Overview    

This page will provide links to IM reference material, guidance, standards, templates, and examples of products and services related to COVID-19 preparedness and response activities. It is intended for OCHA IMOs but other humanitarians may find helpful resources.

The page is a living document and will be updated as new information becomes available. Please leave a comment below if you have additional information, comments, suggestions for this page.  More information can be found on the infectious disease events page of the toolbox

Remember this is a health emergency and WHO/Health sector/clusters are leading and playing a vital role in the preparedness and response. They must be part of IMWGs/Networks. For more information is the role of the health sector please see: Infectious Disease Event Toolbox page

Humanitarian Icons for COVID-19 

The Design & Multimedia Unit (DMU), with contributions from ROAP and the Yemen operation, has released COVID-19 specific icons. They are part of the wider humanitarian icon set that was released in 2018.

The new icons include symbols for COVID-19, lockdown, social distancing, infection prevention, testing, infected and case management. There are currently available in AI, SVG and PNG formats. In the AI file, the new icons are under the sections Health and Lockdown.

• Access to Humanitarian icons here

Humanitarianresponse.info for COVID-19

Offices are encouraged to provide a box on the front page with related COVID-19 guidance material from national responders (e.g. National government, etc.) and global experts (WHO, etc) and if relevant a page dedicated to COVID-19 activities in your country. Templates for both these services are provided in the link below and examples are also available.

• COVID-19 templates from Humanitarianresponse.info

• Examples

  • Front page box  (South Sudan)  

  • Topic page  (Sudan) 

3W

Stay tuned!  Discussions underway and more info coming

The 3W product(s) that will be required for COVID-19 is different from any other humanitarian response to date. The types identified to date include:

1. COVID-19 3W Regional: Identifies the preparedness and response activities taking place in non-OCHA countries. It is based on the 8 Pillars for COVID-19  from WHO. The geographic framework is typically the COD-AB P-Code but for ROWCA it is based on health zones. This data is currently placed on dashboards from OCHA regional offices.
2. COVID-19 3W Country: Identifies the preparedness and response activities taking place in non-OCHA countries. It is based on the 8 Pillars for COVID-19  from WHO and related activities for each sector. Note that there are Sphere specific standards for COVID-19 . There are many considerations with this: geographic reference, IM cycle, responsibilities, etc)
3. Normal 4/5W:  monitoring of HRP activities for countries that currently have an HRP. To be collected in the country from humanitarian partners. COVID-19 impacts need to be discussed with partners
4. Disruption 3W: Identifies impact COVID-19 has on current HRP activities. It is the same as the 4/5W with an additional column to identify if the activity has been impacted by COVID-19 for countries that have an HRP (e.g. delayed, re-programed, canceled, ect).  A column could also be introduced to identify what caused the disruption (e.g. access blocked due to lockdown where beneficiaries are located, lack of supplies, etc). 
5. Global 3W: Potential for a global3W that identifies the status of the 8 WHO pillars and /or a disruption  (currently in discussion - this will impact other 3W and templates will be provided. Stay tuned.

Considerations:

• Frequency, format, and timing with current 3W collection
• COVID-19 Activities and HPC Tools
• Geographic framework (COD-AB, PCodes vs Health Zones)
• Roles and responsibilities
• Overlap with WHO health-related activities
• Connection to monitoring 

Examples

• 3W Forms (ROAP) (ROLAC) (ROWCA)

• 3W Dashboards (ROAP) (ROLAC) (ROWCA) (Philippines) (Haiti)

• 3W infographics (ROAP)

• 4W entry form of Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) activities  ROAP 4W RCCE dashboard  (ROAP 4W RCCE Form) (work in progress)

Resources

• COVID19-HRP Monitoring Indicators (annex)
• Sphere Standards for COVID-19

Case Studies

Datasets

There are many locations to find data related to COVID. Remember HDX is doing some of this searching for you and have created a dedicated page for COVID-19. IMWG partners should be consulted for the most recent information available at the national level and for details of the processes. See other links below.

