Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

This briefing explores opportunities for community recovery and resilience through commemoration. Contributed by colleagues at the University of North Texas USA, this article discusses the unique challenges of considering where, when, and how to commemorate the pandemic, and details various modes of meaningful commemoration for local communities such as public art, collective performances, and intergenerational resilience stories. 

Follow the source link below to read the article in full.

COVID-19 has shown that existing planning and programmes are much more accustomed to respond to immediate, tangible local risks, and consistently struggle to anticipate and respond to global risks such as climate risks. A recent report examines how financial tools, namely insurance, could make vulnerable communities more resilient in the face of escalating climate impacts. Consider that climate insurance could:

When planning the design and pricing of climate insurance, consider:

• • • Conducting a risk assessment to develop a robust and evidence-based understanding of risk and the strategies that are required to mitigate and prepare for risk
    • If evolving hazards have been taken into account – e.g. risk assessments should look forward and assess how risks are evolving in light of climate change
    • If risk communications are effective e.g. are individuals fully informed so they can make informed decisions about insurance?

Research has found that additional statistical modelling based on cultural and demographic factors can help to predict how disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 can accelerate and progress. The aim of this ongoing research is to project the spread of future pandemics by utilising the predictive power of cultural and demographic data. Effectiveness of response interventions should consider cultural values among people in communities. Consider:

• A data driven approach to modelling disease outbreak prevalence based on cultural and demographic factors such as:
  • Population size
  • Population density
  • Public transport
  • Health (e.g. obesity)
  • Culture (e.g. voting patterns – research has shown that societies/communities with low trust in institutions tended to have higher COVID-19 death rates)

This paper offers a predictive model of COVID-19 prevalence – finding that the above 5 risk factors can predict between 47% and 60% of variation in COVID-19 prevalence in US counties. A second paper explores how cultural values can support the prediction of how outbreaks could progress and also what population groups may be most vulnerable.

Many local governments have begun to take the lessons learn lessons from their COVID-19 response and amend strategies to improve emergency response plans for the future. E, ensuring these plans are disability inclusive is critical. Persons with disabilities can often be more vulnerable to risk during normal times and even more so in the height of a crisis. A recent paper explored the social determinants of disabled people’s vulnerability to COVID-19 and the impact of policy response strategies. The paper identifies recovery and renewal strategies that focus on reducing the social, economic, and environmental conditions that create disproportionate and unequal impacts. When re-evaluating local disaster preparedness and response, consider:

• Seek feedback from local people in your local community who live with a disability, and their carers, to understand how local response to COVID-19 met their needs or how their needs might be met more effectively in the future e.g. communications, access to services, community support mechanisms etc.
• Include strategies that recognise social vulnerability, as well as health related vulnerabilities, for example ‘universal basic income’ approaches to social security or ’housing first’ approaches to tackling homelessness
• Identify the various forms of risk that persons with disabilities might be exposed to, taking geographical and locale-specific risks into consideration. Needs will differ in the case of a flood/fire and evacuation than when faced with a health crisis
• Integrate the diverse and intersecting needs of persons with disabilities into preparedness and response plans. Co-produce these plans with them and their carers
• Identify the barriers that people with disabilities face in the community – work to reduce these barriers through long-term renewal initiatives, and not just in the case of emergency (e.g. re-designing local infrastructure to increase accessibility)
• Incorporate training for volunteers on the rights and diverse needs of people living with disabilities to maintain their dignity, safeguard against discrimination, and prevent inequalities in care provision (see UK guidance on supporting people with disabilities)

See: ‘Disability and Health Emergency Preparedness’ for guidance on identifying needs, tools and resources, and guidance for assessing preparedness and response programmes. See also: TMB Issue 19 for a further case study on disability-inclusive recovery and renewal.

Digital technology proved invaluable for much of society and the economy to adapt and cope with the effects of the pandemic. However, the pace of digital transformation has exposed much of the inequalities in accessing and benefiting from the digital economy. For example, during the pandemic, most SMEs adopted basic digital technologies, however, many lack the resources and infrastructure (compared to larger firms) to employ complex digital strategies that could increase growth and productivity. An uneven distribution of digital productivity advantages may accelerate a “K-shaped recovery”, which risks leaving people and places behind. Consider:

• Increase access to digital technology e.g. improve access to broadband and digital devices to provide the technical means for productivity to develop/advance. Where connectivity is “slow, expensive or non-existent”, local governments can address the digital divide and increase access by creating or investing in publicly or privately run local networks, e.g. libraries/public buildings. For example, Toronto city council, Canada:
  • launched the ConnectTo 2021 programme which increases access to affordable, high-speed internet across the city, targeted at underserved communities in the city and;
  • in partnership with a private sector partner will establish a municipal broadband network; expand access to free public Wi-Fi and design a ‘Digital Equity Policy’ to tackle the growing digital divide and support the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in the city.
• Create means by which people can increase their digital skills – training, skills development workshops etc. in collaboration with local partners (local schools, colleges, businesses, voluntary organisations). Creating an eco-system of support to tackle digital inequalities can drive inclusive productivity growth and benefit the whole community
• Implement new strategies for inclusive productivity that consider the advantages of digital technology on the local economy, productivity and community wellbeing. New strategies should be informed by evidence, taking multiple dimensions into consideration e.g. education, business innovation, housing, and infrastructure

COVID-19’s prolonged nature, and the intensity of measures taken to respond to it, have brought major disruptions with lasting consequences. Our relationship to mortality and death has been redefined, not least by disruption to traditional rituals that enable societies to cope with and overcome major trauma. A recent webinar, organised as part of the Manchester Webinar Series, considered how we might collectively remember the COVID-19 pandemic. Our speakers reviewed lessons from the past on building resilience through coproduced commemoration and discussed key considerations for policy makers and communities in planning to recognise and remember the huge losses caused by COVID-19. Consider the key lessons offered by our speakers:

