"Connecting Communities for COVID19 News" 24th Apr 2020
Isolation Tips
Parenting Tips for Spending the Coronavirus Lockdown with Your Family: 'Throw Out Every Single Rule'
Wondering about how to parent while your kids are home during the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic? Lindsay Powers has the only tip you need: “Throw out every single rule.” The author of You Can’t F— Up Your Kids joined PeopleNow on Wednesday to answer parent questions about life in self-isolation and covered everything from how to manage snack time to homework in her chat.
'Lockdown made me realise what’s important’: meet the families reconnecting remotely
Here, three people who found isolation has had a positive effect on their relationships share their experiences – from building bridges, to creating the foundations for better communication, and reconnecting with family members they haven’t spoken to in years …
Being Mindful: Deepak Chopra shares 5 tips on coping with self-isolation during the coronavirus crisis
As many work to create routines in quarantine, it can be difficult to adjust to a new normal at home. Yahoo Life previously sat down with mindfulness expert Deepak Chopra to explain how focusing on the present could help us survive the coronavirus crisis. This week, Chopra shares five tips for our readers on how to best cope with stress and isolation during the pandemic.
Self-isolation tips from Oxford ME sufferer on lockdown positivity
The challenges though, I am used too. I have worn an anti-viral mask for years. I have had to learn how to deal with isolation, it was not always easy at the beginning. For many years I rebelled against being ill and paid dearly. However, feeling rough was not much fun, so after a while I was forced to self-isolate, so that it was possible to enjoy some of my life. After a while, I got used to self isolation. I tried not to miss things, there were so many things to miss. If I went down that path, I would lose my mind. Instead I tried to focus on the positives and live in the moment.
Hygiene Helpers
Creating a “Hygiene Society” can get life back on track and stave off future epidemics ǀ View
If we rearrange society to prioritise cleanliness over convenience, we can stave off future existential threats like coronavirus. Throughout history, nothing has killed more humans than the viruses, bacteria and parasites that cause disease. Our generation has had its first test from a truly global deadly disease. Only by creating a new “Hygiene Society” can we protect against the next one.
No evidence Covid-19 can be transmitted by food or packaging, according to Ireland's food safety watchdog
There is no evidence that Covid-19 can be transmitted by food or packaging, according to Ireland's food safety watchdog. Safefood has also said "it's not necessary" to wash or disinfect food packaging when it is brought home from shops. It comes amid reports people are washing their groceries before storing them with others leaving products for up to 72 hours to ensure there are no traces of the virus on the packaging. While scientists say the virus could survive in droplets for up to three hours after being coughed out into the air, Safefood has said there is no proof that it can be transmitted by food or packaging.
‘No evidence’ Covid-19 can be spread by packaging on groceries
There is no evidence that Covid-19 can be transmitted by food or by food packaging, a food safety and healthy eating awareness body has said.
How long does coronavirus live on surfaces? Scientists answer key questions about Covid-19 hygiene
In the 2011 film Contagion Kate Winslet plays Dr Erin Mears, a scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in America. At one point during her attempts to battle a fictional but highly believable viral epidemic, a colleague called Dave gets tired of all the paranoia, fuss and endless handwashing. “My wife makes me take my clothes off in the garage,” Dave whines. “Then she leaves out a bucket of warm water and soap. And then she douses everything in hand sanitiser after I leave. I mean, she’s overreacting, right?” Erin turns to Dave with a disinfecting stare and says: “Not really. And stop touching your face, Dave.” It is the moment when it is meant to hit home: this is serious.
How to practice good eye-hygiene in the coronavirus era
The proliferation of coronavirus has coincided with spring allergy season in most parts of Texas. This means that red eyes caused by conjunctivitis, a little-known symptom of COVID-19, could really just be “allergic-reaction-to-pollen eyes.”
Coronavirus: Britons should wear cloth face coverings in public, health experts tell government
More than 20 public health specialists and academics sign an open letter to ministers calling for the measure to be recommended.
