‘Besiktas Will Heal Together’ is the main slogan of a campaign this month by Besiktas municipality to help people in the transition to the new normal. The campaign comprises many events such as meeting with psychologists, music concerts, yoga sessions and sports, which will all be held in local parks.
Contact: foreignaffairs@besiktas.bel.tr
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
The city wants to show its support for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) staff and key workers with a colourful street art campaign called ‘Posters for the People’.
The project, led by the street art movement, In Good Company, and supported by Leeds City Council, has seen over 150 sites across the city transformed into colourful designs to spread positivity and show support to all those keeping the country running during this challenging time.
Ljubljana is increasing its offer to all age groups; from working with volunteers to keep the elderly company and offering free counselling via telephone; to digital services for the young and
telemedicine by telephone or other telecommunication means introduced for all.
Further measures adopted by the city include providing additional space for the homeless and working with volunteers from Ljubljana’s firefighter association and members of Ljubljana’s mountain rescue association and civil protection on public communication. Read more here
Contact: Polona Novak
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
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
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
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
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
Zaragoza is providing free parking slots to the health workers near the two main hospitals in the city. The staff interested in obtaining this service can register online. An agreement was reached with the private companies that run this service, and for one month up to 900 parking spots are being offered.
Contact: Lorena Calvo
Bristol making parking free for NHS staff and care workers in council car parks, pay and display street parking, and residents’ parking zones. Read more here.
Contact: Paul Davies
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
Nice is extending the childcare which it has been providing for health workers and other providers of necessary services to include the children of those involved in the food industry. The city already organises daycare for the children of many types essential personnel whom the national education system does not provide any service for. Read more (in French) here.
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
People who need to travel to work during the confinement in the metropolitan area of Nice Côte d’Azur can use public transport for free. The Metropolitan Office also adopted urgent measures to support small local companies, including advance payments for public contracts and aid to cover the monthly rent. The French Government and Parliament are asked to reduce, or authorize local authorities to exempt economic players from the corporate property tax. The decision were taken in a video meeting of the Office. Read more here (in French)
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
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
Cardiff Council has provided additional accommodation at two city centre hotels for rough sleepers and those living in emergency accommodation to ensure that any individuals with underlying health conditions, or who are showing symptoms of Coronavirus COVID-19, will be able to self-isolate.
Residents receive three meals a day and support staff are available around the clock to ensure the provision is safe and appropriate advice and help is always available. Read more here
Contact: Beverley Watson
The city of Amsterdam has announced a 50 million emergency fund to take necessary measures during the Corona crisis. With this fund the city can provide things like laptops to children who lack these facilities at home and free parking licenses for health professionals. In the coming weeks more actions will be announced. Read more here
Contact: Julia Robeer
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
The Zaragoza City Council has converted the ‘Tenerías sports municipal centre’ into a big dormitory for the homeless. This is in addition to 98 places already offered at the ‘Albergue municipal’. The services provided will include health assistance, three meals a day, and social services support in cooperation with the municipal social services. Read more here
Contact: Lorena Calvo
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
In order to further relieve clinics, ensure good medical care and improve the situation of isolated patients, the city of Stuttgart is creating over 300 places for accommodation and care as a precautionary measure. The rented buildings are spread over several city districts and are operated by various emergency services on behalf of the city. They can be used by people whose quarantine has been ordered, but who cannot be quarantined in their own homes. Among the first users are refugees and homeless people.
Continue reading “Stuttgart – Shelter for quarantine patients”
The University Hospital of Munster, Germany, offers medical advice to intensive care doctors in other hospitals by video. With this support, corona intensive care patients could stay longer in smaller hospitals close to their home and would not have to be transferred to university hospitals so quickly, while those beds could be reserved for more severe cases. In the region of Westphalia Lippe alone, more than 200 hospitals could use the telemedicine offer from Munster in cooperation with the University Hospital Aachen. Read more here (in German)
Contact: Anna Chevtchenko
Barcelona is helping the elderly get the information they need on COVID-19 and get answers to their questions on the pandemic. The VinclesBCN Service, already used by 2,400 people aged 65+ to combat loneliness and foster social contacts, adapted to the pandemic by creating a new health channel. The channel is managed by a doctor and nurse, who answer the various questions through text or voice message and feed general health information related to COVID-19 into the different groups in the channel. Although not intended as an emergency phone number, the channel provides official, accurate support to one of the most vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19. Read more here
Contact: Marta Puchal
Ljubljana is offering empty and disinfected rooms in Hostel Celica, run by the Ljubljana Castle public institute, to be used by the University Medical Centre for the accommodation of their staff. The hostel is intended for workers who come to work at UKC Ljubljana from other towns, which means that they no longer need to drive back home every day and that their self-protective measures are made easier.
As public transportation has been temporarily cancelled, many medical workers find the drive to Ljubljana and back home to be very stressful and exhausting. Ljubljana has also opted to provide for all employees of nursing homes who cannot return home every day for various reasons. The nursing homes are now fitted with portable beds which the workers can use when they spend the night in Ljubljana.
Contact: Polona Novak
Besides three drive-in coronavirus testing stations, the city of Munich is setting up a walk-through testing for medical staff. Doctors, nurses, assistants at hospitals and other health care professionals can easily and quickly reach the station and get the test result within 24 hours via sms. Read more here (in German)
Contact: Larissa Kiesel
The healthcare personnel of Madrid Salud, an autonomous body dependent on the Madrid City Council, will be incorporated into the primary care services to carry out home surveillance of people with symptoms of coronavirus. Thus, around thirty health professionals, including doctors, nurses and psychologists, will provide their services from this week. Read more here (in Spanish)
Contact: Ana Buñuel
Madrid is working with public and private parking providers to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 among health professionals. Parking providers near hospitals are making free space available to health care professionals so that they can park at a greater distance from each other and reduce the chance of transmitting the coronavirus on their way to work. Find out more here.
Contact: Ana Buñuel
Paris is offering services to ensure that those on the front line fighting the spread coronavirus are able to go to work. The city is running child care facilities for the children of health professionals. It is also collaborating with the national level, offering the state skilled personnel, in particular doctors and midwives, who work for the local government.
Paris is also making making space available for doctors whose waiting rooms are too small for appropriate distance to be kept between patients. Read about these and more measures (in French) here. Regular transmissions on Parisian activity around Covid 19 are posted here.
Contact: Jean-Yves Camus
Madrid City Council has started a new free bus route to transport health professionals and volunteers to a new temporary hospital. Read more here
Contact: Ana Buñuel
London’s public transport authority is curtailing services by stopping some night services, closing stations and urging Londoners not to use public transport services unnecessarily. The services that remain open are to support the city’s critical workers, according to the mayor.
Read more here
Contact: Ian Catlow
Rooms are being offered at hotels and other local accommodation, in coordination with the Porto City Hall, to ensure that medical staff who are concerned for the risk of contagion to their families, have an alternative space to stay.
Read more here
Contact: Daniel Freitas
