Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis is running a communication campaign to warn people of the ecological impact of throwing away masks. Single use masks are quickly becoming a major contributor to marine waste. This information campaign reminds people to think twice about the kind of mask they use, and the choice of how to dispose of it. More information (in French) here.
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
Nice is now offering free testing facilities without appointment or prescription. Residents simply need to bring along their ID card, and will receive their results within 24 hours. Read more here and here
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
Following a surge in recorded cases in Belgium, and for the next four weeks alongside new national measures, the province of Antwerp has taken further steps to limit the spread, which include:
Read more here
Contact: Kris Van Berendoncks
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has created a summary of the policy responses to the corona pandemic and the plans for recovery. You can download the document here. More information (in Turkish) is available here
Contact: Asena Selçuk
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Glasgow City region has capitalised on its strengths as city of science and innovation. Activities include researching vaccines, helping to understand more about how the virus works, designing and developing protection equipment for health workers, and utilizing new technologies. You can read more here
Contact: Joe Brady
Cardiff is looking for creative ways to entertain people in lockdown, and Cardiff-based Arts Active have come up with a digital arts festival that people can enjoy whilst staying safe and socially distanced at home. ‘Out of Doors’ will provide free access to online activities and will include artist-led activities and mini projects to encourage people of all ages, not just kids, to be at one with nature whilst learning in a creative and fun way.
Continue reading “Cardiff – ‘Out of Doors’ online digital arts festival”Madrid has launched a new on-demand bus service pilot to connect two hospitals in the outskirts of the city. The pilot has been launched in cooperation with Viavan, among other companies. During the pilot phase the bus service will be free of charge. More information (in Spanish) here.
Contact: Ana Buñuel
Lille Metropole attractiveness agency, ‘Hello Lille’ and the Lille Pasteur Institute have developed a health charter to insure the safety of Lille as a tourist destination. The charter has already been signed by 200 major players of the culture and tourism industry. The signatories will display their commitment to the charter through a specific logo placed on their facades and in their communication tools.
This charter is based on 10 key commitments, including compliance with barrier gestures, social distancing, specific cleaning and disinfection of the premises, specific measures in the event of heat waves… Read more and see the signatories (in French) here.
Contact: Christophe Bolot
Lille Metropole has implemented temporary cycle lanes to address the need of its increasing amount of users. Cycling has considerably increased within Lille Metropole area over the last two months, with an increase of 60% compared to the pre-covid period. Moreover, Lille Metropole launched the third edition of the metropolitan cycling challenge in June, inspired by the European cycling challenge organised up to 2017. The goal is simple, register with your family, friends or colleagues and try to cycle as many kilometres as possible during one month. A friendly competition to enhance cycling and promote regular users. More information (in French) here.
Contact: Christophe Bolot
The city of Berlin is dramatically increasing its ongoing production of bicycle infrastructure in order to improve the conditions for safe mobility while relieving streets, buses and trains. Berlin’s districts are cooperating closely with the Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection in setting up set up pop-up bike lanes, temporary cycling infrastructure.
Continue reading “Berlin – Temporary bicycle infrastructure”Sevilla’s public water company is using waste water to detect and anticipate outbreaks of COVID-19. By testing samples of wastewater that it freezes monthly as part of ongoing protocol, the company is able to study how early the virus arrived in the city and better understand the prevalence of the virus. More information (in Spanish) here.
Contact: Adrián Reina Hurtado
An outdoors art exhibition, set up in conjunction with Nice Cote d’Azur, pays tribute to all the mask wearers during the pandemic. Read more here
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
Rotterdam is now allowing a 40% occupancy rate on its public transport, as of 1 June. To achieve this goal, and to help citizens on their journeys, the city, the public transport company RET, and four companies who offer bikes, electric-bikes or electric motor-scooters, are working together to offer a clean and seamless connection. At transport hubs, the city has made room for the four companies to park their bikes/motor-scooters for easy access. On RET’s app, travellers can check in real time what method of transport would be best to continue or start their journey. It is the first time that all of these players have worked together to offer such a service. More information (in Dutch) here.
