The AsMA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting has been postponed to October as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Please refer to the AsMA website for further news and information.
This post aims to provide some useful public health resources (see below), and also the AFG was recently contacted by the Chief Ambassador at dealaid.org to inform us of their services.
Financial Relief and Assistance
DealAid recently released a “Financial Relief & Impact Tracker for Coronavirus (COVID-19)” at https://dealaid.org/do-good/coronavirus-finimpact-tracker/, which:
- Outlines and explains all available financial relief and assistance programs from governments and non-profits.
- Helps families, business owners, students, seniors and frontline workers easily find applicable relief information.
- Includes details and resources on eligibility requirements and application steps.
- Provides latest information on relief initiatives created by large companies and ‘the rich and famous’.
- Illustrates the impact of COVID-19 on popular financial assets through graphical display.
- The in-depth guide highlights all critical information and enables people to stay updated about the latest Coronavirus relief programs and initiatives. They are continuing to update this guide on a frequent basis due to changes and additions of relief programs implemented by governments, non profit organizations and large companies.
The majority of the guide is aimed at breaking down available financial relief and support programs for US citizens. This includes the US government’s CARES ACT, Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the pending bill proposal to help frontline workers and other relief initiatives by non profit organizations and large companies. DealAid also covers Canada and the UK.
COVID-19 Public Health Resources
Here are some resources collated from providing public health advice (covers international statistics and USA and Australia-specific). (The text for resources 3-7 was provided by The Hill website.)
International
WHO situation reports
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/
The Hill – Here are some of the best maps to track the coronavirus epidemic
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/487469-here-are-some-of-the-best-maps-to-track-the
Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard
Johns Hopkins University has developed an interactive web-based dashboard to visualize and track confirmed coronavirus cases in real-time. The dashboard illustrates the location and number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries for all affected countries. It was developed to provide researchers, public health authorities and the public with a user-friendly tool to keep tabs on the outbreak as it unfolds. (or go to https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html).
The World Health Organization COVID-19 dashboard
The World Health Organization has made a similar map available that breaks down the number of confirmed cases, deaths, and countries, areas or territories with cases.
Nextstrain COVID-19 dashboard
Nextstrain is an open-source project that tracks pathogen genome data. Its map is more technical and provides more information about how the disease has spread. It breaks down the genome of the virus, alongside a map showing how the virus has traveled country to country.
The New York Times COVID-19 dashboard
The New York Times offers easy-to-read charts and graphs, as well as text stats breaking down the situation around the world.
nCoV2019.live COVID -19 dashboard
A 17-year-old computer whiz from Seattle built an interactive map to keep the world updated on the COVID-19 pandemic. The website has been visited by 12 million people since it was launched by Avi Schiffmann in December, according to The Times of Israel. The site automatically scrapes data from sources all around the world and updates every minute. It offers stats on confirmed cases, serious cases, deaths and recoveries.
Worldometers – includes both statistics and graphs
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
The Washington Post – Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to “flatten the curve”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/
The Lancet – COVID-19 and Italy: what next?
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30627-9/fulltext
Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
stayinghomeclub – A list of all the companies WFH or events changed because of COVID-19
https://stayinghome.club/ (contributions to the lists are accepted)
Hygiene resources
Good technique for hand washing and using hand sanitiser
https://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/background/5moments/en/
In studies, washing hands with soap and water for 15 seconds (about the time it takes to sing one chorus of “Happy Birthday to You”) reduces bacterial counts by about 90%. When another 15 seconds is added, bacterial counts drop by close to 99.9%.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/The_handiwork_of_good_health
Posters
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/promotional-material-coronavirus-disease-covid-19
Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195670120300463
USA-specific
USA CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html
USA CDC – Get Your Mass Gatherings or Large Community Events Ready
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/mass-gatherings-ready-for-covid-19.html
USA CDC – Resources for Large Community Events & Mass Gatherings Before and During an Outbreak
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/index.html
USA CDC – FAQs for Event Organisers and Individuals
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/event-planners-and-attendees-faq.html
USA CDC – Implementation of Mitigation Strategies for Communities with Local COVID-19 Transmission
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/community-mitigation-strategy.pdf
USA CNN – State by State breakdown
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/03/health/us-coronavirus-cases-state-by-state/index.html
SmartTraveller – Advice re USA
https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/americas/united-states-america
Time Magazine – Here’s how fast the virus could infect over 1 million Americans
https://time.com/5801726/coronavirus-models-forecast/
Atlanta Magazine – Coronavirus cancels Atlanta
https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/coronavirus-cancels-atlanta/
Other
AsMA Announcements
https://www.asma.org/news-events/announcements
Australia-specific
Australia – Victorian Department of Health COVID-19 health alerts
https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/news-and-events/healthalerts/2019-Coronavirus-disease–COVID-19
Australian Government Department of Health
COVID-19 resources
https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-resources
COVID-19 health alerts
https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
General health advice
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/victorian-public-coronavirus-disease-covid-19
SmartTraveller – COVID-19 Advice
https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/COVID-19-australian-travellers
Information about international outbound travel insurance and cancellation, etc.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/many-international-flights-won-t-be-refunded-despite-new-travel-advice-20200313-p549xn.html?fbclid=IwAR3_ls2DlzGKHjAS33dVx8Gpq166sOwsKmoH_so6zjSF4X9F18ITZtBZ61c (the situation has changed now as the Australian Government Travel Advisory has been lifted to Level 4 – check what your airline is offering by way of refunds or credits or flight changes).