• HDX page for COVID-19 compilation of datasets from various sources (remember to share your data here)

• Logistics Cluster main page for all information related to logistics

  • Global School closures (UNESCO - UNICEF also uses this data so check with your UNICEF colleague for more updated national datasets)

• Health Geolab Collaborative This page has been created to allow practitioners across the region to find resources related to the management and use of geospatial data and technologies during the response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). 

• COVID-19 GIS Hub: from Esri is designed to gather and share relevant and authoritative community-driven resources from around the world. Read more. 

• Worldwide travel restrictions dashboard  (Mobile version) The main data source is the IATA website, but apparently, it is not updated very frequently so it is supplemented with info coming from other media. If you notice that some of the information displayed is out of date, do not hesitate to let WFP know (andrea.amparore at wfp.org)

• Global COVID19 profiles for each nation/geography from the Pacific Disaster Center, Data and Science teams (not exactly datasets but includes some key numbers that could be referenced) Also provide dashboards to other datasets related to COVID-19
• IOM mobility restrictions: To better understand how COVID-19 affects global mobility, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been working to map the impacts on human mobility, at Global, Regional and Country level. (ask your IOM partner for more information)
• Global Protection Cluster COVID-19: A dashboard provides data on the protection field operations with confirmed COVID-19 cases etc  
• WHO identification of datasets available (contact your WHO colleague fro more information or contact FIS)  Standards for Public Health Information Services in Activated Health Clusters and Other Humanitarian Health Coordination Mechanisms and WHO PHIS Standards
• UNICEF Indirect impact Dashboard Provides data on COVID-19 impact on travel, lockdowns, educational, service disruption, healthcare 

Monitoring

Stay tuned!  Discussions underway and more info coming

• The GHRP indicators are in the published document, and also in the Annex. This should be the basis for any structured monitoring of the Covid response. Note that for all Health interventions and anything else covered by the national PRPs / global SPRP, the WHO monitoring framework (8 pillars) also needs to be used.

Resources

• COVID19-HRP Monitoring Indicators (annex of GHRP)
• CASH related fields (TBC)

Products

More info coming as it becomes available.

• Snapshot (OPT) 
• Situation Report (South Sudan) (Afghanistan)  

IMWG

IMWGs should still try to meet virtually if possible to agree upon the CODs, tools, processes for COVID-19 preparedness and response.

• For more tips please see: the Infectious Disease Events toolbox page

Other standards

GLIDE Number

• The GLIDE number for the COVID-19 Response is EP-2020-000012-001 This is being used by Reliefweb. It can be added to products as part of the credits or metadata in HDX. 
• There are also GLIDE numbers for specific outbreaks (locations/countries) see the GLIDE site for more info (hint: filter by 'epidemics')

WHO Pillars for COVID-19 Response

• To access WHO's COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) 
• To access The Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response (includes WHO's 8 Pillars that are included in 3Ws)

Sphere standards

• Specific Sphere standards have been developed or identified for COVID-19 response. See the specific list and guidance on here: Sphere Standards for COVID-19

Style Guide

• Definition from the World Health Organization: Coronaviruses

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that may cause illness in animals or humans. In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The most recently discovered coronavirus causes coronavirus disease COVID-19.

Referring to simply the coronavirus is acceptable on first reference in writing about COVID-19. While the phrasing incorrectly implies that there is only one coronavirus, it is clear in this context. Also acceptable on first reference: the new coronavirus; the new virus; COVID-19.

Do not refer simply to coronavirus without the article the. Not: She is concerned about coronavirus. Omitting the is acceptable in headlines and in uses such as: He said coronavirus concerns are increasing.

• Health care

Health care is a noun; health-care is an adjective.

Examples:

• The majority of people have no access to health care. (noun)
• Health-care programmes are now active in the south. (adj.)

Support to OCHA offices 

If you have questions or require support please contact the FIS Team, who will provide many services to OCHA offices. To see the full list see: 

• FIS Remote support list_COVID-19.docx
• There is the posibility to acquire additional remote support from SBPP. Contact FIS for more info
• MapAction is providing support via a global mechanism. Contact FIS for more inf