officials – enacted some of the most stringent restrictions in the nation. Although these actions did not come without trade-offs, in Seattle, the strategy has resulted in "the lowest death rate of the 20 largest metropolitan regions in the country."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/health/covid-vaccine-leftover-doses-dr-b.html
Katie Thomas
The New York Times
9 March 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
To help with the coronavirus vaccine distribution, a New York-based start-up has introduced a service that connects "vaccine providers who find themselves with extra vaccines to people who are willing to get one at a moment’s notice." Although the project is still being piloted, more than 500,000 vaccination-seekers and 200 vaccine providers have signed up for the initiative, and some health officials believe it could become a model for a more equitable distribution strategy.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-08/california-high-school-reopened-no-covid-outbreaks
Anita Chabria
Brian van der Brug
Los Angeles Times
8 March 2021
Multi-Media / 800-1500 Words
Jesuit High School in Northern California has remained open in full for two months without encountering a single outbreak of Covid-19 amongst school attendants. While it hasn't been inexpensive, the parochial school routinely conducts districtwide on-site rapid coronavirus tests and attributes this protocol to the overall success.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/health/coronavirus-rhode-island.html
Apoorva Mandavilli
The New York Times
5 March 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Rhode Island was commended by many for keeping the case rate relatively low, but a combination of factors quickly reversed that trend. Although some reasons for the state's failure had to do with demographics – such as a heavily elderly population – other failures that could have been avoided included a general lack of precautions for medical staff who were treating potential, but unconfirmed Covid patients.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/04/they-track-every-move-how-us-parole-apps-created-digital-prisoners
Todd Feathers
The Guardian
4 March 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
State and federal parole officials have rushed during the pandemic to embrace the use of smartphone apps that monitor the location and behavior of a person on parole. The apps and related data analytics save courts money and time by easing the need for face-to-face meetings. While there are potential benefits as well for the people being monitored, such as not wearing stigmatizing and uncomfortable ankle monitors, some complain the apps are even more intrusive than traditional monitoring – and perhaps more apt to lead to technical violations of parole that can land people back in prison.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/03/coronavirus-testing-just-might-keep-schools-pandemic-safe/618197
Katherine J. Wu
The Atlantic
4 March 2021
Text / Over 3000 Words
In Massachussetts, a two-month long state-run pilot program is allowing some schools to resume in-person classes. Each week, more than 300,000 students are tested through the program. Instead of individual tests, the program uses “pool-testing,” “which batches samples from multiple people into a single tube.” The method is cheaper. The weekly tests allows schools to stay ahead of outbreaks. For now, the state is paying for the program, which costs up to $60 million. After the two months, the districts will have to pay for the program themselves.
http://www.the74million.org/article/bucking-the-trend-how-2-d-c-principals-restored-black-parents-trust-in-returning-kids-to-the-classroom
Taylor Swaak
The 74
28 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Principals in the D.C. area have developed tailored approaches to rebuild trust with families who are wary of letting their children return to in-person classes amid the pandemic. These approaches include close, constant communication with parents, including handing out personal phone numbers, as well as heightened transparency regarding the measures each school is taking to keep students and teachers safe, and one-on-one tours with families.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-19-college-university-campus-cases-testing
Betsy Ladyzhets
Science News
23 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Universities are breeding grounds for COVID-19. In August and September they had to figure out the best way to test, control, and contain a virus on campus. Across the country universities launched a plethora of methods: weekly testing, staggered testing, training student health ambassadors, and even a community court. These article highlights the endeavors of 5 universities.
https://news.wbfo.org/post/green-house-nursing-homes-kept-covid-cases-low-small-sizes-private-rooms-universal-workers
Tom Dinki
WBFO
22 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
The Green House Project, which is a network model of nursing homes across states, has been able to largely avoid the spread of Covid-19 amongst residents, with five times fewer cases than the national nursing home average. While the small size of the nursing homes has played a role, it has also been beneficial that each resident has their own bedroom and bathroom and that staff employ a universal worker model that limits the number of nursing assistants coming and going from each facility.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/washingtons-vaccine-planning-fell-short-on-logistics-creating-chaos-and-mistrust
Evan Bush
Mike Reicher
The Seattle Times
14 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Because Washington state health officials failed to prioritize the planning of basic logistics for disseminating the COVID vaccine, the state quickly fell behind others in vaccinating the most vulnerable and at risk. Realizing that a significant part of the failure stemmed from a reliance on the already overtaxed healthcare sector to deliver the vaccine, the state has since enlisted the National Guard to provide vaccinations at various sites and has seen some improvement.
https://tol.org/client/article/ppe-for-the-people.html
Kathrin Yaromich
Transitions Online
10 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, volunteers across Belarus worked together to collect and deliver personal protective equipment to frontline workers, despite the Belarusian government denying the spread of the coronavirus. Using social media to organize, the volunteers "served as a kind of SWAT team able to bypass the bureaucracy to obtain the necessary equipment."
