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COVID-19: some useful websites

 

"Everything you say in advance of a pandemic seems alarmist. Anything you've done after it starts is inadequate."  Michael Leavitt (then US Health Secretary discussing H5N1 avian flu in 2007).

"There isn't any formula or method.  You learn to love by loving - by paying attention and doing what one thereby discovers has to be done."   Aldous Huxley

There's so much information swirling round about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the resultant disease COVID-19, it's easy to get lost in an anxiety-provoking cloud of facts & conjecture.  Here's a list of some websites that can be particularly useful amongst all the noise. 

World/Governmental Sites:  The World Health Organization provides a wealth of information including daily Situation Reports and a WhatsApp Number.  There are, of course, all the national sites ... so, in the English language, there's the UK GOV.UKUS Coronavirus.Gov, Canadian Coronavirus disease, Australian Coronavirus health alert and Scottish Coronavirus in Scotland to name just a few country sites.

News Media Sites:  Here in the UK, BBC News now has a section specifically for coronavirus; as too does the Guardian.  For more science orientated 'news sites', see for example STAT and Scientific American.

Managing Stress:  As a (medical) psychotherapist, obviously how to keep psychologically resilient during this pandemic is a question that comes up regularly.  The World Health Organization has produced a 6-page handout Mental Health & Psychosocial Considerations During COVID-19 Outbreak, that has sections for the general public, for healthcare workers, for team leaders/managers, for those looking after children, and for older people. 

Here is the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention advice on Manage Anxiety & Stress during the coronavirus outbreak, and here a section on Coronavirus and Your Wellbeing from the UK Mental Health charity Mind.  Here's a useful 14-page handout on anxiety & worry from Psychology Tools and here are 5 good tips from Cambridge.  Harvard too have stepped in with their wise Flourishing Amidst Coronavirus blog post.  And on this website, there are a cluster of free Stress Management Courses highlighted here and there's even the more general 10-session How to Live Well - a Shared Exploration training.   

Other Health/Self-Management:  The NHS provides a selection of 24 Exercise Videos and there are many other exercise options a quick web search away.  The NHS also provides the excellent site Every Mind Matters which slightly muddlingly provides good 'physical' health advice as well as good 'psychological' advice.  Here's the Guardian on How to Self-Isolate and here's an interesting take on Working from Home ... but both these areas are also covered by so many other Google reachable options.  And for good practical advice, see the free Which? Consumer Association centre.   

Reaching Out with Local Help: These are such challenging times.  It's very good that so many local help groups are springing up. Here's the neighbourhood hub Nextdoor and here the excellent COVID-19 Mutual Aid UK network. 

Good, good, good luck navigating through these very difficult times. 

 

 

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