• There is no one way to remember. Unlike most disasters, each individual’s experience of COVID-19 is a personal one and commemoration activities will require careful consideration around ways to bring people together to collectively to remember while also recognising the uniqueness of everyone’s experience
• The co-production of activities can provide a way to ensure commemoration is inclusive of all of those who would like to be involved, to create a collaborative and bottom-up as well as top-down delivery of remembrance, and enable communities to take ownership of their remembrance
• Consideration for who will lead and be involved in these conversation will be really important, to mediate, and to support communities to find ways to compromise on differing views and perspectives on commemoration
• The timing of commemoration is a challenge, considering that COVID-19 is now a long-term chronic problem and we are not at the end of the disaster. The pandemic has seen commemoration since the beginning, demonstrating how communities can begin to create spaces of remembrance even while the crisis persists. Some examples of these commemoration activities can be found in TMB Issue 34 and Issue 29
• Memorials can be political, and grand gestures such as monuments can fade, or be contested. This reinforces the need for co-produced commemoration, enabling the voices of those who will benefit most from commemoration activities to be heard and actively participate
• Education is a good form of remembering, through storytellers or creating spaces (online or in local newspapers) where people can share their individual experiences of the pandemic. Recording those memories now will enable authentic materials to support education in years to come
• Think about how those who have lower agency in communities will remember (e.g. children who have lost grandparents). Commemoration could be done by creating spaces in schools/community youth groups for teachers/youth volunteers to support children

TMB Issue 38 discussed the importance of community involvement in tackling disease outbreaks and presented the recommendations set out by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. This briefing offers examples of good practice in community participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consider:

• Tanzania: local government co-produced infection control measures with business leaders based in markets to integrate leaders’ understanding & knowledge of the challenges of implementing such measures
• Nigeria: the “community informer model” was employed by local authorities for COVID “surveillance, tracing and monitoring” – community informers are key trusted individuals in a community (e.g. faith leaders)
• Pakistan: community volunteers “set up quarantine wards, manufactured and provided free protective suits for medics”, and distributed food to vulnerable people
• India: Community volunteers came together to investigate and identify unknown (“hidden”) COVID-19 fatalities. The volunteer group comprised of expert physicians and data analysts who developed comparisons of official health data and other reports. This encouraged a review of the national death audit process and resulted in improvements in the process so that COVID-19 deaths were accurate and transparent
• USA: Volunteers built a public “Testing Site Locator” app which visualized the geographical location of testing centres to support collection of testing centre-related information and dissemination at the national level. This supported people to locate the nearest available testing centres and also the “health system to plan and distribute centres more effectively”

The pandemic, and previous disasters, have evidenced that communities play a crucial role when preparing for, responding to and recovering from, crisis. Communities and civil societies should be “partners early on in the design, planning, implementation, and assessment of preparedness and response efforts on all levels”, particularly at the local level. We have covered community participation and co-production with communities in various briefings, see TMB Issue 38; Issue 34; Issue 33.

Local people and organisations are vital to delivering change, however, many face barriers and lack the resources to undertake resilience building activities. In the USA, Community Development Financial Institutions work to promote economic revitalization and community development in low-income communities through ‘values driven, locally informed and locally targeted investments’. Consider:

• That investment in community resilience can mitigate the impacts of shocks and stresses caused by crises and accelerate recovery from crisis
• When investing in community resilience, it is important to consider the life span of projects to ensure all communities have the opportunity to achieve their resilience goals
• That all people and communities should have equal access to the ability to build resilience and some may require additional or targeted support
• Engagement of all stakeholders is critical, to ensure that investment will benefit all people in the community

Involving citizens in the recovery planning and development process can lead to more effective policy outcomes and build trust and a two way dialogue between citizens and government. COVID-19 has had diverse impacts on the lives of individuals and communities, and their involvement in deciding the routes to long-term recovery following the pandemic is crucial. Consider the good practice principles for deliberative processes offered by the OECD, which will support the achievement of "high-quality processes that result in useful recommendations and meaningful opportunities for citizens to shape public decisions":

• Clearly define the issue as a question that is aligned with the concerns and challenges faced by different communities
• Invite people to make recommendations for addressing the issues that affect them, respond to recommendations in a timely manner, and monitor and feedback regularly to people on the progress of their implementation (e.g. Scotland's Citizens' Assembly)
• Ensure the process is inclusive and representative of all people in the community, e.g. stratified random sampling to select a participant group which fully represents a community's demographic profile
• Make information easily accessible through public communications. Include the purpose, design, methodology, recruitment details, experts, recommendations, the response, and implementation follow-up
• Establish a mechanism through which people can request additional information, ask questions and keep up to date on progress of activities
• Appoint a liaison person who can feed information in from and out to the community
• Take time to reflect on and evaluate deliberative processes, to ensure learning, help improve future practice and understand impact

Ethnic minority-owned businesses play a vital role in the UK economy, the FSB reported that 'ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) contributed 25 billion pounds to the UK economy in 2018'. The entrepreneurial characteristics of diverse communities will be crucial for economic recovery. The impacts of the pandemic on EMBs is significant, as they account for a large number of businesses within the sectors closed during national lockdowns (retail, health and social care and hospitality). Consider:

• Invite ethnic minority business owners to discuss how best local government can support and facilitate entrepreneurship and growth post-COVID
• Targeted support programmes for ethnic minority-owned organisations and businesses that provide advice and support for applying for financial assistance, IT and tech support so that they are equipped with the skills and tools needed to recover and renew
• Create an 'inclusive matrix of support, including grants, wage subsidy and micro-loans for small ethnic minority-owned organisations, start-ups and new businesses'. Those businesses that may not have qualified for government financial support schemes introduced during the pandemic
• Go beyond the restricted lens of the 'Business Rate System' and broaden the understanding of how local economies function. This can be done by including 'all sectors, including homeworkers, night time economy, responses to local transport needs and the retail sector, to provide a comprehensive picture of local businesses and economic activity'. Use this to introduce support systems that promote sector diversity, good practice in sustainability, growth and cooperation in economic recovery

Yesterday, RCN launched Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner's R-Cities Board Chair's Agenda for "climate-ready infrastructure that is equitable and produces green jobs". This agenda expands RCN's commitment to support cities across the world in a resilient recovery. The preliminary actions for advancing this agenda include; 'Assessing R-Cities work across the network that advances this agenda; Engaging with existing communities of practice, programmes, and partners to share and exchange knowledge around this agenda; and Mobilizing resources to deliver place-based projects in multiple cities that advance the agenda'. This initiative will support resilience in cities in multiple ways, including:

• Call for de-siloing investments in resilience to create climate-ready infrastructure that is equitable and creates green jobs
• Amplify the co-benefits of city transitions to net zero greenhouse gas emissions
• Demonstrate how interconnected services, that support communities and economies, can withstand the disruptions of an uncertain future with climate-ready infrastructure
• Demonstrate how climate-ready infrastructure embraces innovation and the interdependencies of resilient city systems, that are critical to equitable outcomes for people
• Watch the latest Cities on the Frontline Speaker Series #07 Earth Day which launches this agenda here.

