COVID-19

A note to our clients and colleagues about COVID-19: We at Facente Consulting want to thank you for all the work you are doing during the COVID-19 response. Whether you are directly involved in response activities or not, your work during this time is critical to keeping our communities healthy. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Please stay safe and well.

In accordance with good public health policy and federal, state, and local regulations and guidance, as of March 26, 2020 Facente Consulting has adopted a strict remote work policy. Per this policy, no Facente Consulting employee will participate in any in-person work-related meeting or travel until further notice. While we won’t be able to meet with you face-to-face, Facente Consulting continues to provide the same individualized service to all clients during this time.

Digesting All The Data

These days, the average person is spending WAY more time looking at epidemic curves, graphs, and tables full of data about COVID-19 than ever before. It can be overwhelming, and hard to know how to interpret what you’re seeing and what to believe.

We recently partnered up with Garrow Consulting, LLC to put on a 90-minute workshop for key stakeholders in the city of Palm Springs, CA, to help them better understand COVID-19 data and figure out how to communicate information to Palm Springs residents during the pandemic. Luckily for everyone else, we’ve turned it into a self-directed presentation about COVID-19 data that anyone can view, without having to find time for everyone to meet for 90 minutes on Zoom. We promise it will take a lot less than 90 minutes to go through it, too. Check it out here!

Resources

We have put together some interesting and useful links for individuals regarding COVID-19:

Personal Preparedness

Estimates are that 80% of the people who get COVID-19 will not need hospitalization. But how can you best care for yourself if you’re ill at home? A pandemic preparedness kit doesn’t mean you have to hoard supplies, just have a couple of things available.

Personal Preparedness Kit

Add these items to your emergency kit:

  • Alcohol-based hand sanitizer that’s between 60 and 90% alcohol
  • Any prescription medications you or a family member (including your pets!) takes regularly
  • Acetominophen (Tylenol®) (Note: at this time, there is conflicting advice regarding the use of ibuprofen related to COVID-19.)
  • Thermometer
  • Anti-diarrheal medication

Make Hand Washing Fun

We all know how important it is to keep our hands clean, but are you tired of singing “Happy Birthday” when washing your hands? Here are a few other suggestions courtesy of the Today Show:

And if that isn’t enough to choose from, Wash your Lyrics will let you create a poster with 20 seconds of lyrics from your favorite song. Here’s one for “Bohemian Rhapsody”:

Bohemian Rhapsody hand washing Covid-19 poster

Staying Connected

Members of the Facente Consulting team have done some interesting things to keep connected with our friends while we’ve been sheltered in place. We’ve played online trivia games together using JackBox games, had socially-distanced cookouts from our porches, virtual dance parties, played charades on Zoom using this virtual charade generator, and had virtual cocktail parties.

What are you doing to keep connected?

Tweet us and let us know

Helping Others

The COVID-19 emergency is especially dangerous for those with the least access to resources. If you have the ability, please consider donating what you can to help. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Nutrition Resources: As schools and businesses close, more people are at risk of food insecurity. food banks are especially vital right now. Please consider donating to your local food bank (most food banks prefer cash donations!) or to a national organization such as Feeding America or Meals on Wheels. Feeding America has a network of 200 member foodbanks across the country and has established a COVID-19 Response Fund to enable food banks across the country to secure the resources they need. Meals on Wheels delivers food to seniors, who are among those most at risk from COVID-19.
  • The Unhoused: The nearly half a million people in America currently experiencing homelessness are among the citizens most vulnerable. Please consider donating to your local homeless shelter.
  • Medical Supplies: Have medical supplies or equipment to donate? Contact FEMA’s National Business Emergency Operations Center: nbeoc@fema.dhs.gov

Header image courtesy of: UCSF