Countries have shut down the economy to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now. But a protracted pandemic crisi s could quickly put a strai n on the f ood supply chains, a complex
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web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more. The shipping industry is already reporting slowdowns because of port closures, and logistics hurd les could disrupt the supply chains in coming weeks.
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This real-time learning process was carried out in order to identify the gaps and needs within World Vision’s current Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) response in Sierra Leone
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and to inform World Vision on how other surrounding countries (specifically those with national offices such as Mali, Ghana, Niger, Mauritania, Senegal and Chad) should prepare for a possible Ebola outbreak.
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Update 1 October 2020.
This document provides guidance to Member States on the effective use of face masks/coverings in the community by individu
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als without COVID-19 symptoms in order to reduce potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2.a It also provides advice on the use of masks during home care for patients with COVID-19.
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Annex. This document is an update of a guidance published on 12 July 2021, after the review of new scientific evidence on transmission of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC). It contains updated recommendations on the use of
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masks and respirators for health workers providing care to suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
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The role of environmental contamination in transmission of COVID-19 virus is currently not clear. This protocol has been designed to determine (viable) virus presence and persistence on fomites in v
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arious locations where a patient infected with COVID-19 is currently receiving care or being isolated, and to understand how this may relate to COVID-19 transmission events in these settings. It is therefore important that it is done as part of a comprehensive outbreak investigation and that information obtained by environmental studies is combined with the results of epidemiological, laboratory and sequence data from COVID-19 patient investigations.
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This guidance note is for UNICEF Regional and Country Office WASH staff to help them in their preparedness and response
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to the current COVID-19 global pandemic. It provides an overview of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and its intersection with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and how UNICEF staff can help prevent infection and its spread in schools, through human to human and by touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. WASH services including waste management and environmental cleaning are all important for IPCs.
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Mothers and healthcare workers who support them have many questions and concerns about whether it is safe for mothers with confirmed or suspected COVID-19
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to be close to and breastfeed their babies during the pandemic.
To address their questions, WHO has released a list of Frequently asked questions: Breastfeeding and COVID-19. The FAQ complements the WHO interim guidance: Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection when COVID-19 is suspected and draws upon other WHO recommendations on infant and young child feeding.
The FAQs aim to provide information to healthcare workers supporting mothers and families in maternity services and community settings, and communicate how the interim guidance should be implemented. Additionally, the FAQs provide information about the protective effects of breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact, and the harmful effects of inappropriate use of infant formula milk.
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This guidance note developed by UNICEF is intended to help WASH staff in their preparedness and response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. It provi
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des an overview of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and its intersection with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and how staff can help prevent infection and its spread in schools, whether through human-to-human or by touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. WASH services, including waste management and environmental cleaning, are all important for IPC. This brief is available in English, Spanish, and French here.
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The spread of COVID-19 poses a challenge for emerging markets such as those in Africa and Latin America. While governments around the world are suffering from a shortage of ventilators, hospital beds, and
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personal protective equipment, availability of these items is already extremely limited in some countries. In Africa, countries including Mali, Liberia, and Burkina Faso have only a few ventilators available to aid their populations, and there is also a lack of reliable oxygen supplies, ICUs, and healthcare workers to treat the sick. Additionally, many countries in Africa are already suffering from food insecurity and weak economies, which will worsen the long-term effects of coronavirus.
Keeping these factors in mind, GeoPoll conducted a remote study in 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa on the effects coronavirus is already having on people throughout the region.
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According to WHO, infection prevention and control (IPC) is a scientific approach and practical solution designed
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to prevent harm caused by infection to patients and health workers. It is grounded in infectious diseases, epidemiology, social science and health system strengthening. IPC occupies a unique position in the field of patient safety and quality universal health coverage since it is relevant to health workers and patients at every single health-care encounter. Poor WASH and IPC lead to health acquired infections, transmission of diseases from health facilities to communities and increased use of antibiotics and exacerbate outbreak and spread of infections- in this case- COVID- 19. On the contrary, effective IPC reduces hospital-acquired infections by at least 30% (WHO 2016).
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If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.
Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.
Masks are effective onl
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y when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.
Before putting on a mask, clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
Cover mouth and nose with mask and make sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.
Avoid touching the mask while using it; if you do, clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp and do not re-use single-use masks.
To remove the mask: remove it from behind (do not touch the front of mask); discard immediately in a closed bin; clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
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Guiding principles for reuse are:
Respirators which have been visibly contaminated (e.g. during procedure at intubated patients, such as suction cleaning of airways, taking probes, extubation attempts, etc.) or are damaged or not fitting, should be discarded
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and cannot be taken for re-use or decontamination procedures.
Respirators may be protected by a medical face mask in order to prevent soiling.
Use of new ‘expired respirators’ (manufacturers expiry date) is possible if they were properly stored until use.
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Guidance for Asia Pacific National Societies.
This document provides guidance for Asia Pacific National Societies on how to include migrants and d
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isplaced people in COVID-19 preparedness and response activities.
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Updated May 2021. Manual 2. The Practical Approach to Care Kit – PACK – is used by nurses, doctors and community health workers in their everyday work
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to care for patients at the clinic and in the community –PACK Adult, PACK Adolescent, PACK Child and PACK Community.PACK Home is designed for people seeking more information about how to care for their own health and the health of their family at home.Collect and read all the PACK Home volumes in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu or Sesotho
Download the different languages: https://knowledgetranslation.co.za/pack/pack-home/
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The WHO COVID-19 Essential Supplies Forecasting Tool (COVID-19-ESFT) is meant to help countries forecast essential supplies for their COVID-19 response including personal protective equipment (e.g., masks
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and gloves), biomedical equipment for case management (e.g., ventilators and oxygen concentrators), diagnostic reagents and equipment, essential drugs for supportive care, and consumable medical supplies.
The tool is best suited for estimating essential supply needs over a short time period (12 weeks or fewer) but can be used for longer.
COVID-19-ESFT does not quantify or account for resources already available locally or those pending delivery. When using the ESFT to inform procurement, we recommend factoring in resources already available locally and only including the additional resources required in the forecast.
This tool is updated regularly so users should monitor the website for the latest release version.
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A manual on homemade masks
This guide is designed to provide a simple outline of best practices to make,
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use and reuse masks to enable NGOs and individuals to self-create such masks and accelerate widespread adoption of masks across India.
The key criteria for proposed designs are:
Ease of Access to Materials
Easy of Making at Home
Ease of Use and Reuse
Wearing of masks is especially recommended for people living in densely populated areas across India
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Manual 1. The Practical Approach to Care Kit – PACK – is used by nurses, doctors and community health workers in their everyday work to care fo
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r patients at the clinic and in the community –PACK Adult, PACK Adolescent, PACK Child and PACK Community.PACK Home is designed for people seeking more information about how to care for their own health and the health of their family at home.Collect and read all the PACK Home volumes in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu or Sesotho
Download the different languages: https://knowledgetranslation.co.za/pack/pack-home/
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How to do it best for the patient and the family