COVID-19 has dominated news, media, and local and national government communications for the best part of a year since the pandemic began. One study found that excessive media use was associated with negative psychological outcomes, such as anxiety and stress. Positivity can aid stress management and reduce levels of anxiety/depression. Consider:

• Demonstrate that there is a world outside of COVID-19 by communicating positive stories unrelated to COVID-19
• Encourage more positive COVID-19 stories to come through, for example:
  • Create a local news special that celebrates the effort of local volunteers or local government during the pandemic
• Use communication channels (e.g. social media/newsletters) to communicate positive stories:
  • Invite local community members to share positive news and stories that can be shared and promoted through these channels
  • Invite school children to draw and write positive messages and hang them on the trees/fences of local parks/buildings
  • Encourage people to take regular breaks from consumption of COVID-19 news (signpost to community groups that may be running weekly bingo/quizzes online)
• Create a call-to-action for local volunteers and begin inviting the community to take part in and create new positive local initiatives that are focused on recovery and renewal from COVID-19

In health systems across the world, screening programmes and non-emergency surgical operations have been postponed and cancelled to reduce transmission and free up capacity to treat Covid-19 patients. The USA, UK and Canada have been working to re-start non-COVID related healthcare since the first wave of COVID-19, with subsequent COVID-19 surges creating further challenges, particularly for those countries who are yet to tackle healthcare waiting lists. Those working to reduce the backlog report that some patients continue to defer seeking care so not to increase pressure on services, or because they fear catching the virus. Continued delays will decrease quality of life, increase treatment costs, and worsen outcomes, as the conditions individuals are suffering from deteriorate. There may also be knock-on effects on social care. Consider the measures explored by the UK, USA and Canada:

• Proactively engage the public (e.g. through local communications) to instill confidence in the safety and continued functioning of healthcare systems and encourage them to seek care if they need it
• Ensure ample PPE is available to prevent unnecessary challenges in the delivery of health and social care
• Inform plans by developing rigorous forecasts of future patient demand and service pressures
• Enhance national and local partnerships developed during the pandemic to address the backlog of people needing care. For example:
  • Begin to increase resource capacity through recruitment now to ensure sufficient capacity is available in the future
  • Extend surgical operating hours, including at weekends
  • Draw on volunteers to support vaccination programmes to enable trained healthcare staff to focus on elective care
  • Pool resources between local hospitals and centralize waiting lists so that patients can be treated wherever there is capacity
  • Make greater use of virtual care to increase outpatient access
  • Pilot alternative health care testing programmes (e.g.home testing kits for HPV)

Concurrent emergencies such as disruption to water supply or contamination of water resources can have serious impacts on healthcare facilities and the health of individuals, which may be amplified during a pandemic. Water outages or contaminated water can disrupt clinical procedures, e.g. maintaining a sterile environment in hospitals. Protecting water supply is also crucial during a pandemic, as poor hygiene is a catalyst for the rapid spread of infectious disease. Consider:

• Early scenario planning to consider different types of water shortages alongside the pandemic, and assess potential impacts on health facilities and public health
• The need to establish new systems to provide immediate support to communities in the event of water supply disruption or contamination during COVID-19:
  • Evaluate emergency response measures (e.g. mass water distribution) to determine if they are COVID-safe, and make necessary amendments if required
  • Plan for the need to construct and install handwashing stations in affected communities, to prevent rapid spread of the virus
• The potential for water stagnation to occur in buildings that have been unoccupied over the last year, which may lead to contamination
  • Identify buildings that have been unoccupied and plan for maintenance contractors to test and repair water systems before allowing the building to re-open

The live music and entertainment industry has been heavily affected by the pandemic, with the majority of live events cancelled in 2020. A targeted contact tracing programme could enable the return of live entertainments events and keep the public safe, by identifying and containing a spread of the virus quickly. The contribution of the live entertainment industry to the economy is vast, and critical for GDP, generating employment and attracting tourism. Consider:

• Contact tracing as a targeted initiative to enable the return of live entertainment
• Scope costs of such an initiative and assess affordability:
  • Consider regional collaboration to lower costs
  • Seek funding or grant support, e.g. Arts Councils
• Establish and train a dedicated events contact tracing team to:
  • Provide contact tracing services
  • Develop educational materials for events companies, their employees, and customers
  • Provide on-site environmental health consulting to assist events businesses and venues in being COVID-safe
  • Support businesses in scheduling appointments at testing facilities
• Design an incentive and enforcement scheme to encourage commitment to a contact tracing programme and the implementation of COVID-19 safety measures
• Introduce an audit and certification programme to approve live events (see TMB Issue 28 for guidance on certification programmes)

During national lockdowns and tiered restrictions, visitation to public spaces such as parks has increased dramatically. This increased concentration of people in particular areas poses risk of virus transmission from those who are not abiding by COVID rules. Despite their best efforts, Police have limited capacity to respond to breaches of COVID-19 regulations. As a result there are many breaches going unchallenged and reports of a culture of breaches taking hold. Volunteers, namely COVID Marshals or Ambassadors, can create more capacity to engage, explain and encourage compliance and, when combined with a public app to report breaches, can target deployment to breach hot spots. Consider:

• Identify the types of breaches it may be appropriate to deploy COVID Marshals to so they can engage, explain and encourage compliance
• Identify, select, and train people who may be suitable as COVID Marshals (follow ISO22319)
• Identify safe working practices for the COVID Marshals e.g. deployment in pairs
• Using reports from the public to identify public spaces where breaches are likely to occur
• Develop a system to deploy, monitor, support, and debrief COVID Marshals

As hospitality venues prepare for a safe re-opening, technology can support customer safety and rebuild client confidence. For example, the necessity of contactless service delivery has accelerated and motivated the wider adoption of new technologies across hospitality venues. Consider developing an audit and certification process that supports and guides hospitality venues in the adoption of new technology:

• Identify actions that can make hospitality venues more COVID-safe using technology e.g. replace tangible menus with an ordering app, use scannable QR codes, replace room keys with mobile keys, contactless communications using customer-facing technology tools, guest communications via chatbots/messaging platforms, contactless temperature checks at entrances, air quality improvement and ventilation via bipolar ionisation technology
• Use the identified actions to establish a checklist of practices that hospitality venues may be audited against
• Identify the minimum requirement for hospitality venues to be eligible for certification of COVID-safe technology adoption and service provision
• Identify how the hospitality venue protects its customers by using secure platforms
• Use the checklist and minimum requirements as part of an audit process to certify the safety of hospitality venues
• Apply the audit process to hospitality venues
• Use the audit process to identify further actions that hospitality venues can implement to increase their COVID-safety
• Publicise a list of certified hospitality venues
• Provide certified hospitality venues with certificates/logos that they can display in their window and online
• Have a whistleblower procedure for staff and customers to report serious breaches

