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How to save a life: Easing grief from inside COVID ICUs

Joan van Dyk

August 03, 2020 |

Bhekisisa |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: South Africa, Cape Town

To combat the grief, trauma, and frustration caused by COVID-19 hospitalizations where families are cut off from loved ones and from most information about their care and condition, the staff at Vincent Pallotti Hospital created a new way of capturing doctors' updates on patients that improved the flow of information. Instead of recording their observations and treatments on paper charts, doctors enter the information on an online system. Volunteer counselors with access to that information then update families daily, relieving some stress and bringing solace to families and patients alike.

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Some hospitals are tracking Covid-19 by adding sensors to employees' badges

Christina Farr

August 02, 2020 |

CNBC |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Illinois

SwipeSense is a monitoring technology adapted to track people’s movements as a form of contact tracing for Covid-19 in hospitals. Staff wear the device while at work, which uses sensors and location beacons to track movements, and when a positive Covid-19 test arises the hospital can quickly identify and quarantine those exposed to limit further spread. After adopting the device, and combined with other sanitation strategies, an Illinois hospital's staff infection rate dropped from 17% in March to less than 1% in June. Some have expressed privacy and security concerns with monitoring people’s movements.

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Virus hunters: Contact tracing slows spread through painstaking investigation

Tom Hallberg

July 29, 2020 |

Jackson Hole News & Guide |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Teton County, Wyoming

Contact tracing has helped identify hundreds potential cases of Covid-19 in Teton County, Wyoming. Conducted by the county's health department, the process works much like it does for other communicable diseases, such as measles. According to the data collected from the efforts, 60% of those who have been contacted as being in contact with the coronavirus have tested positive for the virus themselves.

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Meeting the Mental Health Need

Dan Gorenstein

July 28, 2020 |

Tradeoffs |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Tennessee

Mental and physical health are often intertwined, so why shouldn't the same be true for their care providers? Cherokee Health Systems in eastern Tennessee pioneered integrated care, putting behavioral health and mental health professionals on the fast-paced front lines of primary medical care, making mental health care more accessible. While the two professions are often housed together, true integration – the practice that has solid evidence of its effectiveness – is still fairly rare. But helping people with dual problems, in one sitting, can make people healthier in mind and body.

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Need a physical exam? How about registering to vote while you're at it? Milwaukee clinics join program to boost voting

Patricia McKnight

July 27, 2020 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Wisconsin

The VotER initiative registers voters while they wait at 75 hospitals and community health centers across the country. The founders feel that voting will help their patients because there are social and political issues that impact health. VotER has hospital posters and doctor badges with QR codes that take patients to a voter registration portal. There are also iPad kiosks in waiting rooms for patients to register, and some clinics send out text messages with voter information and election reminders. The team has registered 800 new voters and helped about 280 people request absentee ballots.

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Fighting The Good Fight: Outbreak Lessons From Kerala And Malaysia

Madhukar Pai

July 26, 2020 |

Forbes |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Kerala

Malaysia and India's Kerala state share a set of positive attributes that helped them contain COVID-19 outbreaks, including early and aggressive responses based on a trust in science, clear public communications, and long-term investments in public health informed by previous epidemics. Both regions began their preparations in January, heeding warnings that others ignored at that point. Their comprehensive responses enlisted their entire governments rather than just public health authorities as they relied on contact tracing, quarantines, and testing to limit illness and death.

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These Elite Contact Tracers Show the World How to Beat Covid-19

Heesu Lee

July 25, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: South Korea

After a coronavirus flareup that killed nearly 300, South Korean public health authorities used rigorous contact tracing investigations to prevent a second wave of illnesses. As of July 2020, the country’s new cases had plateaued for two months at less than 10% of their February levels, and only 8% of new cases came from unknown origins, a much lower rate than most other countries. The country’s Immediate Response Team’s work has allowed the nation to avoid disruptive shutdowns by aggressively targeting dangerous hot spots before they spread.

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In Baltimore, a struggling, black-owned nursing home keeps covid-19 at bay

Rebecca Tan

July 24, 2020 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore has reported approximately 10,000 cases of Covid-19, but the local Maryland Baptist Aged Home hasn't had a single senior resident infected due "a relatively small population of 29 residents, a strong history of infection control, a dedicated staff and...the cynicism that comes with residing in an underserved community." Leadership at the nursing home acted before local government officials did, implementing a strict lockdown and widespread testing protocols while also relying on measures already in place such as thorough infection-reducing cleaning regimens.

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A tale of two pandemics: Is COVID-19 repeating the mistakes of HIV's past?

Laura López González

July 24, 2020 |

Bhekisisa |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal

As Covid-19 spread throughout regions of South Africa, public health clinics began reporting seeing fewer patients for HIV viral load testing due to shelter-in-place orders. In trying to mitigate the longterm implications of people missing their appointments, a few HIV specialists have joined the frontlines in local communities to act as both coronavirus testers and information conduits for HIV programs.

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The Warsaw Ghetto beat an epidemic. Scientists say they know how.

Eva Botkin-Kowacki

July 24, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Poland

In 1941 it was predicted that the Warsaw Ghetto would be overwhelmed with typhus cases due to the overcrowding of inmates, but instead this "oppressed community" established a series of health measures that largely kept the caseload much lower than expected. Although the community was arguably more behaviorally motivated to implement strict and aggressive measures due to the conditions they were living under, the case study indicates that "sheltering in place, promoting and enforcing hygiene, and practicing social distancing," does matter when containing a pandemic.

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