COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. During this difficult time, Prevention Institute is working closely with our policy and community partners to emphasize responses that address both the urgency of the moment and the necessity of sustained investments in policies and systems that allow communities to achieve lasting health, safety, and wellbeing beyond times of crisis. The way we respond to the coronavirus crisis will show who we are as a society. Therefore, Prevention Institute is emphasizing responses that prioritize equity and underline interconnectedness.
Overview
We recommend you turn to local and state public health departments for the most accurate information about COVID-19 in your local area:
- NACCHO directory of local public health departments – use this website to search for your local health department. Larger health departments have websites and often post their latest updates on Twitter.
- CDC list of state and territorial health departments – use this website to search for state and territorial health departments.
- California Department of Public Health – because PI is based in California, we are providing a direct link to the state health department website and Twitter feed.
We also recommend these general resources:
- American Public Health Association: APHA’s COVID19 resource page includes links to trusted sources of information as well as fact sheets, videos, and public health guidance documents.
- COVID19 Local Action Tracker: The National League of Cities and Bloomberg Philanthropies are collecting and sharing actions taken by local leaders in response to the COVID-19 pandemi
- Public Health Awakened and The Spirit of 1848 COVID19 Health Justice Resources: An extensive list of resources related to COVID 19 with tabs on housing and homelessness; racism and xenophobia; social distancing; substance misuse; intimate partner violence; jails and prisons; and others.
Prevention Institute resources
- Op-ed, February 20, 2021: How California can make the vaccine distribution system more equitable
- Blog, January 26, 2021: Innovations in social connection: How local leaders are addressing inequities and advancing technology solutions during COVID-19
- Toolkit: Preventing trauma and suicide during catastrophic events and beyond
- Op-ed, December 21, 2020: A Historic Surge In Gun Violence Compounds The Traumas Of 2020
- Op-ed, October 19, 2020: Health And Equity Are On The Ballot With Prop. 15
- Podcast, October 7, 2020: 6 Months into the Pandemic: What’s working and what do we still desperately need to do?
- Op-ed, September 11, 2020: Are Cities Willing To Cut Police Spending And Invest In Community Violence Prevention?
- Op-ed, July 6, 2020: Efforts To Silence Public Health Officials Must Stop
- Action Alert, June 22, 2020: Action Alert: Speak out against attacks on public health officials
- Op-ed, May 15, 2020: Bankruptcy And Privatization Will Not Lead Us To Recovery
- Op-ed, May 7, 2020: Opinion: Society Designed The Systems That Created COVID-19 Inequalities — We Can Redesign Them
- Podcast, May 4, 2020: Podcast: Sustainable Communities
- Podcast, April 27, 2020: Cities respond to COVID-19
- Video, April 21, 2020: MC:ID: How we're staying connected
- Op-ed, April 18, 2020: Farmers markets provide healthy food and support local economies. Keep them open during Covid-19 lockdowns
- Blog, April 16, 2020: Supporting safe homes and safe communities during the COVID-19 pandemic—what’s emerging from the field
- Webinar, April 14, 2020: Preventing violence in our homes: Meeting this moment with connection, care, and justice
- Op-ed, March 31, 2020: If we can safely distance at the grocery store, surely we can do the same at parks
- Podcast, March 20, 2020: Coronavirus: from the urgency of reaction to the importance of long-term action
- PI statement, March 12, 2020: The coronavirus crisis exposes our society’s weaknesses.
Equity
- National Collaborative for Healthy Equity: COVID-19 Response and Updates
- JAMA: COVID-19 and Health Equity—A New Kind of “Herd Immunity”
- National Innovation Service: An Equitable Systems Transformation Framework for COVID-19
- California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN): COVID-19 Health Equity Watch
- Urban Institute: COVID-19 Racial Health Disparities Highlight Why We Need to Address Structural Racism
- UNAIDS: Rights in the time of COVID-19 — Lessons from HIV for an effective, community-led response
Safety
- PI webinar: Promoting Connectedness For Trauma And Suicide Prevention: Needs And Opportunities To Address Social Isolation In A Pandemic
- PI webinar: Preventing Trauma And Youth Suicide During COVID-19 And Beyond: Promoting Mental Wellbeing Through In-School And Out-Of-School Supports
- PI blog: Supporting safe homes and safe communities during the COVID-19 pandemic—what’s emerging from the field (this blog includes many resource links)
- PI webinar: Preventing violence in our homes: Meeting this moment with connection, care, and justice
- Cities United: Resources to reduce the impact of COVID-19 and Confronting Violence & COVID-19 Webinar
- Everytown for Gun Safety: Mayoral Guide for addressing gun violence amid the coronavirus pandemic
- Hope and Heal Fund webinar: When two public health crises collide: Healing from trauma due to violence in communities of color
Wellbeing
- PI Toolkit: Preventing trauma and suicide during catastrophic events and beyond
- PI video: MC:ID: How we're staying connected
- Othering and Belonging Institute: As we spatially separate we must also stay connected
- MARC (Mobilizing Action for Resident Communities): Mobilizing ACEs, Trauma, and Resilience Networks to Support and Strengthen Pandemic Response Efforts
- Hogg Foundation: Resources for mental health and COVID-19
- Vox: Coronavirus is causing a mental health crisis. Here’s how to fight it.
- The New Yorker: How Loneliness from Coronavirus Isolation Takes Its Own Toll
- City Lab: Alone Together, in Community Resilience
- Harvard Business Review: That discomfort you’re feeling is grief
-
Promundo: Masculinities and COVID-19: Making the Connections
Healthy, equitable communities
- Op-ed, February 20, 2021: How California can make the vaccine distribution system more equitable
- Op-ed, April 18: Farmers markets provide healthy food and support local economies. Keep them open during Covid-19 lockdowns
- Op-ed: March 31: If we can safely distance at the grocery store, surely we can do the same at parks
System of prevention/public health infrastructure
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and de Beaumont Foundation: Seven ways businesses can align with public health for bold action and innovation
- Trust for America's Health: The Impact of Chronic Underfunding on America’s Public Health System: Trends, Risks, and Recommendations, 2020
- Washington Post: As coronavirus spreads, the bill for our public health failures is due
Policy and advocacy
- February 23, 2021: PI signed onto a letter to prioritize youth in the American Rescue Plan
- February 16, 2021: PI signed on to a letter supporting the American Rescue Act
- December 18, 2020: PI joined letters to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Biden COVID taskforce to ensure immigrant access to vaccines.
- December 15, 2020: PI joined a letter sharing recommendations for the Biden-Harris COVID-19 Task Force.
- November 20, 2020: PI signed on to a "First Year Health Policy Priorities Letter for Biden Transition Team"
- October 15, 2020: PI signed on to H.R. 7689, the Improving Data Collection for Adverse Childhood Experiences Act.
- October 14, 2020: Along with 13 other public health organizations Prevention Institute signed on to a statement condemning the Great Barrington Declaration–the herd immunity scheme for controlling the spread of SARS CoVID-2.
- For policy statements prior to October 14, 2020, see the PI policy portal.