Conventional campaigning tactics, such as door-to-door visits and town hall meetings to connect and talk to constituents, are not currently possible in many countries due to COVID-19 guidelines and concerns over risk of virus transmission. Clear guidelines that have the agreement of major parties are needed to ensure appropriate electioneering keeps election candidates and voters safe. Consider the need to:

• Develop an agreement between major political parties on the rules they commit to follow to ensure the safety of their election campaigns
• Identify alternative campaigning methods that are appropriate, such as:
  • Increased use of telephone and postal campaigning
  • Online platforms to support webinars and online town hall meetings with candidates to interact with voters
  • Increased involvement of volunteer helpers in constituencies
• Identify campaigning methods that are not appropriate, for example:
  • Driving voters to voting booths
  • In-person public appearances in places where crowds may then gather
• Appoint an arbitrator to advise on the adherence to agreed rules and the appropriateness of campaigning methods
• Consider how positive and negative campaigning may affect public mood at an already stressful time
• Communicate rules to campaign offices well in advance to allow preparation
• Communicate the campaign rules to the public

As the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine gains pace, there has been reporting of a rise in criminal activity targeting people who await information about their vaccine. Examples of how fraudsters are exploiting the vaccine launch includes: scam text messages that request personal information such as bank details; fraudsters turning up at peoples' houses posing as National Health Service employees and offering vaccination for immediate payment. Fraud undermines public confidence in official programmes and contribute to a negative narrative around the vaccine programme. Consider public messaging to:

• Use a range of communication channels to build public awareness of fraudsters' tactics to encourage vigilance regarding vaccination communications
• Ensure communications about fraud awareness are available in different languages and different media e.g. to support migrants or support people with disabilities such as via informational videos: https://signhealth.org.uk/resources/coronavirus/
• Publish a list official government and health websites/social media channels that are authorised to provide official information on the vaccine
• Include in fraud communications information on the ways in which people will be invited for an official vaccine, and ways that they will not be invited
• Identify partnering organisations that can distribute messages about vaccine fraud e.g. organisations that run befriending schemes, check-in and chat services, vaccination partners
• Disseminate consistent information to these partnering organisations to advise them of how to provide information about fraud without concerning people about the safety of the vaccine itself

Research suggests that the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine will be heavily affected public attitudes about vaccination. For a highly infectious disease, even a vaccine with adequate efficacy, pace, and coverage may be insufficient to tackle population dynamics (e.g. age and population size) that produce high disease prevalence. Consider public messaging to:

• Foster widespread public understanding and enthusiasm for vaccination, while addressing sources of hesitancy for vaccines (generally and for COVID-19)
• Promote vaccine acceptance through culturally-sensitive, evidence-based and local communication
• Promote the continued need for other prevention practices even after a vaccine becomes available as reducing transmission requires a sustained commitment to public health practices
• Ensure that vaccines are understood by all communities, particularly underserved groups for which longstanding disparities in vaccination coverage have been evident

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues on, people around the world have been utilising black markets to purchase negative COVID-19 test results to enable them to travel. False negative COVID test certificates have been sold for around $300 USD. Systems which email test results can be easily bypassed by downloading and doctoring documents e.g. changing the date of the test, name and test result. Consider how to manage and mitigate proliferation of false negative test results:

• In Hawaii, only results from approved testing partners will be accepted, and they must be transmitted digitally, rather than using emails
• Utilising apps that centralize health and lab data and test/vaccination results e.g. CommonPass, trialled by United Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways

Previously, employers in the USA have supported influenza preparedness by providing on-site clinics to administer flu shots for their staff. It may be possible for organisations to use previous arrangements and infrastructure for flu vaccination to support the COVID-19 vaccination programme. If organisations do not have such infrastructure, developing it could help support COVID-19 vaccination programmes and expedite employees return to work. This may be dependent on the type of vaccinations available and requirements for their storage. When a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available and accessible consider:

• Making vaccination a part of worksite wellness programmes whereby staff can be vaccinated at an onsite clinic provided by their employers
• How employers can provide supplementary support in tackling COVID-19 transmission, alongside the vaccine, through educational material on preventative measures e.g. mask wearing, to promote long-term public health compliance

Time is a main barrier to learning lessons and implementing actions from those lessons. However, learning lessons while an event is still unfolding provides contemporaneous thinking to help guide actions. Organisations or all sorts can identify and learn their own lessons, feeding into industry/association calls for learning. Consider:

• Appointing someone to identify lessons during events
• Maintaining an up-to-date log of lessons to capture learning and support institutional memory
• Using the log of lessons dynamically and reflectively to asses performance and guide debriefs
• Coordinating the lessons learned across an area or industry to pool learning for greater effect, to bring the system together to share context specific learning through:
  • Holding workshops and industry seminars
  • Liaising with academic institutions, networks/associations, and business centres
  • Promoting information widely through various medias e.g. online and in print
• Guidance on collating lessons to assess performance and processes for debriefing can be found in TMBs 18 and 22

The SDGs, represent the world's agreed economic, social, and environmental targets for 2030, and can act as a common scorecard to ensure there are objective standards for assessing progress. Localising the ambition of the SDGs to develop local economic development strategies can help integrate social and environmental standards within local economic agendas, reduce disparities between regions, generate local business opportunities and jobs, and aim to include all marginalized communities. Consider how the SDG framework can support inclusive and diversified economic growth:

• Integrate SDG targets into on-going budget reviews process, thereby improving resource allocation and performance evaluation
• Examine the link between ongoing public policies, the SDG targets and budget expenditures
• Analyse the official indicators related to budget-planning instruments
• Partner with the private sector to launch impact investment initiatives that address the SDGs, recovery and renewal from COVID-19 and sustainable economic renewal

AI uses computer systems to perform tasks associated with human intelligence. This can be used to help detect and interpret patterns useful for managing emergencies. Explore with AI experts how AI may be used in COVID-19 mitigation, preparation, response and recovery:

• Mitigation: To recognize patterns in the environment to provide early warning e.g. data on compounding factors associated with COVID-19 infection such as urban poverty to provide information on potentially high risk areas
• Preparation: To analyse patterns in natural and social phenomena e.g. impacts of natural disasters on hospital capacity during COVID-19. Run emergency simulations to mathematically model detailed emergency management plans to account for compounding disasters during the pandemic
• Response and Recovery: To evaluate situational information from social media, and surveillance cameras to determine where response is needed, and to support coordination of recovery activities e.g. drones can be used to transport PPE, using online information developed by mapping COVID hotspots. In the UK, Windracers (a humanitarian aid transportation company) used delivery drones to fly four times a day to the Isle of Wight, taking just 10 minutes to deliver PPE