Contact: Murat Altunbas
Currently all three lights are green – Berlin has installed a coronavirus warning system, constantly following three indicators: the reproduction value of the virus, the number of new infections and the demand for intensive care in hospitals. Two yellow lights trigger a debate in the Senate of the city, two red lights mean need for action, for example curbing the traffic. The updated information is available online.
Contact: Johanna Eisenberg
Bristol City Council has launched #WeAreBristol Kids, a new online resource to better connect children with the city during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond. Building on Bristol Children’s Charter, it aims to bring kids together in an entertaining and informative way. The interactive hub includes a growing range of content to encourage reading, cooking, physical activity and art, based on the input of children from across the city.
You can view the latest stories, tips, challenges and activities here.
Contact: Paul Davies
The city of Nice is going to launch a Covid-19 screening campaign. Every resident from three years old will have free access to a serological test, so by blood sample. Three sampling sites will be set up, certain days will be reserved for families. You can read more here (in French)
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
The city of Mannheim has launched a poster campaign to support hygiene and health measures after the lockdown. Under the title “Mannheim remains cautious – to keep things going well”, the posters promote to open a window to let air in, to keep distance, to wear a mask and to do a corona test when showing symptoms. A fith poster will be available once the corona tracing app is published. You can read more (in German) and download the posters here
Contact: Nelly Saemann
Pedestrians can walk on the streets in the centre of Brussels, with cars going on a maximum speed of 20 km/h. Until mid-August, the city centre is treated as residential area. The measure shall promote cycling and walking while ensuring physical distancing to limit the spread of the coronavirus. You can read more here. The city also plans for 40 extra kilometres of cycle paths.
Contact: Geert de Roep and Antoine Umbrain
Athens is banning cars from its historic centre for three months from mid-June to provide more space to pedestrians to physical distance. The measure, which could be further extended for another three months, is seen as a precursor to the project announced by the Athens Municipality, and approved last week by City Hall, foreseeing the creation of a large pedestrianized network unifying downtown areas of the Greek capital. More information here.
Contact: Dimitris Konstantopoulos
Madrid is curbing the return of cars to its streets by cutting traffic on several roads to allow children to play and exercise on the road on their bikes, scooters and rollerblades. More information (in Spanish) here.
The city has also opened a new car park reserved entirely for shared vehicles. More information (in Spanish) here.
The addition of 45km of new bus lanes is expected to further support residents who want to avail of public transport rather than turning to using cars. More information (in Spanish) here.
Contact: Ana Buñuel
Antwerp is taking measures to reduce the return of cars to the street and provide safe mobility options for locals, including by promoting safe walking and cycling and adding new features to its mobility map and route planner, as well as supporting companies to continue allowing employees to work from home. More information here.
Contact: Kris Van Berendoncks
Brno is supporting the areas of business that have been most affected, such as gastronomy and tourism & culture, and has also approved complex measures for businesspeople. It provides easier administration of permits for the outdoor areas of restaurants, and it also suggests that the establishment of these areas should be done at no extra cost to the proprietor.
Vilnius has given 2,000 reusable face masks to senior citizens. As the Lithuanian government is moving ahead with easing quarantine, free food support to the most vulnerable people is being replaced with reusable face masks. Seniors, disabled people and other Vilnius residents at risk, little by little are starting to move around the city and supermarkets. Therefore, Vilnius Municipality decided give them free reusable face masks with the symbol of the capital and flyers with recommendations on how to protect yourself. More information here.
Contact: Jurga Pociūtė-Mikūtienė
Paris started to gradually ease confinement on 11 May. Doing so has involved a host of measures, from distributing face masks and increasing testing, to information campaigns, reopening of schools, introduction of new bike lanes, and support measures for businesses, cultural institutions, NGO’s and other organisations that are now opening up. These measures are evolving as the situation progresses – read a full updated overview of these measures in English here, or in French here.