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/02/coronavirus-pandemic-bhutan/617976
Madeline Drexler
The Atlantic
10 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Despite being a small and historically underresourced nation, Bhutan has managed to contain the spread of the coronavirus and avoid all but one death from the virus during the entire duration of the pandemic thus far. Government officials acted swiftly when news of the novel coronavirus became public and implemented immediate testing, contact tracing, and quarantine measures that were well-received by citizens. According to a local journalist, "I don’t think any other country can say that leaders and ordinary people enjoy such mutual trust. This is the main reason for Bhutan’s success.”
https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/a-handful-of-washington-schools-are-rapid-testing-staff-and-students-for-covid-19-is-it-working
Hannah Furfaro
The Seattle Times
8 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
13 Washington school districts are piloting COVID-19 testing. By doing so, they can catch stop asymptomatic people from spreading the virus, offer testing to families who might not have access, and add a “sense of security for many staff members who are nervous.” Three of the districts participating “have tested more than 4,000 people using nearly 10,000 tests.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/sports/football/seahawks-coronavirus-nfl.html
Ken Belson
The New York Times
5 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
During the NFL's 2020/21 season, "700 players, coaches and other team personnel tested positive for the coronavirus," but none of those individuals were associated with the Seattle Seahawks – the only team that lasted the entire season without one positive case. The Seahawks enacted strict protocols such as dividers between showers and lockers, upgraded ventilation systems, daily testing, and a mobile meal app, but they also relied on innovative tactics like creating a competition for which position group could maintain the fewest close contacts.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21493812/smallpox-eradication-vaccines-infectious-disease-covid-19
Kelsey Piper
Vox
5 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The eradication of smallpox offers lessons and insight for health officials and governments focused on containing the novel coronavirus and avoiding future pandemics. Although COVID-19 presents unique challenges – such as asymptomatic transmission – lessons from the smallpox era show that "a well-funded, well-supported public health system" was a key to success.
https://thecurrentla.com/2021/antibody-infusions-are-stemming-covid-hospitalizations-in-lafayette_sojo
Nicole Mistretta
The Current
4 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Hospitals in Louisiana are using a monoclonal antibody infusion treatment to help the most at-risk patients recover from Covid-19. Although this treatment comes with limitations – including a 10-day window of when it must be administered – it has shown significant overall mortality declines when used.
https://www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/NEOCHQnA020321.aspx
Conor Morris
FreshWater Cleveland
3 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
During 2020, the city of Cleveland reduced the rate of people experiencing homelessness by 30% due to provisions put in place to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Using eviction moratoriums for those at risk of losing their homes, and hotels for those who were unhoused, the agencies responding to homelessness along with the city and county were able to better engage with the community's needs.
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/02/02/these-states-found-the-secret-to-covid-19-vaccination-success
Elaine S. Povich
Stateline
2 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Only a few states in the U.S. have had a successful COVID-19 vaccine rollout, but the ones that did relied on similar tactics: a centralized operation, local collaborations, and an early reliance on the National Guard to set up clinics. Although these strategies weren't without limitations, they have yielded better vaccination rates than those states that took other routes.
https://nigeriahealthwatch.com/displaced-but-not-forgotten-organisations-delivering-family-planning-services-to-abujas-idp-camps
Chibuike Alagboso
Nigeria Health Watch
2 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The Covid-19 pandemic complicated health care for women living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Nigeria who already lacked access to family planning services and education, but collaborative efforts are working to change this. Through collective action, a group of non-profits worked together to create a one-day outreach event that provided education and trained community members to carry on the work.
https://outride.rs/en/testris-the-positive-rate-game/rwanda
Lola García-Ajofrín
Outriders
2 February 2021
Game / Under 800 Words
Before the first case of Covid-19 was reported within country borders, Rwanda had already started preparations – including a testing strategy and contact tracing – to prevent the spread of the virus. Although resources were limited, they were able to use a pool testing strategy instead of individual testing, which allowed them to save both time and resources.
https://outride.rs/en/testris-the-positive-rate-game/daejon
Lola García-Ajofrín
Outriders
2 February 2021
Game / Under 800 Words
During the Covid-19 pandemic in South Korea, officials implemented comprehensive contact tracing strategies and mandatory hospital quarantine for those who tested positive for the virus. All services associated with containing the virus were free of charge to residents, including testing that had to be conducted due to contact tracing efforts. Even during periods when the positive rate for the virus increased, it consistently remained below five percent – indicating that the pandemic was under control.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/world/australia/perth-lockdown.html
Damien Cave
The New York Times
1 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Australia's aggressive and strict protocols surrounding COVID-19 have helped the country to return to normalcy and avoid high death tolls and transmission rates, especially compared to the U.S. and Europe. Although the approach has included strict lockdowns, the community has reacted largely from a perspective of "short-term pain for collective gain."
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