COVID-19: Hand sanitizers inactivate novel coronavirus, study finds
Tests have confirmed that two hand sanitizer formulations recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) inactivate the virus that causes coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). The tests also provide reassurance that store-bought sanitizers combat the virus.
Should I wash my food? Latest advice on whether you need to sanitise your shopping
The risk of coronavirus cross-contamination to food and food packaging is very low. Food businesses must ensure that they have the correct food hygiene and food safety processes in place and that these are being followed to protect their customers. Staff handling food in shops are required to maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and wear suitable, clean clothing. This includes regular hand washing to maintain good hygiene.
Community Activities
Combat Social Isolation to Keep Our Seniors Healthy
Physical isolation is imperative to keep Canadian seniors, especially those living with frailty, healthy. But this does not mean we must always socially isolate.
Experts from GOSH help families across the UK cope with isolation
As people across the country are getting to grips with how to live in this new, temporary ‘normal’, caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) is launching a range of free, expert resources, tips and activity ideas to help all children cope with the challenges they may face as a result. For many patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital, being in isolation for long periods of time is their ‘normal’ every day, as they are treated for rare and complex conditions. Central to helping patients navigate through their treatment is the hospital’s Play team.
Alicia Keys debuts powerful anthem in partnership with CNN
As the pandemic swept the world, it occurred to Keys that the lyrics could also serve as a tribute to the health care professionals, frontline workers, parents, teachers and everyone else who has stepped up during this unprecedented time.
"A lot of times people don't feel like they're doing a good job. They feel underwater and like there's never going to be a brighter day," she said. "Fast forward to now, with where we are now, and it's almost like the song was written for this and I didn't know it."
Parks and Rec cast to host special reunion raising funds for COVID-19 relief | TheHill
The cast of the comedy show 'Parks & Recreation' is hosting a reunion special to raise funds for food assistance to those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The episode will be shot from the cast’s homes and aired on April 30 on NBC. The proceeds will go to Feeding America, a hunger relief nonprofit
Doctors perform emotional rendition of Ave Maria to celebrate nurse's recovery from coronavirus
Doctors performed an emotional rendition of Ave Maria to celebrate the recovery of a fellow nurse from the coronavirus. Alicia Borja, 63, was met by applause from her NHS colleagues as she was discharged from Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, northwest London. The senior sister from the hospital's accident and emergency department left the Covid-19 unit after four weeks of treatment. Dr Maxton Pitcher played the powerful Franz Schubert tune on the violin and was accompanied by Katherine Fawcett on the piano.
BBC One’s The Big Night In raises £27,398,675
For the first time ever the BBC’s biggest charitable partners, BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief, came together for a special night of television and have raised £27,398,675 in the process. The three-hour extravaganza hosted by Davina McCall, Lenny Henry, Matt Baker, Paddy McGuinness and Zoe Ball featured an incredible array of famous faces who offered some light relief and entertainment whilst celebrating and rewarding those going the extra mile to support their communities in these troubled times.
Andrea Bocelli: Amazing Grace – Music For Hope (Live From Duomo di Milano)
Andrea Bocelli: Amazing Grace – Music For Hope (Live From Duomo di Milano) - including new footage from our world’s silent cities. From Andrea Bocelli’s Easter Sunday performance on April 12th 2020 from the Duomo Cathedral, Milan.
Volunteering makes you feel good! Josi, a self-employed hairstylist, has served lunch every day at Blanchet House for over a month.
Volunteering makes you feel good! Josi, a self-employed hairstylist, has served lunch every day at Blanchet House for over a month. Due to COVID19 she’s unable to work but gets joy from helping others. "The people served here are so grateful." #VolunteerAppreciationWeek
Steve Buscemi, AnnaSophia Robb, Cory Booker to Read Aloud Children's Books for Series 'Gotham Reads'
Management and production company The Gotham Group on Wednesday launched a new YouTube series aimed at children in which stars and public figures will read aloud popular kids books and stories, with Steve Buscemi, AnnaSophia Robb and Sen. Cory Booker among those participating in the series. The first five episodes from the new series “Gotham Reads” launched on Wednesday on a YouTube channel with a mix of actors, authors and public figures reading new and classic children’s stories.