Contact: Jean-Yves Camus
The city will distribute 20,000 visors to people and entities that need them, but don’t have the means to buy them. These will be distributed for example to daycare, kindergartens, health centres, parish councils, volunteer firefighters, hospitals, and schools. Read more here (in Portuguese)
Contact: Crisália Alves
With a step-by-step approach, the city of Dusseldorf wants to keep coronavirus infection numbers low and prevent a new spread. The daily monitoring will be continued. Should the infection number rise to 30 per 100,000 citizens in seven consecutive days, communication and control of the regulations, like physical distancing and wearing of masks, will be reinforced. From 50 new infections, stronger restrictions can be implemented. You can read more here (in German)
Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld
The city of Tbilisi, Georgia, has compiled an overview of measures taken in the corona crisis, following the first confirmed case on 26 February: from the disinfection of public places to help for the elderly to support of local businesses. You can download the document here
Contact: Lika Davitadze
Vienna has taken an approach of cautious exit and inclusive recovery as the country is slowly going back to ‘normal’. The updated overview highlights measures with regard to a smooth and safe running of city services, from childcare and schools to health and social services, support for the local economy and unemployed citizens and much more. It also contains a survey that shows that the city’s crisis management was positively received by the population. You can download the document here.
Contact: Michaela Kauer or stay up to date at @Stadt_Wien
Flexible start times at work and school, to avoid crowded busses and trams. Enhanced possibilities for cycling and walking in the city. Outdoor catering on closed roads for restaurants. – These are some of the proposals of Budapest’s mayor Gergely Karácsony for a gradual reopening of the city. According to him, the easing of the lockdown demands new thinking and deliberate decisions in many fields from both the national government and the municipality. You can download the document here
Contact: Adrienn Magyar
With around half the usual circulation of traffic on its roads, Vilnius’ bars and cafés are being encouraged to take advantage of all public spaces to set up tables free of charge, while respcting physical distancing rules. Read more here
Contact: Jurga Pociūtė-Mikūtienė
The City of terrassa has rearranged parts of its mobility infrastructure, to create more space for people to move around, as well as for other, greener, forms of transport. This includes an emergency bus, taxi and bike lane. Read more here
Contact: Joan Chicón Vallejo
While parks and hiking trails in and around Budapest are open again after the corona confinement, the city wants to avoid the popular destinations getting too crowded. A new online map is promoting lesser known green spots where people can walk or play sports. You can find the map and read more here
Contact: Adrienn Magyar
With the help of artificial intelligence, the people of Nice can check whether they have symptoms of COVID19 and get advice on the phone. The city has launched the vocal assistant ‘AlloCOVID’, developed by the startup Allo-Média in collaboration with INSERM researchers. Based on a series of questions, a robot tries to understand if the caller presents symptoms of COVID19, and thus orient them. Available seven days a week and 24 hours a day, the system can manage up to 1,000 simultaneous calls. You can read more here
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
Reopening schools with small groups of pupils, making face masks mandatory in the metro and devoting roads to biking, to prevent an intensive surge in car use – these are some of the steps out of the corona lockdown in Paris. The city has compiled a summary of measures. You can download the document here
Contact: Jean-Yves Camus
Guimarães municipality has given exemptions to businesses from fees for the occupation of public space until the end of 2020 and increased areas for the installation of terraces. This is intended to minimize the impact of reducing the capacity of establishments to protect customers from COVID-19. More information (in Portuguese) here.
Contact: geral@cm-guimaraes.pt
The Nice Côte d´Azur Metropolis has developed new digital crisis management tools from which Microsoft will draw inspiration to help other communities for free. In order to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic and the dissemination of masks to the entire population, the Nice has developed digital logistics management tools. Microsoft has praised the quality of work of the engineers of the Metropolis and will use it as inspiration to provide services to other French communities.
Continue reading “Nice – Digital crisis management”Mannheim, UNESCO City of Music, together with the Enjoy Jazz Festival, launched the social media campaign “weRculture” on April 1, backed by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). Since then, more than 100 artists and creative workers have participated and contributed creative videos that call upon the viewer to stay at home, think respectfully and act responsibly in this time of crisis. More information on this global call here.
Contact: Nelly Saemann
Guimarães is testing all daycare employees for COVID 19 in preparation for the reopening of daycare centres on 18 May. All employees (teaching and non-teaching staff) will be tested. This covers about 450 employees in 39 institutions, and is taking place within the scope of the Government’s return to normality plan, in conjunction with the Ministry of Social Security. The tests start this Monday, 11 May 11, at the facilities of the Pro-Child headquarters. More information (in Portuguese) here.
