Alternative Mourning Rituals Offer Comfort And Closure During An Outbreak

With COVID19 putting the majority of us in self-isolation or quarantine, LA-based photographers have found unique ways to capture this moment. Without coming into contact with individuals – which is often a fundamental part of their job – they use peoples’ windows to frame the photo, capturing the glare of the outside world as well.

In Los Angeles, the city-led effort, Project Roomkey, is working to get 15,000 people experiencing homelessness into hotel rooms in the fight against COVID-19. Working with the LA Homeless Services Authority and state negotiators, partnerships with hotels are being developed and are already housing some of these individuals. While costing nearly $190 million, it is helping save lives and hopefully keeping hotels afloat.

It wasn't until first cases of coronavirus were recorded in the United States that San Francisco and other U.S. cities took action to mitigate the spread, but in Chinatown, precautions started much earlier and the preparations seem to have worked. With only three recorded cases in Chinatown, the residents credit trust in authorities, community-driven communications, heightened hygiene practices, and the local Chinese Hospital, "which has strong ties to the community it serves."

By rapidly instituting mandatory testing of all inmates at a covid-19-stricken federal prison and segregating ill inmates, authorities reduced the number of new infections within weeks. At one point, nearly 70% of the inmates at the Terminal Island federal prison in San Pedro, California, had tested positive for the coronavirus as it raced through a facility where inmates normally interact constantly in crowded communal areas. As of mid-May, eight inmates had died and more than 500 had recovered.

As the U.S attempts to reopen, restaurant owners from California to Florida are expanding their restaurants into nearby outdoor space, including sidewalks and parking lots. In doing so, they are able to offer patrons a safer dining environment, as there is more room to keep tables further apart and follow social distancing precautions, and it also helps restaurants earn more revenue than if they were limited to indoor space. Some city governments are streamlining the process, including Brookhaven, Georgia, which made it free to access short-term permits for outdoor dining.

Community members in North Carolina are crowdfunding campaigns to help provide meals to healthcare workers who are on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. Working with the hospital, the campaign organizers make sure to deliver enough meals for the number of staff working each day, while also rotating units "to reach as many people as possible."

A coalition of local groups in the Cowichan region focused on the welfare of vulnerable populations during COVID-19 opened five tenting sites that have provided people experiencing homelessness with safety, meals, and access to service. The temporary solution, pending the opening of 100 units of housing to open in 2021, has uncertain financing after its initial $392,000 phase. But, almost immediately, the well-managed sites have had a visible effect: many fewer people wandering the streets.

Dalila Reynoso's local activism blossomed into a full-blown watchdog role when COVID-19 began to spread through the Smith County, Texas, jail. The marriage of criminal justice reform and pandemic safety, vested in one woman, mirrors much larger court watch and jail watch projects in larger cities. For her part, Reynoso became a conduit for complaints about jail conditions. Thanks to her diplomatic skills, and a receptive sheriff's openness to criticism and change, the pair's efforts lowered virus cases from 52 to three within three weeks and lowered the jail population by more than 150 people.

In an effort to help get accurate information to the communities who are being disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, a program called Live Chair Health has started to train barbers "on chronic issues that disproportionately affect Black communities" and teach them "how to have conversations with their clients about the diseases." Aside from providing COVID-19 information, the initiative has helped patrons access primary care and address other medical issues such as high blood pressure.

The Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture has helped the town of Ajo in Arizona distribute affordable and nutrient-dense food to the community after the coronavirus pandemic created a significant financial strain on many families. Additional support has come from the town's participation in the Environmental Protection Agency's program Local Food, Local Places which "provides technical support and expertise to help towns leverage food systems to boost economic development."