Coronavirus will force millions in the UK to live without basic toiletries - here's how you can help
The economic impact of Coronavirus will see millions of Brits unable to afford basics like toothpaste and soap. Chloe Street on why hygiene poverty is spreading and how you can help
Tackling COVID-19 (Coronavirus) with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in DRC - Democratic Republic of the Congo
The project aims to ensure that doctors, nurses, staff, and patients -- both those with COVID-19 and people seeking treatment for other maladies -- have access to water, sanitation, and hygiene at health facilities. All too often, WASH services are lacking even in these places where people go to seek treatment. Available data for the DRC shows that at least half of health facilities lacked basic water or sanitation. During an infectious disease outbreak, ensuring these facilities have a reliable and safe water supply as well as soap allows medical professionals to provide care safely while also protecting their own well-being.
Coronavirus Florida: Sarasota adds hygiene stations for homeless
After weeks of delay, Sarasota officials have finally put portable toilets and supplemental hygiene stations in the city’s downtown. Officials have placed three supplemental hygiene stations with portable toilets at three downtown sites where the homeless have been clustering — near the SCAT bus station, the Salvation Army and the closed Resurrection House in the Rosemary District. This is one of the first visible attempts local governments have made to help the area’s homeless since the coronavirus pandemic shuttered many of the venues they typically used every day. Libraries, parks and the city’s day shelter closed a month ago.
Working Remotely
How to replace small talk when working remotely
When we’re all working from home, however, it’s not possible to bump into someone and engage in a quick chat. But this sort of small talk is still essential. You can re-create the rapport-building conversation with colleagues in a few different ways:
Brazilian public sector workers positive about remote working
Brazilian public sector workers see remote working positively despite it being a novelty for most of them, according to research. Most departments are adopting the home office approach during the COVID-19 outbreak, and 66% had never worked remotely before the pandemic, according to the survey carried out by Brazilian govtech WeGov and software development firm Softplan. Of the government workers surveyed, 72% said they are happy about the new working arrangements. According to the survey, the results demonstrate decision-makers should consider the upsides of operating remotely.
Coronavirus: Remote workers air long-term productivity concerns over home-working tech
More than a third (38%) of the UK’s remote workers claim their home-working tech setups need to be urgently revamped to ensure they can remain productive throughout the duration of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.
Three Warning Signs That Your Remote Employees Are Starting To Crack Under The Stress Of Working From Home
As people have settled into a routine, as the panic over remote working logistics have decreased, we can now see troubling signs of the emotional pressures facing employees working from home. How can you tell if your team is cracking under the stress of working from home? Here are three warning signs:
Virtual Classrooms
Science teachers across US work to keep experiments exciting and accessible
Texas science teacher Avri DiPietro has a secret weapon in her tool kit to help keep her students engaged now that the coronavirus pandemic has forced them to stay home indefinitely. It’s a home experiment known as “the burping bag.” “My thing has been to get science into their homes and get them doing science… it’s about discovery,” said DiPietro, who teaches about 160 students between the ages of 11 and 14 in Lockhart, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Austin. “This is pushing a lot of us educators in how to reach our kids.”
Burping Bags and Dancing Raisins: Tricks for Teaching Science During a Pandemic
Texas science teacher Avri DiPietro has a secret weapon in her tool kit to help keep her students engaged now that the coronavirus pandemic has forced them to stay home indefinitely. It's a home experiment known as "the burping bag." The assignment calls for her sixth graders to combine vinegar and baking soda in a plastic bag, either in their kitchens or backyards. If all goes as planned, burps and belches will ring out across the small southeastern Texas town where DiPietro teaches, as the acidic vinegar meets the sodium bicarbonate, releasing gas from the bag. "My thing has been to get science into their homes and get them doing science... it's about discovery," said DiPietro, who teaches about 160 students between the ages of 11 and 14 in Lockhart, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Austin. "This is pushing a lot of us educators in how to reach our kids."