Contact: Crisalia Albves
Beşiktaş has centralised all its public health efforts in a single ‘Public Health Digital Management Centre’. The centre, set up to deal with COVID19, will remain after the outbreak to tackle further pandemics, disasters, earthquakes or any situation that threatens public health. The centre facilitates crisis communication, administration, data flows and inter-institutional coordination from a single point, and can be used to identify at-risk groups and areas. Beşiktaş’s mayor, Rıza Akpolat, has committed to personally man the centre, performing the coordination of all its units day and night.
Contact: foreignaffairs@besiktas.bel.tr
A new study by the city of Madrid shows that up to 22% of residents could demands help from social services and that 46% of the city’s families have been affected. Read more here
Contact: Ana Buñuel
In cooperation with the University Hospital Dusseldorf, the municipality is planning an antibody testing of 1,000 people (representative sample) in order to obtain information about the estimated number of unknown cases of the Coronavirus infection. In addition Dusseldorf’s testing centres are now able to inform citizens about negative test results by SMS, while positive results are still communicated by phone and are followed up by ‘containment scouts’. Read more here and here
Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld
Florence parks are again accessible to families, although in compliance with the still necessary safety standards. Thus, the city of Florence has started a family support project called ‘Pollicino.Zero’ providing educators and volunteers in eight city parks and gardens. The operators will be there to answer the parents’ possible questions and suggest them creative activities to be carried out with their children.
Contact: Alessandra Barbieri
Belfast is using links with its Chinese sister city Shenyang to access masks and other protective equipment. When the COVID19 outbreak began in China, Belfast donated medical equipment to its sister city. Now Shenyang is reciprocating, sending a shipment including 10,000 masks to Belfast. More information here.
Contact: Mark McCann
Rennes is providing safety kits to shopkeepers, many of whom will be able to open as of May 11, to guarantee the protection of customers, shopkeepers and their employees. The city will distribute a kit to 2,600 shopkeepers (excluding cafés, hotels and restaurants) in the city. The kit contains two fabric masks, a protective visor, hydroalcoholic gel, a chalk spray for marking the ground and an information poster on physical distancing, to be affixed to shop windows. A guide listing the main advice in terms of hygiene, cleanliness, reception and protection of customers and employees is already available for consultation and downloading on city’s website. More information (in French) here.
Contact: Stephanie Poppe
Braga will allow restaurants, cafes and local commerce to open their services in the streets for the months of summer and until the end of the year. This ‘Open Door’ system for local commerce will allow restaurants, cafes and bars to extend their terraces to the streets and create new ones to expand capacity. This will help businesses to serve more people while maintaining health and security measures and protecting jobs. The local Chamber of Commerce and the movement ‘Urbac’, which brings together restaurants and bars of the city, support the initiative ‘Braga Open Door’. Mayor Rio of Braga has also announced a total exemption of municipal fees and licenses covering the occupation of public spaces for all local businesses. More information (in Portuguese) here.
Contact: Nuno Gouveia
On 20 March, the City of Nantes set up a mutual aid platform to collect donations, facilitate and support initiatives, recruit citizen volunteers and collect information on the needs of the people of Nantes. The 15 or so agents involved were able to ensure 2,000 contacts and connections. Nearly 750 Nantes citizens have applied for volunteer missions and 300 of them have already been mobilized to help with shopping, food distribution, supporting families, medical and social institutions and making deliveries. More information (in French) here.
In order to support initiatives for the manufacture of masks for the general public made of fabric, to meet the demands of professionals and individuals, the city has set up a system, ‘A vos masques’. The city also supports the Association Des Femmes en Fil (Women in Thread) which brings together some 15 neighbourhood associations and already more than 100 seamstresses with the aim of making 15,000 masks for Nantes neighbourhoods. More information (in French) here.
Contact: Nicolas Joffraud
Rennes has made group order of 500,000 fabric masks to equip all its inhabitants (250,000) and 95 other municipalities in the department. These masks are to be worn in addition to social distancing measures. In Rennes, the distribution will be carried out by volunteer civil servants at about fifteen sites spread throughout the city’s neighbourhoods.