COVID-19 has impacted every level of an organisation. Engaging with people within your organisation and those closely associated with it, to show appreciation of people's work and resilience helps to boost morale. Consider how to show your appreciation through:

• Public appreciation posts in the form of newsletters, blogs or videos to thank staff and stakeholders, such as this tribute to The University of Manchester community
• Tangible rewards- these don't need to be financial (e.g. a bonus) but may be in the form of extra time holidays, and could be recognised as mental health days to give employees a much-needed break while they juggle responsibilities

Mobile home residents face a number of health and environmental challenges that have been exacerbated during the pandemic. Residents face compounding health issues as mobile homes are difficult to keep warm in winter and cool in summer. Heating and ventilation costs can also create financial burdens which can have negative health impacts - especially as many people living in mobile homes have lower incomes and face job insecurity. This demographic also face increased risk due to site locations and occupancy agreements. In the UK, many mobile home sites are at risk of flooding and storm damage due to their proximity to water. To combat this, residents are normally asked to leave for 6 weeks of the year- during storm season. During COVID-19 this creates a number of issues as movement of people during these 6 weeks is a huge infection risk. The UK government has therefore requested that sites remain open for those using mobile homes as their primary residence. Consider:

• Emergency planning for extreme weather events/ COVID-19, including COVID-safe evacuation plans
• Increased community liaison and communication to share evacuation plans clearly to residents so they are able to prepare and act quickly and safely
• Identify local COVID-secure emergency accommodation in case evacuation of residents is needed
• Increase community liaison during periods of extreme heat to ensure residents are able to stay safe, especially during periods of lockdown, shielding or quarantine
• Provide clear information to residents in multiple languages and have multi-lingual community health visitors to ensure health and wellbeing information is translated

COVID-19 has shed new light on the way in which countries respond to, and recover from emergencies. This includes COVID-19 specific advice and broader lessons about emergency preparedness and management. For example, previous guidance on volunteer management has traditionally assumed a point of convergence at a disaster site, while this still holds true for many emergencies e.g. floods, lessons from COVID-19 demonstrate that volunteer management may also be dispersed, large-scale and without face-to-face contact. Consider how lessons from COVID-19 may help to revise emergency plans:

• Conduct a 'stock take' of current emergency guidance, and consider what may be missing or no longer fit for purpose
• Implement debriefs, peer reviews and impact assessments, drawing on expertise from local government and emergency practitioners, to evaluate how well current guidance worked and where it needs revising
• Consider that emergency planning must remain relevant to specific types of emergencies, but that broader lessons from COVID-19 can help strengthen guidance e.g. issues of inclusion such as gender, ethnicity, sexuality; health and socio-economic disparities and vulnerabilities; volunteering capacity; supply chain stability; green agenda; and partnerships arrangements
• Draw on resources beyond government guidance from global networks e.g. Resilient Cities Network's revised toolkit which builds recovery from COVID-19 into a wider resilience agenda for a safe and equitable world, and resources from International Organization for Standardization (ISO) which is developing new recovery standards in light of COVID-19 lessons (ISO 22393)

Middle managers and leaders are central points of contact for people returning to work and their roles are particularly important as the pandemic continues but people return to work. However, it is vital that managers have the tools to support their own well-being as well as their team's, and that they have adequate support from senior leadership. Since COVID, middle managers are being asked to make hundreds of daily decisions in a time of uncertainty. They have the responsibility of sharing and promoting decisions and strategies that may be ambiguous or that they even disagree with. Consider:

• Conversations between middle and senior leaders that helps to remove as many unknowns as possible through clear guidelines. Ensure managers know what they are (and are not) responsible for in terms of decision-making and providing wider support
• Whether there is sufficient wellbeing support for all staff to relieve middle managers of additional roles. Ensure managers are clear on available support networks in the organization and what they offer e.g. occupational health
• Provide training on holding 'confident conversations' about difficult topics e.g. mental health, risk assessments, managing people with different needs, and providing more emotional support

Train managers in available information such as the NHS’s: Making health and wellbeing vital in conversations guidance and wellbeing coaching questions - for managers. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD) offers: How to help your team thrive at work

The scale of COVID-19 requires information to the shared across countries and regions effectively. Consider how your organization can contribute to open data sets such as The Living Repository and the 'OECD - GOVLAB- Call for Evidence: Use of Open Government Data in COVID-19 Outbreak'. Consider contributing or using open data to identify:

• COVID-19 cases, individuals at risk, and forecasting future scenarios, including disease spread/contraction, and possible treatments for those infected
• Availability and demand for supplies, locating and connecting actors with medical supplies
• Whether communities adhere to guidelines and recommendations outlined by health authorities
• Public perceptions and how restrictions are affecting well-being, including crime e.g. the rise in domestic violence and child abuse
• Whether efforts are efficient, transparent, meet needs, and do not violate democracy, privacy, ethics or fundamental human rights
• Misinformation including accuracy, speed and scale of fact-checking
• How, where, and when lockdowns are lifted
• How the pandemic affects those who live and travel outside their country of national origin
• The most effective forms of aid to those most vulnerable to the pandemic's economic shocks
• The risks and challenges workers face to their health and safety and the protections available
• The impact on the ability of students and workers to meet learning and training outcomes
• Institutions most likely to close as a result of the pandemic and providing support
• The pandemic's effect on climate-related activities, global emissions, energy usage, and wildlife
• Disruptions caused by confinement measures on the economy e.g. analysing data on supply chains, trade, impacts on inclusive growth

In the USA, Black Communities are amongst some of the hardest finically hit communities as a result of the economic fallout from COVID-19. Recovery to date has shown to neglect women, Latino and Black Americans. Similar patterns are seen globally, with marginalised and already vulnerable groups being hit the hardest economically. Like many countries, this is a result of pervasive existing inequalities in access to income, assets, health, education, formal employment, equal opportunity, social protection, internet and public services. Consider:

• Explicitly acknowledging the heightened economic vulnerabilities of specific socioeconomic groups - and address these with targeted measures
• How to encourage broad public participation and collective action in government planning and response to effectively address existing inequalities and the needs of vulnerable populations as well as minimise elite capture and urban bias
• How policies should account for constraints faced by specific marginalized groups in terms of economic recovery such as job precarity, lack of education, low wages
• That economic recovery programmes that do not address these inequalities run the risk of reinforcing and deepening inequalities into the future which can burden economies and health systems
• Assessing funding proposals for their impact on different societal groups

