#COVID19 – Strengthening communities while keeping distance

Hygiene behavior helpers– what are you doing to keep you and your family safe from Corona infection?

Touching different objects in public (Global)
“Trolly handles are creating massive possibility to spread the virus through contact surface. If you are planning to use supermarket trollies, please have disposable cloves in your pocket. Alternatively antibacterial tissues with you. Surfaces such as paying machines, touchable screens in supermarkets and ATM are also increasing risk to contact Corona virus.

PREPARE! THINK! BE SMART”
Tips:

1. Keep hand sanitizers in your pocket. Wipe any handles and touch screens, before and after you have touched them
2. If you have large bottle of disinfectant at home you can soak kitchen roll pieces or Kleenex and place them to plastic bag with a zip. Don’t place used wipes in there, put them directly to the closest bin.
3. If you live in the apartment building you can use a paper towel or handkerchief to open the doors and press the elevator buttons. Dispose it immediately after use. Wash your hands when returning home.
4. Corona virus stays alive long time on surfaces, including streets. Remove your shoes outside your door and was your hands with soap and water immediately when returning to home.

First wash hands then empty your groceries bag. Wash your hands again.

Coronavirus in Ghana with hand shaking (from John Vianney Maakpe 20/3/20 in Communication Initiative Blog  https://www.comminit.com/africa/content/drumbeatnet-communication-and-carona-required-strategies#comment-334173)

‘In fact, we taught it was a joke until we recorded 2 cases and as at today, we had 4 more positive cases on our hands. They are all imported cases as they are people who have travelled back to Ghana as Ghanaians or foreigners.

We are putting in some strategic measures to contain the situation to prevent community spread.
Handwashing has been emphasied as well as the use of liquid based hand sanitizers but the challenge is the shortage of hand saniters. The little that is there has had an increase in the price which is over 200%.
Jingles has been running on both TV and radio stations and in cars and other means of transport. SBCC materals has been distributed but our greatest challenge is the hand shaking during ceremonies such as funerals, birthdays, wedding and other social gathering. The education is ongoing using the print and electronic means.
I am in Accra to participate in a Trainers of Trainees workshop. As i was travelling in the bus, I saw more than 7 funeral celebrations as people were busy hugging and shaking hands. I was alarmed, how safe are they? My other take is about our moslem brothers who shake their hands during funerals especially the second day following the death of a brother or a sister. In churches, it has been announced that no more hand shaking. Congregations had been told to use hand sanitizers more often and as when they perform certain activities.

Community actions – what are you and your neighbours doing to help each other?

Nightly virtual choir opportunities (25/3/20 Boston, Mass, USA)
“ You are invited to sing with my neighborhood online every evening at 6pm.  The songs are posted on the JPGreenhouse site: https://www.jpgh.org/6pm-street-sing.php often with a link to the words or YouTube.
To “attend” the singalong—which is fun and chaotic, (not perfectly synched the way our fabulous choir does in person), go to this link: https://zoom.us/j/3941197151​  It’s the same every night, and hosted by Curt Newton of the JP Green House.  He often does not log on until 6, so get on it a few minutes before, and wait for him! You’ll have to download Zoom on your computer and then learn how to use it….E.S. (cc’ed above)  has offered to help folks get used to using Zoom.  I have only been on this site 4-5 times.  It’s like the Brady Bunch, with a series  of  squares with everyone in it.  You have to press buttons at the bottom to be seen and heard, and the best part is, you can sing full force at home and decide if you want to be heard or just sing without the group hearing you.  It’s wild, because all computers come back at different times.  Kind of like our audience sing alongs, but stranger…if you’d like to suggest songs or see the list into the future, here’s the Google doc:  https://bit.ly/3btgwSl