Contact: Stephanie Poppe
The streets of Vilnius are currently dotted with giant photos of people wearing protective masks made in creative way. The images are part of a new project called Mask Fashion Week, which drew its inspiration from members of a Facebook group known as Mask Your Fashion. Unlike a traditional fashion week, the project is open to everyone: the city streets have become a runway. While still adhering to safety recommendations, audiences are invited to travel the Mask Fashion Week route through the city by foot or in their cars and reflect on the role and look of the new accessory that has unexpectedly become part of our day-to-day lives. The city’s outdoor advertising stands now feature photos of masked project participants with the slogan ‘Creativity Cannot be Masked’. You can read more here
The city of Reykjavik, Iceland, has compiled a summary of measures taken in the coronavirus crisis. The document describes the different phases in response to the pandemic and how “aggressive testing, tracing and quarantining” has slowed the spreading of the virus. Iceland has introduced a tracing app which has been downloaded by one third of the population. Restrictions are eased since beginning of May. You can download the document here
Contact: Hilmar Hildar Magnúsarson
At the request of the mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko, a new centre is coordinating community, volunteer, and other organisations’ efforts to assist individual vulnerable sections of Kyiv’s population in the spread of new coronavirus infection.
Increased measures taken by the city include heightened sanitation of roads, bridges, public transport, as well as public utilities and public parts of municipally owned buildings. Further actions include the closure of all children’s playgrounds.
Contact: Maria Adomaytis
Since wearing a mask in public transportation and shops is compulsory now, city staff of Dusseldorf and volunteers are distributing masks on different places in the city. For the elderly, 50,000 hygiene kits including masks have been prepared and can be ordered for home delivery. Additional 15,000 masks have been donated for refugees. With online videos, the city shows how to sew your own mask. You can read more here and here (in German)
Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld
The municipality of Osmangazi, Turkey, has disinfected more than 69,000 public locations to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Parks, gardens, squares, streets, containers, public buildings and sanctuaries are cleaned regularly. Workplaces, especially in the food sector, are inspected in order to guarantee the healthy production process. At the entrances of marketplaces, disinfectants and surgical masks are distributed free of charge.
You can read more here (in Turkish)
Contact: Şenol Dülger
“Budapest awaits!” is the message of a music and dance video, aimed at city residents and tourists. The film, created by the Budapest Festival and Tourism Center, shows the formerly cheerful and lively, but now empty city, waiting to see life returning to the streets and public spaces.
Budapest has also compiled a summary of measures the city has taken in the corona crisis. You can download the document here
Contact: Adrienn Magyar
The municipal hospitals of the city of Zurich have patients refraining from going to the hospital and get treatment because they are afraid of getting infected. In order to make some treatments and also appointments possible, the city hospitals set up online diagnostic tools, where patients can contact their doctor if a physical meeting is not needed. You can read other measures in this summary
Contact: Antoine Schnegg
Experts have prepared this a guide to help decision-makers, from a technical point of view, on the criteria to identify the most suitable car parks for Covid testing. Urban car parks have a number of convenient characteristics for this purposes, such as allowing for significant flows of people in an orderly manner while facilitating the implementation of the necessary separation and control conditions. Read more here
Contact: Lola Ortiz Sánchez
Katowice is sending three buses to collect samples from its residents. The collective effort of the three teams will give the city a testing capacity of 3000 tests a month. By monitoring testing needs, the city will evaluate if it needs to arrange more buses. To further limit the spread, the city disinfects bus and tram stops, benches and trash bins, tunnels and underground passages on a daily basis. Special attention is given to handles and facilities for the disabled. Read more here and here (in Polish)
Contact: Judyta Etmanska
In Izmir, all employees working in the health sector, pharmacists and pharmacy staff have free access to public transportation. In addition, four bus routes have been redirected to exclusively serve city hospitals. Trips and timetables of these routes are coordinated with the hospital to accommodate changes and updates in staff shifts. While conductors are separated from users, hand dispensers are available in the bus and at bus stops for passengers. Read more here
Contact: Ozan Sumerkan
At around 200 production points, including at sites owned by civil society and private organisations, Barcelona city council is aiming to manufacture 300,000 textile masks for staff working in sectors deemed essential. Read more here
Contact: Marta Puchal
Vienna has compiled a summary of measures the city has taken in the coronavirus crisis. They include the areas health and social care, public services, help for the economy, housing and homelessness, arts and culture, communication and citizen engagement as well as a part on ‘life after the crisis’. You can download the document here.