Children have been particularly impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, so continuing to provide child-friendly events is an important way to safeguard their well-being. Consider how and what advice to provide to the public to make celebrations such as Halloween and Bonfire Night COVID-19 safe. Consider widely publicising the safety concerns of some activities such as trick or treating and firework parties, and provide ideas for low risk alternatives. Consider suggesting:

Halloween

• Virtual trick or treat parties or costume parties
• Carving or decorating pumpkins with members of your household and displaying them
• Having a scavenger trick-or-treat hunt with your household members in or around your home
• Look for community events focused on safe ways to have fun e.g. children can colour in Halloween posters and display them in a window at home so, on Halloween children can get dressed up and look for posters in their local area and get a treat from their guardian for each poster spotted - ensuring social distancing and 'the rule of six'

Bonfire night

• Instead of putting on fireworks displays, consider lighting up local landmarks at certain times. In Dudley, UK the council intends to honour NHS workers by also lighting up hospitals. The display is also accompanied by music played on local radio stations
• Consider secret firework displays which are planned at undisclosed locations to avoid crowds gathering - providing locations to ensure full area coverage
• Livestream displays on social media
• Heighten awareness of firework safety as COVID-19 restrictions may result in more firework displays at homes. Promote following the firework code and relevant COVID-19 restrictions

Organisations should carefully consider the impacts on staff of re-entry into the workplace. Understanding the mental and physical condition of staff can help organisations to prepare accordingly. Some staff be enthusiastic about returning to the office, others may not want to return, and others may want to theoretically return to work but have anxieties about the risks to their health and the health of loved ones. Consider steps to include staff in strategic planning for a return to work including the need to:

• Ask staff if they are able to return to the office, or if there are not able to return - rather than assume that everyone should return
• Regularly survey employees so you understand the anxiety levels in your organisations - seek to identify and remedy practical concerns
• Understand why some staff may not wish to return, whether this is because they are in high-risk groups, or have other challenges such as reliable childcare
• Make the return to work planning processes transparent. Include staff in these processes and communicate to staff who is working on the plan in your organisations, how they are thinking about it, and when announcements will be communicated
• Mitigate uncertainty where possible by sharing what is definitely happening, what is definitely not happening, and when firmer answers can be expected
• Seek feedback from all stakeholders on a regular basis. Consider establishing a task force to process feedback, and set up regular, recurring dialogues with employees
• Clarify how people can get their questions addressed and who will address them

Consider some example plans:

https://www.shearman.com/perspectives/2020/04/key-considerations-in-designing-a-return-to-work-plan-covid-19

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/human-capital/deloitte-uk-workforce-strategies-for-post-covid-recovery-workbook.pdf

Vaccines are highly perishable and must be kept at very cold, specific temperatures. The majority of COVID-19 vaccines under development will spoil, and need to be discarded, if they are not kept at the right temperature. National and local governments, alongside health systems and the private sector, need to imminently consider their cold chains to avoid unnecessary spoiling of vaccines. The cold chain is a supply chain that can keep vaccines in tightly controlled temperatures from the moment they are made to the moment that they are administered to a person. Preparing the cold chain may take months, so investments into planning and resources now can help expand and support the current vaccine cold chain so it is ready and able to meet the scale of the mass vaccination programmes required. To prepare/scale up the cold chain consider:

• Where vaccines will be produced and transported, and the requirements for transportation including planes and trucks within countries and for distribution abroad
• There are a number of vaccines under development, many of which require different temperatures and handling procedures. Which will be approved first is unknown, therefore to prepare staff when one is approved staff in the cold chain should be trained to handle all possible vaccines to save time and avoid spoilage
• The frequency of deliveries that may be needed to facilities where dispensing will take place. This depends on the refrigeration capacity of health care organizations and hospitals, staffing resources, the locations the vaccines, and the shelf life of the vaccine
• How to expand shipping and storage capacity, including the specialised equipment needed to store vaccines at certain temperatures. Encourage airports and logistics companies to evaluate how well they could meet cold chain requirements

AI uses computer systems to perform tasks associated with human intelligence. This can be used to help detect and interpret patterns useful for managing emergencies. Explore with AI experts how AI may be used in COVID-19 mitigation, preparation, response and recovery:

• Mitigation: To recognize patterns in the environment to provide early warning e.g. data on compounding factors associated with COVID-19 infection such as urban poverty to provide information on potentially high risk areas
• Preparation: To analyse patterns in natural and social phenomena, and run emergency simulations to develop detailed emergency management plans
• Response and Recovery: To sort situational information from social media, and surveillance cameras (fixed, drones, satellites) to determine where response is needed, and to support coordination of recovery activities

Children with hearing loss return will increasingly come into contact with other school students and members of staff wearing masks. Consider how to optimise communication with children with hearing loss by adapting the use of face coverings in schools:

• Use face shields instead of masks as these have been reported to improve communication through visual cues and lip reading
• Be aware of how sound may be reduced when wearing a face shield so utilise technology such as personal microphones to mitigate loss of sound
• Ensure staff's face is visible to children by mitigating fogging of face shields by rubbing a small amount of soap, using an 'anti fogging' spray, or inserting a folded facial tissue between the face and top edge of the mask
• Remind staff of basic communication strategies such as use of clear speech. This can include clear enunciation, speaking slowly, minimizing background noise as much as possible, and facing the class while speaking. Teachers should also remember to repeat the questions and answers provided by other students in the classroom to provide a better opportunity for every child to hear peers' comments
• Offer a recorded version of the lesson whether this is in written or video form, or speech-to-text technology to provide real-time notation

To avoid singling out students with hearing loss, teachers can develop a silent communication system with the student to signal comprehension or misunderstanding e.g. a card system where a red card on the child's desk indicates their need for assistance and a green card indicates comprehension.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in countries closing their borders at short notice, and the suspension or severe curtailing of transport. These measures have implications for those who are not in their country of residence including those working, temporarily living, or holidaying abroad. At the time of the first outbreak, over 200,000 EU citizens were estimated to be stranded outside of the EU, and faced difficulties returning home[1].

As travel restrictions for work and holidays ease amidst the ongoing pandemic, but as the possibility of overnight changes to such easements, there is an increased need to consider how repatriations may be managed. This includes COVID-safe travel arrangements for returning citizens, the safety of staff, and the effective test and trace of those returning home. Facilitating the swift and safe repatriation of people via evacuation flights or ground transport requires multiple state and non-state actors. Significant attention has been given to the amazing efforts of commercial and chartered flights in repatriating citizens, but less focus has been paid to the important role that emergency services can play in supporting repatriation efforts.