Faith group guidance principles of community support 23/3/20 from

1. Talk with the community, instead of to the community. Use channels/ methods that allow the congregation or community voicesto ask their questions, tell their stories and share their encouragements. When you listen and people feel heard, you help build trust. This creates a positive framework in which expert voices are more likely to be listened to. This will need some creativity in a social distancing environment.
2. Categorise the types of concerns and questions that people are raising. See categories below with examples of concerns you might observe. Categorising questions this way will help you to act as a bridge between appropriate service providers and felt community needs.
3. To prevent spread of misinformation and rumour:
   • Trust the experts on health advice. Don’t re-interpret your government’s advice, pass it on directly. (Be creative for your context, but don’t change or dilute the message)
   • Always give people your information sources so they can check the facts for themselves.
   • Use ‘mythbuster’ sites from WHO, health authorities to correct misinformation.
   • Record new rumours that you hear and report them to health authorities so they can track and address them.
4. Do use your strengths. Your are probably very relationally connected with community members.
   • Help alleviate mental and emotional stress. Connect people with hope. Include the voices of the most vulnerable. (See CDAC and WHO advice documents on inclusion and psychosocial support)
   • Keep the conversation about fellow humans. Prevent religious or racial stigmatising of specific people groups, or people who have COVID-19. (See WHO Guidelines for preventing stigmatisation).
   • Model good practice. Some of the health and hygiene advice goes against cultural norms. If you are respected in your neighbourhood as a religious leader, or community representative, your example can make it more likely that others will follow the advice.
   • Be present. Participate in community initiatives, especially those that support and empower the most vulnerable.
   • Create and coordinate opportunities to connect with others in your communities meaningfully and safely.
   • Focus on ‘God with us’ rather than ‘God against us’.

https://www.h-c-r.org/supporting-communities-facing-covid-19

Promoting the role of local radio ( Farm Radio Internbational 23/3/20)
“if you are like me, your radio has been on this morning, bringing you the latest information, sharing reliable advice and relevant stories, keeping us connected at a time of social distancing. Hopefully, your radio station has not been spreading myths and disinformation, but serving instead to expose and refute fake COVID-19 advice and news. 
As true as this is for you and me, it is even more true for hundreds of millions of Africans who have few sources of reliable information. Sure, many have phones with WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, or Telegram … But these are  “unmediated” (or, mediated by algorithms) information sources, and can spread false and dangerous ideas at lightning speed, as we have all seen. Radio broadcasts that are vetted, fact-checked, produced, and aired by real live journalists in the language of their listeners, are all the more important in this context.
Farm Radio International, with its trusted connections and regular contact with 1,000 radio stations across 41 countries in Africa serving 250 million listeners, is profoundly aware of the critical importance of clear, accurate, informative broadcasts about COVID-19. We also recognize the importance of broadcasters staying healthy! To this end, we are:

• Actively distributing information and resources, including scripts and backgrounders, about how to plan and produce effective COVID-19 radio programming;
• Creating or activating spaces, such as WhatsApp groups, to give radio broadcasters a place to learn from each other about best practices in COVID-19 radio programming;
• Developing connections between broadcasters and public health authorities in government, multilateral and international organizations and civil society to ensure accurate information goes out and myths are debunked;
• Reminding broadcasters of the steps they can take to stay healthy;
• Commending broadcasters and other journalists for being on the front line and continuing to work in these conditions

Special Update: Radio’s critical response to COVID-19

Working remotely – how are you making new work realities productive?

Help your body cope while working from home
“Get a keyboard and mouse: The worst posture issues will come from hunching over a laptop. Getting a keyboard and a mouse is the most important investment that people can do to immediately improve their work environment, experts have said. If you can still go into the office to get them, do it. Grab your office chair and a computer monitor on the way out too.

Make your own laptop stand: If you are working on a kitchen or dining room table, one of the most important things you can do is elevate your laptop so that the top of the monitor is at eye level. If you don’t have a keyboard and a mouse to rely on and still need to type, try angling a lever-arch file or a chopping board on top of a book to use as a ramp for your laptop. If you don’t have a table at all, make sure that you change the place that you work. Experts recommend standing up and working at a kitchen counter, or even using an ironing board at standing level (propped against the wall) to mix things up. Sitting on the floor and putting your laptop on a sofa or coffee table is also an option.

