Originally Posted by
invisible
Pinging doctoravios and trublue
I have one question which might be outside of your direct expertise, but you so far have provided very valuable information.
Because we already entered into mitigation/delay the spread stage, what ordinary people can do to help to slow down the spread before reaching the phase of area/state/country lockdown? Apart from personal hygiene and consciously avoiding unnecessary travel?
Can people volunteer at local hospitals to help offloading overworked nurses and doctors? Or to do something else useful?
I guess Civil Defense classes would be highly useful, but when I had them (>40 years ago, behind the Iron Curtain), it was mostly told what to do during nuclear/chemical/biological attack... Civil defense during pandemics were never part of the course...
Ideas?
While waiting for
doctoravios and
trublue's expert opinions, here are my two cents:
Non trained personnel probably should stay away from hospitals to avoid becoming new patients to add to the burden.
Civil defense system in China played very valuable roles in China's success of controlling the transmission
1. They (mostly retirees and older housewives) man the posts at apartment building entrances, neighborhood gates, street corners, with thermometer guns and record the name and contact information of everyone who passes through, whether leaving or entering. They send information of those who have symptoms up through the monitoring system almost real time..
2. They go door to door to inform residents the newest official messages and rules as soon as they receive them.
3. They monitor the compliance of residents. Any one without a face mask, or does not keep a safe distance from others in a queue, etc. will be directed to correct.