In the US, air ambulance teams were deployed to support 39 flights, repatriating over 2,000 individuals. Air ambulance teams were able to supplement flights and reduced over reliance on commercial flights for repatriations (a critique of the UK response[2]). This required monumental effort from emergency service providers. After medical screening or treatment at specific facilities, emergency services (such as police) helped to escort people to their homes to ensure they had accurate public health information and that they understood they should self-isolate.

Authorities should consider how to work with emergency services to develop plans for COVID-19 travel scenarios, to better understand how to capitalise on and protect the capacity and resources of emergency services. Consider how to:

• Develop emergency plans that include a host of emergency service personnel who have technical expertise, and know their communities. Plans should[3]:
  • Be trained and practiced
  • Regularly incorporate best practices gained from previous lessons learned
• Build capacity in emergency services to support COVID-19 operations through increased staffing and resources
• Anticipate and plan for adequate rest periods for emergency service staff before they go back on call during an emergency period
• Protect emergency service staff. Pay special attention to safe removal and disposal of PPE to avoid contamination, including use of a trained observer[4] / “spotter”[5] who:
  • is vigilant in spotting defects in equipment;
  • is proactive in identifying upcoming risks;
  • follows the provided checklist, but focuses on the big picture;
  • is informative, supportive and well-paced in issuing instructions or advice;
  • always practices hand hygiene immediately after providing assistance

Consideration can also be given to what happens to repatriated citizens when they arrive in their country of origin. In Victoria (Australia), research determined that 99% of COVID-19 cases since the end of May could be traced to two hotels housing returning travellers in quarantine[6]. Lesson learnt from this case suggest the need to:

• Ensure clear and appropriate advice for any personnel involved in repatriation and subsequent quarantine of citizens
• Ensure training modules for personnel specifically relates to issues of repatriation and subsequent quarantine and is not generalised. Ensure training materials are overseen by experts and are up-to-date
• Strategically use law enforcement (and army personnel) to provide assistance to a locale when mandatory quarantine is required
• Be aware that some citizens being asked to quarantine may have competing priorities such as the need to provide financially.
• Consider how to understand these needs and provide localised assistance to ensure quarantine is not broken

References:

[1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/649359/EPRS_BRI(2020)649359_EN.pdf

[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53561756

[3] https://ancile.tech/how-to-manage-repatriation-in-a-world-crisis/

[4] https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/ppe-training/trained-observer/observer_01.html

[5] https://www.airmedicaljournal.com/article/S1067-991X(20)30076-6/fulltext

[6] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/18/hotel-quarantine-linked-to-99-of-victorias-covid-cases-inquiry-told

To read this case study in its original format follow the source link below to TMB Issue 21 (p.20-21)

Assessing projected job losses and economic vulnerability as a result of COVID-19 can be supported by using digital tools informed by official national statistics. Tools such as the Kentucky COVID-19 Economic Impact Dashboard can provide information on (un)employment by tracking industries that have experienced the greatest job losses nationally. Dashboards like these point users to a single, accessible, authoritative source for information. This helps organisations to maintain situational awareness and communicate critical information. For the economy, consider using digital tools like dashboards to:

• Evaluate the needs of local economies more closely and to develop policy responses tailored to the unique needs of each locality
• Evidence the need to support and fund aspects of economic recovery that are monitored by the dashboard
• Share data with other relevant stakeholders that also see the impacts of economic vulnerability e.g. health and education sectors
• Use the data for strategic planning and staffing purposes to anticipate and meet demand for services in different regions of the state
• Provide the public and businesses with data on economic vulnerability, alongside signposting them to other relevant information e.g. transmission rates in their area, COVID-19 testing facilities

Sharing information is a powerful way to relate the changing situation of the COVID-19 crisis to the public. We know that local information is best for keeping people up-to-date on how the virus is affecting people in their area – essentially, by communicating what is happening in their local community. Boise State University (Idaho) have developed an online interactive dashboard to communicate an array of information to the public about Idaho State and its counties. Johns Hopkins University provides a similar dashboard for global cases of COVID-19, providing country-level information. Consider providing:

• An interactive map of the area for the public clicked on and drill down to access area-specific information
• Colour coded areas of the region to communicate comparisons across key measures
• Updates of the number of cases and deaths presented numerically and graphically
• Layer on information on where to get local support i.e. available community resources
• Providing updates of:
  • key behaviours that officials want the public to adopt
  • changes in guidelines
  • significant decisions made by the crisis committee
• The date/time when the information was last updated
• The dashboard in relevant languages for the area

In the USA, the impacts of natural disasters are being felt more frequently and earlier than expected. As a result, emergency planning for potential evacuation is of increasing importance. Consider: Locale specific, local guidance on evacuating safely during the pandemic:

• Reviewing agreements and plans with neighbouring regions to provide mutual aid resources
• Adequate stocks of personal protective equipment for staff, and to distribute to evacuees and residents at risk of evacuation
• Adequate stocks of COVID-19 testing kits to evacuation centres to avoid spread of the virus during evacuation
• Capacity to perform temperature checks on all arrivals at shelters
• Ensure residents are prepared to make plans for alternative arrangements during an evacuation such as staying with friends/family, or in hotels, rather than relying on communal shelters (which should be the last option)
• Ensure residents have adequately prepared for an evacuation and understand they should bring their own personal bedding and care items to mitigate transmission

Research by the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests COVID-19 can spread from people to animals after close contact with a person sick with COVID-19, although the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low. Consider how to work with vets, zoos, animal charities, animal shelter programmes and other stakeholders to disseminate information to pet owners, the public, and those who work with animals to understand how to protect themselves and others from transmitting the virus through and to animals. Consider how to:

• Protect those with pets at home by:
  • Informing the public about possible transmission to, and between their pets. The CDC states that common household pets such as cats and dogs can be infected with COVID-19, but caution is advised as there may be other types of animals that can get infected
  • Due to possible transmission, consider reiterating that if owners have symptoms they, and their animals should be isolated and practice social distancing to reduce risk of transmission
• For those who work with animals consider:
  • Paying attention to species suspected by CDC research to contract COVID-19 from humans e.g. in zoos (big cats), in breeding (cats, dogs, hamsters), or farms (mink or ferrets)
  • Make staff aware of possible transmission, provide appropriate PPE and ensure distancing/isolation guidelines
• The CDC suggests that more studies are needed to understand if and how different animals could be affected by COVID-19

Engaging with art and culture can contribute to well-being, serenity and intellectual stimulation, and can help build resilience in the community. Consider:

• How to digitize as many cultural assets as possible to maintain public engagement with arts/culture
• That some organisations may have been negatively impacted financially and could benefit from operating online
• Providing national and local lists of available online arts and culture content
• Promotion of smaller independent venues, artists and collections

FEMA (USA) has made freely available some training materials on a range of topics. The trainings below are not specific to COVID-19 but are helpful to the broader issues of planning for emergencies. These links are to just the slides, but they provide a helpful background and sources for further study. Consider reviewing the materials in the following FEMA courses:

• Animals in Disasters: Awareness and Preparedness
• Animals in Disasters: Community Planning
• An Introduction to Exercises
• Leadership and Influence
• Decision Making and Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Developing and Managing Volunteers

Each of these courses have online materials available on the URLs given above - often over 100 slides are freely available.