Move around every half an hour: It is more important than ever for you to move your body around every half an hour. Stretch your arms towards the sky and to the sides. Every hour, try laying with flat on the ground and your legs at a 90 degree angle to stretch the muscles in your back. Walk around while you’re on the phone if you can, and run up and down stairs if you have them.

Whatever you do, do not work on your sofa: Your sofa is the worst place for you to work for a prolonged period of time. Not only will your posture immediately worsen, the perception of comfort can stop you from moving around as much. If you have to work on a sofa, set a timer so that you remind yourself to get up and walk around regularly.” Natasha Bernal, Wired 23/3/20

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/working-from-home-posture-back-pain

Virtual classrooms – how are you learning and training from home?

Mime at Home – Peter Roberts 23/3/20
“On Thursday a Primary school teacher in Alava, Basque Country asked me for suggestions now that all the schools are closed down and people are confined at home.
I have prepared a website, initially for 6 to 10 year olds but open to all.
There everyday I will put in a new suggestion for exercises: warm ups, spontaneity and some simple mime techniques.
Everybody is welcome and apart from taking minds off the consternation of the moment we will better our imaginations.
The site is in 3 parts: Basque, Spanish and English” http://www.teatromimo.com/Planes/

Public Policies – what policies are easing your burden?

Key UK government messages 25/3/20
Coronavirus (COVID-19): what you need to do

Stay at home

• Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (where this absolutely cannot be done from home)
• Stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people
• Wash your hands as soon as you get home
• You can spread the virus even if you don’t have symptoms.

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Companies to receive 3-month extension period to file accounts during COVID-19 (UK,25/3/20)
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/companies-to-receive-3-month-extension-period-to-file-accounts-during-covid-19#hide-message

Call for gender-sensitive approaches (UK, 25/3/20)
#COVID19 is putting a disproportionate strain on women in all their diversity. I thus call for a gender-sensitive approach & the protection of rights in the areas of: – gender-based violence – economic uncertainty & precariousness – childcare & social services

https://twitter.com/helenadalli/status/1243079204046069760/photo/1

Maintaining essential services – what is being done to keep food, mail, delivery, water, gas, telephone, internet, sanitation function well in your community?

Waitrose and partners supermarket 5-point hygiene measures 25/3/20 (UK)

• Limiting customer numbers: a reduced number of people will be allowed into our shops at any one time, plus new signage to help keep customers two meters apart.
• Dedicated marshals in our busiest shops: teams will manage queues at shop entrances before and during opening as well as prioritising NHS staff.
• New cleanliness measures will be adopted and checkout screens introduced, to protect customers and Partners.
• All Partners will be offered special visors, creating an extra layer of protection.
• Cashless and contactless payment will be encouraged as this will help reduce unnecessary contact. Partners will also help customers use our Quick Check self-service app.

Health Care – how are you as health worker managing, what are you doing to protect yourself and others, what innovations seem promising?

Symptom Tracker will help map hot spots – a call for crowd sourcing science (UK 25/3/20) https://covid.joinzoe.com/

Communicating across breathing-tubes/ventilator support (23/3/20 USA)
When it’s hard to breathe, it can be hard to speak. In light of COVID-related respiratory illness, a vastly greater number of people will need breathing tubes or ventilator support, which takes away the ability to speak. Hospitals and healthcare workers need resources to support communication across growing barriers, in many alternative ways.
As a public service, the Patient-Provider Communication Forum, with support from the United States Society of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (USSAAC), is providing a FREE bank of communication tools for you to download and print, created in response to this COVID crisis.
Visit: patientprovidercommunication.org

SPECIAL FEATURE: Human Rights #COVID19

Source: UN Human Rights Europe – News Release
UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies call for human rights approach in fighting COVID-19
(You can subsribe to news in following link https://bit.ly/3byeUa5)