Four ways to maximize your virtual learning experience
Whether you are studying for an International Compliance Association qualification online for the first time or participating in other virtual learning opportunities, we have highlighted four key tips to help you make the most of your virtual classroom experience.
Will the Coronavirus Forever Alter the College Experience?
There will be some important lasting impacts, though, experts say: Faculty may incorporate online tools, to which many are being exposed for the first time, into their conventional classes. And students are experiencing a flexible type of learning they may not like as undergraduates, but could return to when it’s time to get a graduate degree. These trends may not transform higher education, but they are likely to accelerate the integration of technology into it.
Classes go virtual, kids get real on etiquette
As the world fights a virus, schoolteachers are facing a new battlefront. Virtual classrooms and playful kids. To make the new normal of online classrooms work, schools are coming up with rules and etiquette from being punctual and looking neat and presentable to maintaining silence and order in classrooms at homes
9 Teachers Going the Extra Mile to Support Students During the Coronavirus Crisis
Heartwarming examples of educators going the extra mile to support their students amid the pandemic.
From Classroom To Computer Screen: One Young Teacher’s Journey During The Coronavirus Pandemic
Christopher Terrazas never imagined finishing his second year of teaching from a virtual classroom set up in a corner of his family game room at home. But when the coronavirus pandemic forced schools across the country to close, the 24-year-old San Antonio native embraced the new challenge.
Public Policies
Test, trace, contain: how South Korea flattened its coronavirus curve
As life begins to return to something like normality in Seoul and beyond, other countries are asking what lessons can be learned - particularly from South Korea
IN DEPTH: Scottish Government's 'framework for decision making' on easing coronavirus lockdown
The Scottish Government has published a new document outlining its ‘framework for decision making’ on easing lockdown restrictions. The paper does not set a date for when measures could begin to be lifted and is instead intended to set out the challenges facing ministers and how they intend to approach them in the coming months.
Ghana coronavirus: face masks made compulsory in capital Accra
Days after a three-week lockdown was lifted on the capital Accra and two other metropolis, the Greater Accra Regional minister has announced a compulsory use of face masks in public. An April 22 statement signed by minister Ishmael Ashitey said the regional coordinating council had met in an emergency meeting as part of efforts to enforce the president’s directives on social distancing and the wearing of masks. Some of the measures agreed include the following: Mandatory wearing of face masks in public across the region, sensitization on the measure and on social / physical distancing by sub-regional authorities.
The first tips in Greater Manchester confirm when they'll reopen
Council bosses in Rochdale have confirmed two main rubbish tips will re-open on Saturday, May 2. They are the recycling centres on Chichester Street in Rochdale and Spring Vale in Middleton. But there will be restrictions. Chichester Street will open 8am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays only, although Spring Vale will open every day from 8am until 6pm. The council said they should only be used by those with a genuine need to dispose of extra waste - and only bagged general waste will be accepted.
Coronavirus in Sweden: What the data shows about the hands-off and deeply divisive approach to the Covid-19 outbreak
Sweden is not doing brilliantly or terribly compared to other countries. In comparison to its neighbours, which share the most similarities in social policy, geography and population in Sweden, the country looks like it is faring badly. As of 23 April, 2021 people have lost their lives to coronavirus in Sweden. But on a global stage, Sweden's outlandish tactics appear to have paid off as Swedes adhere to government guidelines without the police using intimidating tactics to maintain the peace.
