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Businesses Adapt Better to Covid-19 After Lessons Learned From Spring Surge

Paul Hannon Austen Hufford Tom Fairless

December 27, 2020 |

Wall Street Journal |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

As a second surge of the coronavirus pandemic spreads throughout much of the world, some manufacturers in the West have found ways to successfully avoid the economic fallout despite heightened restrictions. In one case, a manufacturing company "began requiring masks, banned employees from congregating during breaks and started checking their temperatures at the door," which initially decreased efficiency and productivity; but, as the employees continued to stay healthy, business returned, and the company is now "on track to meet its most ambitious forecast."

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Cook County, Minnesota, has kept COVID at bay

Katie Galioto

December 20, 2020 |

Minneapolis Star Tribune |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cook County, Minnesota

In Minnesota, cross-sector collaboration, contact tracing, and a focus on adhering to public health safety protocols have helped Cook County avoid an outbreak of COVID-19 cases, despite being a tourist destination. Local health officials and industry leaders presented a united front, while residents and business owners focused on ways to "keep the tourists from infecting the locals." With only seven residents contracting the virus by summer's end, the efforts appear to have been successful.

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Europe's coronavirus crisis is resurging. For months, 3 Nordic nations kept it under control — without lockdowns

Henrik Pettersson Krystina Shveda Byron Manley Susanne Gargiulo Mark Oliver

December 20, 2020 |

CNN |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Finland

Finland, Norway, and Denmark are three countries that have largely been able to contain the spread of COVID-19 and keep average daily deaths low, by implementing some of the "most relaxed combinations of restrictions." Although the virus has not been entirely eradicated, the success so far has been tied to a high rate of public compliance, preventative measures, and clear communication.

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'It was a godsend': New Minnesota hiring program helps care homes hit hard by COVID-19

Chris Serres

December 18, 2020 |

Minneapolis Star Tribune |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

After facing staffing shortages during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the Minnesota Department of Human Services developed an aggressive emergency hiring initiative ahead of potential new outbreaks. Using third-party staffing agencies and encouraging applicants from all backgrounds – like those recently unemployed from the service industry – the initiative has "provided rapid relief to dozens of nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, group homes, homeless shelters and substance abuse treatment centers."

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How New York City Vaccinated 6 Million People in Less Than a Month

John Florio Ouisie Shapiro

December 18, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

When a smallpox outbreak was deemed to be a likelihood in New York City in 1947, the city’s health commissioner rapidly launched a vaccination campaign that leveraged internal collaboration, consistent and transparent communication, and contact tracing. The effort culminated in more than six million people receiving vaccination in under a month, and only 12 infections and two deaths total. While this "public health triumph" hold lessons for the current COVID-19 pandemic, experts caution, “It’s almost inconceivable that we’re going to be able to do something similar as rapidly and as effectively.”

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Refugees Hold the Line Against a Pandemic

Anna-Catherine Brigida

December 17, 2020 |

U.S. News & World Report |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Matamoros, Tamaulipas

When the coronavirus pandemic threatened to spread to the Matamoros tent camp where thousands of asylum-seekers lived, local health officials and aid workers proactively launched a public health campaign to boost education around the virus and leveraged ongoing relationships to distribute tests. Although there was a notable resistance from some, the tent camp has "avoided the devastation predicted in the early days of the pandemic, with only a few dozen mild cases reported since June."

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Learning the hard way

Andrew Panton

December 09, 2020 |

Africa in Fact |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo

A failed response to the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has helped prepare the country's government and health officials to respond more successfully to the coronavirus pandemic and other public health crises. Several lessons that have proved especially important include the development of a research unit, focusing attention on supporting the community members rather than suppressing the virus, and improving public health communication.

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There are worse viruses than Covid-19 out there. How do we avoid the next big one?

Debora MacKenzie

December 08, 2020 |

Ensia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: China

Public health experts are strategizing for how to combat the next pandemic by learning from what failed to prevent the most recent coronavirus pandemic. From increasing surveillance of viruses to using diagnostic technologies to "screen for novel infections more systematically," there are a series of protocols that countries failed to utilize that can be enacted now as a preventative measure.

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A helpline connects Indigenous immigrants to crucial COVID-19 information

Anna V. Smith

November 30, 2020 |

High Country News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Lincoln County, Oregon

After a contact tracing effort spurred by an outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Lincoln County, Oregon resulted in the realization that resources weren't being offered in Indigenous Mayan languages, the Oregon Health Authority created a helpline to better connect community members with translators. The hotline is now being used in several other counties and has also been used to offer additional public health information – such as when wildfires began erupting throughout the state.

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Two School Districts Had Different Mask Policies. Only One Had a Teacher on a Ventilator.

Annie Waldman Heather Vogell

November 23, 2020 |

ProPublica |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Marietta, Georgia

Two schools in two different cities in Georgia have provided a case study for the efficacy of wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In one case where masks were optional and only half of the school opted to wear one, the school was overcome by a coronavirus outbreak; while in the other city where masks were mandatory, the school saw significantly fewer cases of the disease.

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