Contact: Michaela Kauer or stay up to date at @Stadt_Wien
Employees of the facility management department of the City of Vienna decided to sew 2,500 masks in order to protect their colleagues. 50 female room attendants decided to take matters into their own hands and to produce masks to equip all their colleagues with reusable (and washable at 60 degrees) cotton masks. Luckily, a remaining stock of a total of 77 metres of dark grey cotton fabric could be purchased on a short notice; and a workshop to produce a prototype was organised.
Continue reading “Vienna – Sewing masks”Starting from next week all passengers on Budapest’s public transport, as well as in shops, markets, shopping centres and taxis will be required to wear masks or scarfs. Under current plans as many as 85,000 will be handed out for free.
In addition the Municipality of Budapest will carry out 10,000 coronavirus tests, with the first carried out on staff and residents in social and nursing homes. Read more here and here
Contact: Adrienn Magyar
International spirits firm Edrington has donated high strength alcohol to Glasgow City Council to increase hand sanitiser production. This first donation will allow for one thousand litres production that will be delivered to the social workers and health professionals in the front line. Read more here
Contact: Joe Brady
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality has started placing ‘maskmatic’ machine in its busiest metro stations. Residents can access a pack of four masks, along with 100 millilitres of disinfectant, for free by using their Izmirim transportation card. Read more here
The social services providing assistance at home are now receiving a cleaning kit to improve the families’ safety. This protective equipment will allow for the safe management of waste, helping the staff from the local recycling companies. Read more here (in Spanish)
Contact: Jorge Pumar Tesouro
From next month priority will be given to those travelling around the Belgian capital on foot or bikes, with vehicle speeds reduced to just 20 kilometres per hour. Read more here
Contact: Geert de Roep and Antoine Umbrain
Starting this week one of the main roads along Brighton & Hove’s seafront will be closed to motor vehicle traffic in order to provide residents with extra space to take exercise. Read more here
Contact: Rachel Williams
The city will work with local associations to reach out to homeless people to provide them all with masks. Read more here (in French)
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
Thousands of 3D-printed view-masks are made at home by citizens with the assitance from the Knowledge Center La Molinera. This initiative is coordinated by the City Council of Ourense and providing equipment protection to health professionals, security forces, local business and citizens. Watch a video from the initiative here
Contact: Jorge Pumar Tesouro
TAN, Nantes’ Public Transport Company, equipped 87 trams with 300 hydroalcoholic solution dispensers. Some dispensers are connected, so the cleaning provider is able to refill it as soon as necessary. Read more here (in French)
Contact: Nicolas Joffraud
Nice is giving free masks to residents. With their 2019 tax form they can apply and will receive a mask in a few days at the location they provide. More information (in French) here.
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
Düsseldorf has expanded its Covid-19 testing capacities (up to 800 tests per day) and the coronavirus information line has been optimised: the staff has received extensive training, and a phone bot to deal with the public’s Covid-19 queries has been installed. Read more (in German) here.
Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld
Glasgow is using their airport’s long-stay car park as a drive-thru mobile testing facility. At the moment this service is only used to test frontline NHS staff, but there are plans to expand the operation in the future. Read more here
Contact: Joe Brady
Glasgow Caledonian University has launched a 3D-printing operation creating face shields for doctors and nurses in urgent need of protective equipment. The University has also donated a range of other protective equipment including gloves and disposable aprons. Read more here
Contact: Joe Brady
The city of Nicosia, Cyprus, has compiled a summary of the municipality’s measures in the corona crisis, from confinement regulations over ‘solidarity baskets’ for the elderly to creative activities for kids, painting their vision of ‘Nicosia 2030’ while at home. The document also provides contact names for further information. You can download it here
Contact: Charis Theocharous
Drones, equipped with speakers, will be used in Tallinn’s parks, beaches and sports grounds daily to inform people about the measures to respect to tackle the spread of the virus. Drones, which will repeat the message in Estonian, Russian and English, will not be used for surveillance, but just to share information on behaviour. You can read more here.
Contact: Kerttu Märtin
The research center RISE in Nicosia, Cyprus, has developed a mobile app to help limit the spread of the corona virus. The app, COVTRACER, is monitoring the movements of confirmed carriers of the virus to identify people they have been in contact with. The use of the app is voluntary. It has been downloaded 8,000 times since the launch. The pilot version of the application is designed for police and security forces, doctors, nurses and fire fighters.
