Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

In Pune, an 'Action Plan for Hotspot Areas' was developed in which the local police force supported implementation of contact tracing and wide-spread testing, water and sanitation support, food and shelter planning and public awareness. Teams carried out local door-to-door check-ups of all households in the hotspot areas. Consider how to take public health interventions and information into the community:

• Establish dedicated COVID care booths in hotspot areas
• Allot dedicated ambulances in case serious cases are detected
• Designate, specific localised teams within the hotspot area, including police, medical staff and community engagement officers to conduct thorough, localised door-to-door check-ups of all households in the hotspot areas (including virus testing)
• Use teams to distribute medication to those who need it, and to provide discharge public health packages. These may include:
  • A packet of masks
  • Sanitizer
  • Soap
  • Cleaning products
• Ensure comprehensive medical, nutritional, and psycho-social care for those identified as COVID-19 positive
• To maximise identification of cases, adopt standardized systems for testing

Reference: representative of the Australian Department of Justice and Community Safety

Including gender-inclusive perspectives can address gender inequalities in health outcomes, the economy and wider society. For example, in the EU, women make up: 93% of child care workers; 86% of personal care workers in health services; and 95% of domestic cleaners (https://eige.europa.eu/covid-19-and-gender-equality/frontline-workers). This exposes women to the virus, heighten the potential of poverty and mental health issues as these jobs are undervalued, precarious, and underpaid. Women also bear an unequal burden in unpaid household labour which can undermine access to paid employment. There is a need to assess the implications of COVID-19 policies to ensure gendered experiences are recognised and addressed. Consider:

• The level of exposure of genders to COVID-19 due to gender segregation in the labour market
• The increased risks to occupational health and well-being of women in caring professions
• Increased consultation with, and inclusion of, women in decision-making during crises
• Working with community/religious leaders to promote caregiving/caretaking as everyone's responsibility
• How gender-balanced teams can provide treatment or support for mental health and well-being
• Innovating to mitigate other social issues such as gender based violence
• Offering guidance on domestic violence into existing services e.g. give volunteers, who provide other services, information on victim support
• Educating organisations about the heighten risk of gender based violence since COVID-19 so that they can be part of safeguarding women and girls

There have been a range of incident types against key workers, so:

• Ensure deliberate coughing and spitting is addressed in official policy such as the UK Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act
• Patrol areas in which key workers work to provide protection from assault and mugging as a result of workers' association with COVID-19 response, and assumptions that some workers have access to medicine and food
• Release official statements from law enforcers to the public to bring attacks on key workers to light. Use the opportunity to fact-check claims which may appear on social media such as the one claiming that an Italian doctor had been charged with killing over 3,000 COVID-19 patients

Actively investigate hoax messages purportedly from official Government sources that could put key workers at risk