Coronavirus: WHO developing guidance on wet markets
The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for stricter safety and hygiene standards when wet markets reopen. And it says governments must rigorously enforce bans on the sale and trade of wildlife for food. The start of the pandemic was linked to a market in Wuhan, where wildlife was on sale. Wet markets are common in Asia, Africa and elsewhere, selling fresh fruit and vegetables, poultry, fresh meat, live animals and sometimes wildlife. The WHO is working with UN bodies to develop guidance on the safe operation of wet markets, which it says are an important source of affordable food and a livelihood for millions of people all over the world.
Maintaining Services
Guidelines for mall reopening in Dubai: 24-hour sanitisation, strict hygiene
Malls and other retail spaces will have to follow strict hygiene measures once they reopen, according to a set of guidelines issued on Wednesday. The document did not specify when the malls and retail spaces would reopen, but asked businesses to be on standby for official announcements that "will be announced shortly". The list detailed all the health and hygiene protocols that commercial establishments would need to comply with in order to resume services once the reopening announcement is made. The guidelines include 24-hour mall sanitisation (including sterilisation of entrances and cleaning of toilets after every use) and entrance health checks to ensure that anyone entering the mall undergoes the mandatory temperature screening and checks.
Screens between tables and sanitary welcome kits: How Spain’s tourism industry is preparing for life after loc
Sipping on a gin tonic while enjoying the views of Madrid will be possible this summer at Ginkgo Sky Bar within the “new normality” of life post-coronavirus lockdown. Every patron will exist in their own bubble of hygiene: wearing gloves, a face mask, and separated from other patrons by a screen. If someone wants to go up to see the sunset, they will need to ask staff for permission and follow a safe route marked out on the floor of the rooftop bar, which is part of the five-star hotel Plaza España Design, of the VP hotel chain.
Coronavirus: Are hospital cleaners forgotten heroes in this crisis?
"The whole edifice of the hospital system rests on the folks who clean, wash and provide cafeteria services," Dr Robert Bruno, who conducted the 2018 study, told the BBC. Yet despite their importance, Ms Martinez says that service workers are often the last to learn about new protocols and procedures in the hospital - as may have been the case with coronavirus.
The War Against Coronavirus Comes to the Bathroom
Cholera and tuberculosis outbreaks transformed the design and technology of the home bathroom. Will Covid-19 inspire a new wave of hygiene innovation?
Coronavirus: Dogs being trained to find passengers with COVID-19 at UK airports
Dogs are being trained to detect coronavirus in passengers arriving at UK airports.
Canines at the Medical Detection Dogs charity have previously been used to find cancer, Parkinson's disease and malaria and will receive similar training in order to help during the pandemic. The organisation's founder believes the animals could detect COVID-19 in asymptomatic travellers arriving in the UL when lockdown measures are relaxed.
Oak National Academy: How we set up a virtual school for 750,000 students in two weeks
The coronavirus lockdown meant that many children couldn't go to school as normal, so that day a quarter of a million of them took part in online lessons at Oak National Academy instead. Even more amazingly, we only came up with the idea of this online classroom two weeks ago. It's been quite the ride, and yet another example of our public servants stepping up during this national crisis. I’ve spent my entire career in and around schools - teaching, advising on education policy and helping teachers to keep getting better. So the impact of coronavirus on schools is understandably an important topic for lots of my friends and colleagues.
Healthcare Innovations
Worldwide race on to find coronavirus vaccine
Of the more than 100 research projects around the world to find a vaccine - described by the United Nations as the only route back to "normality" - seven are currently in clinical trials, according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Such trials are already under way in China and the United States and are due to begin at the end of this month in Germany, where the federal vaccine authority gave the green light yesterday.
Combating coronavirus: New gadgets designed to fight Covid-19
The saying goes 'necessity is the mother of invention', and so has the coronavirus pandemic propelled an urgent need of creativity and innovation to safeguard from the contagion.These tricky times have hence brought to the fore the need to be able to use innovations in everyday life when it comes to hygiene. New innovations are being introduced almost everyday, from hands-free door openers that can be 3D-printed, to basic ventilators, wrist-mounted disinfectant sprays, to a wristband that buzzes whenever you're about to touch your face.