There is a glut of information on COVID-19 and more often we are seeing news outlets attempting to check and correct misinformation that be being shared. This should aim to ensure that the public have conclusions about the virus which are substantiated, correct, and without political interference. Myths can be debunked, misinformation corrected, and poor advice challenged. Consider whether to:

• Provide your own fact-checking website
• Contribute to others' fact-checking sources
• Check facts of colleagues and partners to ensure correct information prevails
• Remind others of the importance of not spreading misinformation and checking other peoples' facts
• Link your website to official sources of information so not to promulgate misinformation

FEMA (USA) make freely available training materials on a range of topics which are of relevance to the current pandemic. The list of training below is not specific to COVID-19 but is helpful for the broader issues of planning for emergencies and commanding emergency response to incidents. These links are to just the slides, but they provide a helpful background and sources for further study. Consider reviewing the materials in the following FEMA courses:

• Emergency Planning
• Fundamentals of Emergency Management
• Introduction to the Incident Command System
• Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response
• An Introduction to the National Incident Management System
• National Response Framework: An Introduction

Each of these courses have online materials available on the URLs given above - often over 100 slides are freely available.

Wildfire seasons are increasingly common in some countries, causing periodic exposure to smoke particles that can overwhelm the immune system and exacerbate and cause respiratory problems. Additionally, research has discovered correlations between smoke caused by summer wildfires, and more severe flu seasons the following winter. Consider:

• Surge capacity in healthcare settings to manage compounding impacts of wildfires smoke on respiratory viruses such as flu and COVID-19
• Advising against use of 'community clean air shelters', which offered respite from smoke in normal years, but are now risky because of the pandemic and the need for social distancing
• During smoky periods advise people to stay at home as much as possible with windows and doors closed
• If your house has forced air, install a filter that filters harmful particles (with a MERV rating of 13 or higher). If not, select one room of your home, ideally the coolest one, and use a portable air cleaner
• Where possible/needed use properly fitting N95 respirator masks to filter smoke particles, as COVID-19 cloth/face coverings don't offer protection from smoke

Testing is considered critical to managing COVID-19, and mitigating the risk of diagnostic-supply shortages can help contain the virus and support efforts to scale testing. Diagnostic testing can confirm or determine the presence of disease in an individual suspected of having a disease. Continuing to identify those who are infected with COVID-19 remains important to treat and isolate them, and to enhance knowledge of the disease. Consider how to:

• Map available laboratory-testing capacity which can be underutilized e.g. laboratories around the USA have reported unused capacity which could be used to conduct more tests
• Maximize existing laboratory capacity by assessing: workflows; number of trained and personnel; compile a full inventory of equipment
• Partner with Universities and major diagnostic manufacturers e.g. to share equipment, research facilities, and trained personnel
• Using less resources through pooled testing of people for COVID-19 (The Manchester Briefing Week 17)

Consider how to develop a space to remember and honour people who have died in your city and their stories, by developing an online memorial site with photographs, and some words from family and friends. Consider how to gather accurate information on identified deaths from COVID-19:

• Confirm the death with a third party, such as a news organization or city agency - directly tie the cause to COVID-19
• Take contributions from victims' families and confirmation by an immediate family member or next of kin
• Check victim details, such as last known address and age e.g. through voter registration data
• Partner with institutions that can help provide up-to-date lists of the deceased
• Use reports from news organizations, paid obituaries from online sources (e.g. Legacy.com) and local news publications
• Check verified posts from victims' families on social-media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook
• Check announcements from victims' private and public-sector employers and unions
• Check official releases from city and state agencies, e.g. Police Department

Spare capacity is expensive when it is not being used so, in many cases, systems are lean and focus on maximising their utilisation, ongoing value for money, efficiency and return on initial investment. However, this reduces ability to rapidly access capacity and to react quickly in emergency situations. During the early stages of COVID-19 in different countries we witnessed the attempt to delay the impact of the virus so that the system could create needed capacity in areas of healthcare. This time was used to create spare capacity by freeing up beds, sourcing equipment and supplies expected to be needed, preparing staff, identifying processes to pause or reduce to redeploy resources to more critical activities, retrain staff in other critical activities. As countries analyse the potential of future waves of the pandemic, consider:

• What important services are/have been stretched to (or exceed) maximum capacity during the response e.g. healthcare (intensive care), schools (number of socially distanced pupils in classrooms)
• Where demand for important services could exceed available capacity during recovery and Renewal e.g. provision of mental health support, financial advice, unemployment services, retraining
• Where spare capacity should be built into the system so that an appropriate response can be rapidly provided to emergencies e.g. ongoing response to COVID-19, concurrent emergencies, future outbreaks of the virus
• How spare capacity can be created, protected, and prioritised for rapid use when needed
• The need for spare capacity on an ongoing basis after the crisis lessens

Reference: Interview with German Fire Department

The basic idea of pooled testing is that instead of testing samples from individuals one at a time, samples from multiple individuals (pools) would be mixed together at a testing facility, and tested as one sample. If the test comes back negative the whole pool is clear. If the test is positive, the pool can be tested individually instead. Pooled testing is a means to test more people faster, using few tests, and for less money, and has long been used to test large asymptomatic populations for disease e.g. to screen for sexually transmitted diseases, and to test donated blood for Hepatitis B and C, Zika virus and HIV. Consider:

• The cost saving benefits of pooled testing over testing each individual - schools and businesses saddled with testing costs could lower costs by as much as 75%
• The scalability of pooled testing - batched testing of pools can provide data covering large areas such as schools and businesses
• Pooled testing could ramp up the number of coronavirus tests while lowering testing costs, especially in low-prevalence areas