Continue reading “Nicosia – Tracing corona contacts with an app”The city of Tirana has compiled a summary of the city’s measures in the corona crisis. It covers measures to minimise the spread of the virus, manage its impact and provide relief for the most vulnerable. You can download the document here
Contact: Blerina Beshku
750,000 masks, gowns, overalls, gloves and floats for protection against infection with the corona virus have arrived in Nice. The equipment arrived in a cargo plane from China on Easter Monday. The 25 tons of medical equipment are destined for the Nice University Hospital and public services carrying out a priority mission. You can read more here (in French)
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
The city website now includes video clips from refugees, for refugees explaining hygiene and behavioural measures to follow to contain the spread of the virus. Refugees have produced, on their own initiative, written information and explanatory video clips in seven languages. Read more here (in German)
Contact: Claudia Schulcz
With music in the streets, the municipality of Kartal, a district of Istanbul, entertains and supports people at home during the corona crisis. A marching band played a series of concerts in ten neighbourhoods and was greeted with flags and applause. The municipality also developed a video programme for kindergarten kids. You can read more and find an overview of measures here (in Turkish and English)
In Poznan scientists from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences have developed the production of their own test in cooperation with Polish enterprises. Its quality is equal to commercial tests, and it is much cheaper and available in quantities of hundreds of thousands.
More information here.
Contact: Anna Aleksandrzak
Zagreb has introduced drive in testing to speed up diagnosis and increase the number of people tested. People do not have to get out of the car in this testing, which increases the safety level of the person being tested and the microbiologist at the department. Appointment for testing will continue to be carried out through a selected family doctor.
Contact: international.relations@zagreb.hr
Bordeaux is now operating several hotlines for people differently affected by coronavirus. These include a mental health support hotline, COVIDPSY33, from 10.00-18.00 Monday to Friday; a specific phone service for those grieving the death of a loved one; and a phone line for healthcare professionals to receive support and advice.
Contact: Marie-Elisabeth Sapin
The municipality asked supermarkets’ chains to install new lockers to be used for the collection of online grocery shopping. Customers can order their groceries online, then collect them avoiding queues and limiting contact with other people since their shopping will be waiting, at a specific time, in an assigned locker which only the customer can access with his/her membership card. Read more here (in Italian)
Contact: Olimpia Vaccarino Aureli
The district municipality in Sultanbeyli, Istanbul, is feeding stray animals during the corona lockdown. While shops are closed, the local veterinary service units leave animal food at central places. In Istanbul, there are thought to be 130,000 dogs and 125,000 cats roaming free. Other measures of the municipality aim to prevent the spread of the virus in public places like bazaars and to support people in need.
Continue reading “Istanbul – Feeding stray cats and dogs”Health workers, bus drivers, volunteers for social services and others working in relevant functional areas in Dusseldorf can get free use of public transport and taxis as well as permission to buy bigger amounts of foods and goods than stated in the regulations against panic buying. The city is handing out badges to those people, based on registration via employers. Read more here (in German)
Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld
A political argument between the City of Vienna and the Austrian national government has eventually come to a good end after nearly four weeks. While all parks owned by the city remained open and accessible after the beginning of the coronacrisis, public parks owned by the national government were closed. After a wave of citizens protest, petitions and appeals of the city government, national government showed readiness to reopen the parks after Easter weekend.
Continue reading “Vienna – Parks open again after Easter”Cardiff based Life Sciences Hub Wales is working with businesses from a range of industries, including manufacturing, food and drink, IT and healthcare to explore how they can scale up production, repurpose existing products and deploy their expertise and capabilities to deal with the crisis. Read more here
Contact: Beverley Watson
Pendik Municipality has started to produce its own masks to be used by its personnel. Thousands of masks have been produced within a day.
The masks will be used by its personnel and visitors of municipality buildings. Read more (in Turkish) here.
Contact: Oğuz Karakaya
In Antalya, Muratpaşa Municipality has established a small army for the distribution of 450,000 masks in the district. A fully equipped team of 250 people started to distribute these washable masks from house to house.
