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Can outdoor teaching enable Italy to safely reopen schools?

Jessica Phelan

June 23, 2020 |

The Local |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Italy

Some schools in Italy held trial reopenings after having to close due to the pandemic, and are modeling their new classroom environment after Denmark's "forest schools," where classes are held outside. In order to maintain social distancing, and high safety measures for both students and teachers, students are kept in small groups with assigned zones, and school days have been shortened. More schools across the country are also re-opening slowly and in small groups after seeing the results from the trial run.

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How Asia's biggest slum contained the coronavirus

Soutik Biswas

June 23, 2020 |

BBC |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Mumbai

In Mumbai’s famous Dharavi slum, the impracticality of social distancing has been overcome with an intensive community response to bring an earlier COVID-19 outbreak under control through the use of “fever camps” and intensive screening and quarantines. The aggressive testing and tracing to isolate infected people centers on camps where hundreds of thousands have been screened. Free food for an out-of-work population has served as a draw, with slum residents eagerly volunteering for screening in order to gain access to food and other services. As a result, the virus' spread was greatly slowed.

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Design Hacks Will Dominate the Coronavirus Recovery Landscape

Amanda Hurley

June 23, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Covid-19 created space for everyday citizens, who are not trained architects, designers, or urban planners, to alter how public spaces are used. Known as tactical urbanism, everyday people are using inexpensive and creative ways to change behaviors and stop the spread of the virus. Examples include homemade signs and makeshift barriers to maintain distance. At a protest in Israel participants maintained social distancing by staying on spray-painted Xs two meters apart. Some homemade design hacks do not inspire confidence, but others may become a part of the long-term landscape of changes caused by the virus.

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Minneapolis theater community uses stagecraft skills to support businesses of color in the aftermath of protests

Ashley Vaughan

June 23, 2020 |

CNN |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

University Rebuild brings together theater members in Minneapolis who are not working due to Covid-19 to use their skills in support of the Black Lives Matters movement by helping communities clean up, make repairs, and create infrastructure to gather safely. Volunteers, numbering more than 100 within the first week, used set design and construction skills to help around 200 businesses impacted by protests following the killing of George Floyd. Windows and doors are boarded up and then prepped for murals painted by local artists and leftover materials were used to build stages for Juneteenth celebrations.

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Streaming into the void

Erika Fredrickson

June 22, 2020 |

Montana Free Press |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Montana

Many Montana musicians are holding virtual streaming events to deal with the financial and psychological impact of canceled music events due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Early events were well attended, with up to 100 people, and brought in more money than they would have earned playing at local bars. Interest has slowed down over time, but many musicians want to keep streaming events after the pandemic as another tool to engage audiences now that they have embraced digital delivery. The virtual events allow musicians to experiment and be creative, but most are excited to return to the energy of live shows.

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The Promise and the Peril of Virtual Health Care

John Seabrook

June 22, 2020 |

The New Yorker |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Lebanon, New Hampshire

Telehealth is being implemented and used across the United States to assist both patients and doctors during the coronavirus pandemic. Although this practice has its limitations and cannot replace in-person diagnostic care in all situations, it has played a role in keeping the health care industry functioning in a way that also keeps doctors and patients safe from being exposed to the virus.

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There's No Cure for Covid-19 Loneliness, but Robots Can Help

Kate Knibbs

June 22, 2020 |

Wired |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Japan

Robot pet therapy, which uses a social robot designed to look like a small animal, weigh the same as an infant, and communicate in a socially comforting way, is helping isolated seniors find a sense of companionship during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although some have raised ethical concerns about "the role of robots in caretaking," others point to evidence indicating success such as "reduced reliance on psychotropic drugs, improved blood pressure and oxygenation levels, and stirred the emotions of patients who otherwise often appeared disconnected."

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Why Japan's Jobless Rate Is Just 2.6% While the U.S.'s Has Soared

Ben Dooley, Hisako Ueno

June 20, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Japan

Japan's unemployment has barely grown during the COVID-19 crisis, thanks in large part to a business culture that prizes employees' interests over short-term profits. Much of the country's economy remained open in the pandemic's early months. But the jobless picture was aided even more by policies based on a tradeoff between ordinarily high demands on workers in return for job security. The same policies have produced a tight job market that can make companies risk averse in their hiring. But the net effect during the crisis has been much less economic pain inflicted on workers.

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In the quiet of a shutdown, students and seniors forge new friendships

Tara Bahrampour

June 19, 2020 |

The Washington Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

When the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in widespread lockdowns, a Washington, D.C. Episcopal day school partnered with a retirement home to help students and seniors provide companionship to one another and decrease loneliness. To help alleviate nerves about talking with someone they've never met, the program trained the students in skills such as cold-calling and offered an introductory script for the initial conversation. The students have reported valuing the conversations while the seniors have said "the connection has been a lifeline."

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Native American groups address mental health amid COVID-19

Deagan Urbatsch, Jacqueline Robledo

June 19, 2020 |

Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Phoenix, Arizona

Aware that already-high rates of mental health problems and suicide in native American populations could grow even worse during COVID-19 isolation, a number of support groups rolled out online sessions that have attracted thousands of attendees seeking connections and comfort. The Native Wellness Institute's daily Power Hour on Facebook Live and the Healing Indigenous Lives Initiative's online meetings offer storytelling, wellness training, peer support, and other lessons in self-care.

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