• March 18, 2020
• Public Health

• Harvard Kennedy School: "How the public sector and civil society can respond to the coronavirus pandemic"
• Harvard Kennedy School Program on Crisis Leadership: "Twenty Things for Organizational Leaders to Know About COVID-19 as of March 13, 2020"
• New York Times: "Your Building Can Make You Sick or Keep You Well"
• Harvard Graduate School of Education: "Schools, Families, and the Coronavirus"
• ZenCity: "Coronavirus in US Cities: Residents' [updated] key concerns. In numbers."
• Esri: Coronavirus (COVID-19) GIS Hub (screenshot below)

Childcare/Resources for First Responders and Medical Professionals

• KDRV: LOCAL OREGON YMCA INSTALLS EMERGENCY CHILD CARE PLAN, DUE TO CORONAVIRUS
  • The YMCA in Medford, Oregon has activated its Emergency Child Care Plan, suspending all normal after-school programs and operations in order to provide small-group childcare for families of medical staff, health-care workers, first responders, and vulnerable populations.
• CNBC: UBER IS DELIVERING FREE MEALS TO HEALTH-CARE WORKERS AND FIRST RESPONDERS AMID CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
  • Uber will be delivering more than 300,000 free meals to critical workers, as well as suspending delivery fees for local restaurants in many markets.
• BROWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS, MEDICAL PERSONNEL AND ESSENTIAL BCPS EMPLOYEES
  • Broward County Public Schools in Florida is providing free childcare to first responders, medical personnel, and essential BCPS employees Monday through Friday.
• KEYC: SCHOOL MEAL DISTRIBUTION/CHILDCARE RESOURCES FOR COVID-19 CLOSURE
  • Childcare resources for first responders, health-care workers, corrections workers, and law enforcement in and around Mankato, Minnesota.
• YMCA OF SUPERIOR CALIFORNIA: EMERGENCY CHILD CARE SITES
  • YMCA facilities are offering emergency child care, prioritizing slots for children of first responders and other health-care workers, as well as essential employees.

Food Insecurity

• CHARLESTON GAZETTE MAIL: WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOL BUSES DELIVERING MEALS AFTER CORONAVIRUS THREAT SHUTTERED ALL SCHOOLS
  • School buses in Kanawha County, West Virginia, are delivering meals to students to avoid creating crowds exceeding 10 people in public spaces.
• CHICAGO SUN TIMES: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING FOOD FROM CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DURING CORONAVIRUS CLOSURES
  • Chicago Public Schools will be distributing free meals outside of school buildings for parents and kids to grab and go while schools are closed.
• K5NEWS: MEAL PLANS ORGANIZED FOR WASHINGTON STUDENTS AMID CORONAVIRUS SCHOOL CLOSURES
  • Counties in Washington State are preparing to feed students during school closures, including walk-up and drive-through pick up for sack breakfasts and lunches.
• BUZZFEED: HERE ARE SOME GROUPS HELPING PEOPLE DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
  • National non-profits assisting with food security.
• ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION: CORONAVIRUS AND FOOD ACCESS: FOUR QUESTIONS EVERY COMMUNITY NEEDS TO ANSWER
  • Forty million Americans struggled with food insecurity before the COVID-19 outbreak -- what questions do government leaders need to be prepared to answer to meet their needs during this crisis?
• NEWSWEEK: GROCERY STORES OPENING EARLY FOR SENIOR CITIZENS: DOLLAR GENERAL, STOP AND SHOP, FOOD TOWN HOURS
  • Local and national chains are expanding hours to allow at-risk seniors to shop away from the general public.

Community Support Initiatives

• BOSTON CITY GOVERNMENT: BOSTON RESILIENCY FUND
  • The emerging priorities of the Boston Resiliency Fund are to provide food for children and seniors, technology for remote learning for students, and support to first responders and health-care workers in the City of Boston.
• COLORADO STATE GOVERNMENT: STATE LABOR DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES ASSISTANCE FOR EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS DURING TEMPORARY SHUTDOWNS DUE TO CORONAVIRUS
  • Guidance for employees and employers on filing for unemployment and mitigating employee layoffs.
• TWITTER: GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES SUSPENSION OF NEW YORK STATE DEBT COLLECTION
  • Applies to student, medical, and other state-referred debt for at least 30 days.
• PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: CORONAVIRUS PUTS PHILLY’S BELOVED SMALL BUSINESSES AT RISK. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP SAVE THEM.
  • Op-Ed asking people to pledge #Five4Fifty, spending at least $5 a day at local small businesses in Philadelphia over the next 50 days.
• PLANETIZEN: PARKING ENFORCEMENT REDUCED IN LOS ANGELES, INTACT IN NEW YORK CITY
  • While Los Angeles relaxes parking enforcement, New York makes an argument that alternate-side parking is a public health issue.
• TWITTER: BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH ANNOUNCES A COVID19 TEXT SERVICE FOR FREE DAILY ALERTS AND UPDATES ON THE CRISIS
• LA TIMES: WITH CORONAVIRUS SPREADING, LOS ANGELES MOVES TO BAN EVICTIONS, ADD PROTECTIONS FOR HOMEOWNERS
  • Los Angeles bans evictions and adds foreclosure protections to help people stay in their homes during outbreak.
• CHANNEL 3000: TDS ANNOUNCES FREE BROADBAND ACCESS FOR 60 DAYS FOR FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN, COLLEGE STUDENTS
  • As part of the effort, TDS Telecom, based in Madison, Wisconsin, is suspending late payment fees, reactivating disconnected customers, and opening WiFi hotspots for the next two months.
• INDEPENDENT: ST PATRICK'S DAY PARADES CANCELLED, SICK PAY INCREASE AND €400M FOR HSE - BREAKDOWN OF GOVERNMENT'S CORONAVIRUS ACTION PLAN
  • Ireland’s national plan to address coronavirus includes increasing sick leave pay, liquidity funds for businesses, and canceling Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Health Care and Hospitals