The teams will deliver 3 washable masks and mask bags with a warning message against the corona virus to every household in the district. Those who are not at home are left with masks on their doors. Read more (in Turkish) here.
Contact: Ibrahim Utku
Madrid has launched a full public transport process for dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. Measures range from signage and communication to social distancing and hygiene. The full document and annexes are available below.
The University Hospital in Lille, with the technical support of Lille Metropole and Lille City, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for medical equipment in the Calmette Hospital, which has been transformed into a COVID-19 hospital with 140 dedicated beds. The aim is to enable the rapid acquisition of 20 pulsoxymeters and 10 reanimation respirators to be able to cope with massive hospital admissions for intensive care. The estimated cost of the purchase of this equipment is estimated at over €180,000. In less than 24 hours, the campaign had already collected €23,000. Read more here
Contact: Christophe Bolot
Healthcare workers, who are able to prove their work, are now permitted to make use of all public transport service for free until the end of the emergency. Additionally, in order to protect drivers of public transport vehicles, passengers are no longer allowed to board by the front doors or sit in the first few seats, which is now closed on busses and trolley busses. A further measure includes reducing the fee for Budapest’s bike-sharing system pass to 100 HUF. Read more here and here and here
Contact: Adrienn Magyar
Despite the recent impacts of an earthquake on 22 March, Zagreb is also preparing its coronavirus response. One public institution, which focusses on the rehabilitation of disabled people, has switched its activities to produce face masks, for example. See more here:
Contact: international.relations@zagreb.hr
Antalya Muratpaşa Municipality has started to produce face shields with 3D printers. 3D printing has allowed the municipality to produce 2,150 visors within three days, which have been distributed to professionals at risk, especially those working in hospitals. Read more (in Turkish) here.
The municipality is also working on many other hygiene measures, including disinfecting public areas, markets, service buildings and cultural locations such as Hadrian’s Gate. Read more (in Turkish) here. Ozone rooms for disinfecting people who enter the main municipal building have also been set up. Read more (in Turkish) here.
Contact: Ibrahim Utku
Nice has opened a new reception site for the homeless and updated old ones by adding protection and hygiene measures recommended by the health authorities. Read more (in French) here. The city has also teamed up with nearby cities to launch a regional telephone hotline for psychological support to residents. Read more (in French) here. For those with a prescription, medical workers, or people who are exhibiting symptoms of the coronavirus, two drive-through test centres have also been set up. Read more (in French) here.
A special hotline for those with disabilities has also been set up, and an app through which the disabled can get information and ask for help. The city has made available tools like automatic voice transcription and sign language to make sure that everyone can stay up to date on the latest news and advice. Read more (in French) here.
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
Beşiktaş Municipality has created an online service providing psychological, nutritional and physiotherapy services, as well as family counselling to all residents who have to stay at home. Read more about this service (in Turkish) here.
Support from the municipality is also physical. Beşiktaş, besides its own extensive disinfection procedure, is handing out bags full of necessary hygienic equipment to residents, and is delivering food supplies to residents over 65 years old and to other people in need with the help of local police. The Mayor has joined social welfare workers in preparing the support boxes. Read more about this here.
The municipality is also delivering aid to people with chronic diseases, over 65s, and disabled people who are in social isolation, including hands on medical support and examination, and online medical consultation. Read more (in Turkish) here. To take care of health workers, the city has made student dormitories available to health workers. Read more (in Turkish) here.
Contact: foreignaffairs@besiktas.bel.tr
Hamburg has offered to admit ten intensive care corona patients from Italy in one of the city’s hospitals. The local health authority confirmed that Hamburg still has the capacity to treat foreign patients. As of Saturday, 28 March, 36 corona patients in Hamburg were in intensive care. In Italy, many hospitals are overburdened and cannot treat all patients. Since Sunday, two corona patients from France are under intensive care in the university hospital of Hamburg. Read more here (in German)
Contact: Thomas Jacob
Face masks are handed out for free to homeless people by the Social Care Department and the city police of Brno, Czechia. The city has set up a container to collect used masks which are disinfected and then given out again. Brno provides information on the corona measures in six languages: Czech and English, and abridged versions in Russian, Romanian, Arabic and Vietnamese. Read more here
Contact: Pavlina Sukupova