• CBS BOSTON: BOSTON’S CARNEY HOSPITAL TO HAVE DEDICATED CARE CENTER FOR CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS
  • The first dedicated care center for COVID-19 patients in the United States, the center will feature negative pressure precautions and can currently hold 11 patients.
• PROPUBLICA: ARE HOSPITALS NEAR ME READY FOR CORONAVIRUS? HERE ARE NINE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS
  • Based on data from the Harvard Global Health Institute, ProPublica has modeled what hospital capacity will look like depending on how well cities implement social distancing measures.
• CNN: A NAVY HOSPITAL SHIP WILL HEAD TO NEW YORK TO HELP HANDLE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
  • After requesting military aid to deal with the burgeoning crisis, the US Navy is sending a “floating hospital” to New York City to help provide care to one of the hardest hit US states.
• MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH CONNECTOR: ENROLLMENT PERIOD EXTENDED THROUGH APRIL 25TH
  • In response to the crisis, the enrollment period has been extended to allow uninsured residents to get health care.

Organizational Resources

• CITY OF BOISE, IDAHO: CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLANNING (COOP) WEBINAR: APPLYING PROGRAM LEVEL DATA
  • On Thursday, March 19th, 10:00 am MST, the city of Boise, Idaho is hosting a webinar for local governments on how to use priority based budgeting (PBB) data to support continuity of operations planning.
• THE BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS TEAM: COVID-19: THE ROLE OF CORPORATIONS IN SPREADING OR CONTAINING THE PANDEMIC
  • The Behavioural Insights Team details effective organizational practices and leadership behaviors that companies can endorse and iterate in order to help support the containment and mitigation of COVID-19.
• HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: CORONAVIRUS RESOURCE CENTER
  • Harvard Health Publishing answers frequently asked questions about COVID-19 on a website that is updated daily.
• BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: HOW TO PROTECT THE 2020 VOTE FROM THE CORONAVIRUS
  • In a memorandum, the Brennan Center for Justice outlines five critical changes needed to ensure a “free, fair, accessible, and secure” election in the United States in 2020 amid the global pandemic.
• MIT TECH REVIEW: SINGAPORE IS THE MODEL FOR HOW TO HANDLE CORONAVIRUS
  • As one of China’s key trading partners, Singapore was hit early with COVID-19 but took rapid action to carefully trace all emerging cases of the virus within a day or two—creating a detailed database of cases within the island-nation unrivaled by any other country.
• USA TODAY: OHIO OFFERING CURBSIDE VOTING, EXTENDING ABSENTEE DEADLINE FOR THOSE IN HOSPITAL IN WAKE OF CORONAVIRUS
  • In the wake of the global pandemic during primary season, the governor of Ohio is allowing for an extension of the deadline to request absentee ballots as well as offering curbside voting for anyone concerned about entering a polling place.
• ENGAGING LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEADERS (ELGL): WEBINAR: SUPPORTING SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES WITH ONLINE ENGAGEMENT: A DIGITAL-FIRST APPROACH
  • On March 19th at 11:00 am MST, ELGL is hosting a webinar with useful tips on how to utilize Engagement HQ as a platform to communicate about canceled events or public gatherings, as well as continue to support engagement efforts while residents are quarantined.
• FAST COMPANY: THE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE WE NEED TO FIGHT THE CORONAVIRUS
  • Fast Company delineates what the health-care industry system needs now and into the near future in order to successfully combat the coronavirus.
• SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY: THE UK GOVERNMENT IS PARTNERING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS TO COMBAT COVID-19 MISINFORMATION
  • To combat misinformation about the virus, the UK Government is partnering with social media influencers like YouTube personalities to ensure accurate information is reaching their audience.
• IACP: LAW ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION ON COVID-19
  • Guide for law enforcement agencies to help them prepare their responses from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
• GOVTECH: A RESOURCE GUIDE TO CORONAVIRUS FOR GOVERNMENT LEADERS
  • Examples of federal and local response guidance.
• PROTOCOL: FACEBOOK DATA CAN HELP MEASURE SOCIAL DISTANCING IN CALIFORNIA
  • Researchers are using anonymized location data from Facebook to track how well “shelter in place” orders are being followed.
• APOLITICAL: WEEKLY BRIEFING
  • Tips and best practices for government leaders dealing with novel coronavirus response.
• MEDIUM: CORONAVIRUS IN US CITIES: RESIDENTS’ KEY CONCERNS. IN NUMBERS.
  • Looking at people’s key concerns about the outbreak through analysis of online, public conversations. A helpful guide for cities to understand what topics residents care most about.
• ZENCITY: BEST PRACTICES FOR EFFECTIVE MESSAGING DURING THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
  • Analysis of tens of thousands of posts about the coronavirus response from over 100 cities, this guide offers best practices for what forms of communication were most effective and received the highest engagement.