Keeping clean Air moving is as critical as wearing Masks and maintaining physical Distance.

Home > Keeping clean Air moving is as critical as wearing Masks and maintaining physical Distance.

Keeping clean Air moving is as critical as wearing Masks and maintaining physical Distance.

Keeping clean Air moving is as critical as wearing Masks and maintaining physical Distance.

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Take this 3-minute Get M.A.D. Survey to get personalized tips that will reduce the risk of COVID-19 in your workplace

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At the end of the survey, you’ll receive:

  • Recommended hacks for workplace safety

  • Questions to ask your employer

  • Personalized tips for better-fitting face coverings  

If you work indoors, this is for you.

We teamed up with doctors, HVAC experts, and public health leaders to create the COVID Straight Talk M.A.D. Guidelines along with actionable tips that will help you stay safe from COVID-19 in the workplace.

Workers - Are you unsure if your workplace is safe? Wondering if your employer is doing all they can? Then this is the guide for you. We created a list of actionable tips, questions to ask your employer, and resources to keep you and your coworkers safe from COVID-19.

Workers

Are you unsure if your workplace is safe? Wondering if your employer is doing all they can? Then this is the guide for you. We created a list of actionable tips, questions to ask your employer, and resources to keep you and your coworkers safe from COVID-19.

Employers - Trying to figure out if your HVAC system is filtering the air properly? Unsure about what safety measures you need to put in place for your employees? We made a toolkit to help employers and HVAC professionals figure out where to get started.

Employers

Trying to figure out if your HVAC system is filtering the air properly? Unsure about what safety measures you need to put in place for your employees? We made a toolkit to help employers and HVAC professionals figure out where to get started.

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Find out your risk level

We designed this chart in partnership with Dr. Trisha Greenhalgh, Prof. of Primary Care at the University of Oxford. It is adapted from a table that originally appeared in her publication, “Two metres or one: what is the evidence for physical distancing in covid-19?” (2020), which she co-authored with Nicholas R Jones, Zeshan U Qureshi, Robert J Temple, Jessica P J Larwood, and Lydia Bourouiba.

The paper provides a framework for estimating the relative transmission risk associated with different activities under various conditions. In other words, “green,” is used to indicate a lower risk than “yellow,” which symbolizes lower risk than “red.”  It’s important to note that the risk ratings of particular activities and conditions refer specifically to the risk of transmission from asymptomatic people, the presence of symptoms would likely exacerbate the risk in each of these cases. Additionally, personal circumstances such as the viral load of an infected person, an individual’s susceptibility to infection, and coughing or sneezing due to irritation or allergies while asymptomatic, could also increase the risk of transmission.

→ Click here to see the color vision deficiency version of this chart and in 34 other languages.  

 Hacks to Keep Indoor Air Fresh

COVID-19 spreading through the air and HVAC systems may sound scary. But there are some easy hacks to keep your air clean at work or home. We teamed up with building scientist Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg, Director of the Institute for Health in the Built Environment, to provide explanations for why these Air hacks can help create a well-mixed air space.

What People are Saying About COVID Straight Talk

 
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Do you know a family member, a friend at work or your place of worship, or a neighbor who needs to hear the straight talk about COVID? Then use the links below to pass this on.

Are you a business, school, place of worship, or community organization interested in keeping your community safe and informed? We created additional resources for you.

Great Resources for Everyone

While building COVIDStraight Talk, we came across many valuable resources made by and/or for communities most impacted by COVID-19. We are proud to partner with several, including Pandemic Response Network from Duke Health, Forward Together, and Studio Rev, which are featured, below. For other resources we’ve selected for workers and employers, click here.

Free Symptom Support Program to Anyone, Anywhere - Our partner, Pandemic Response Network (PRN) from Duke Health offers a free bilingual symptom support program in Spanish and English to anyone, anywhere, of any age. You do not need to currently have symptoms or a COVID-19 diagnosis to participate. A nurse will reply within 24 hours to all participants who report severe symptoms.

Free Symptom Support Program to Anyone, Anywhere

Our partner, Pandemic Response Network (PRN) from Duke Health offers a free bilingual symptom support program in Spanish and English to anyone, anywhere, of any age. You do not need to currently have symptoms or a COVID-19 diagnosis to participate. A nurse will reply within 24 hours to all participants who report severe symptoms.

An informative video explaining how COVID-19 spreads  - Last Mile advisors Dr. Marina Vance and Dr. Shelly Miller, both professors at UC Boulder, created this short illustrated video explaining how infectious respiratory diseases, like COVID-19, spread. COVID-19 is a new disease, but we do have information about how it spreads between people via the air and surfaces. Understanding the ways COVID-19 spreads will keep yourself and others safe.

An informative video explaining how COVID-19 spreads 

Last Mile advisors Dr. Marina Vance and Dr. Shelly Miller, both professors at UC Boulder, created this short illustrated video explaining how infectious respiratory diseases, like COVID-19, spread. COVID-19 is a new disease, but we do have information about how it spreads between people via the air and surfaces. Understanding the ways COVID-19 spreads will keep yourself and others safe. 

A Health Guide for Communities Most at Risk  - Our partner, Forward Together, created We Keep Each Other Safe, an in-depth bilingual guide in Spanish and English for communities most impacted by COVID-19. It covers many topics and is tailored to issues faced by people of color (POC), such as voting, protesting, pregnancy and postpartum issues, kids and childcare, scripts for healthcare workers (HCWs), and how to form mutual aid networks.

A Health Guide for Communities Most at Risk

Our partner, Forward Together, created We Keep Each Other Safe, an in-depth bilingual guide in Spanish and English for communities most impacted by COVID-19. It covers many topics and is tailored to issues faced by people of color (POC), such as voting, protesting, pregnancy and postpartum issues, kids and childcare, scripts for healthcare workers (HCWs), and how to form mutual aid networks.

An Illustrated Guide on Worker Rights for Undocumented Immigrants  - Our partner, Studio Rev, created Volador, an illustrated bilingual (Spanish and English) toolkit  informing essential, nonessential, and undocumented immigrant workers about their rights to sick leave and government economic relief. The full set of graphics and adaptable social media–friendly text is available in both Spanish and English.

An Illustrated Guide on Worker Rights for Undocumented Immigrants 

Our partner, Studio Rev, created Volador, an illustrated bilingual (Spanish and English) toolkit informing essential, nonessential, and undocumented immigrant workers about their rights to sick leave and government economic relief. The full set of graphics and adaptable social media–friendly text is available in both Spanish and English.  

A Guide on How to Care for People With COVID-19 in the Home - COVID-19 Home Care Basics is an illustrated open-source guide that explains how to care for someone who has COVID-19 at home. It has information on what to do immediately after a diagnosis, how to provide ongoing care, how to adapt your home life to keep other occupants safe, and other important topics. It is available in Spanish, English, Arabic, French, and German.

A Guide on How to Care for People With COVID-19 in the Home

COVID-19 Home Care Basics is an illustrated open-source guide that explains how to care for someone who has COVID-19 at home. It has information on what to do immediately after a diagnosis, how to provide ongoing care, how to adapt your home life to keep other occupants safe, and other important topics. It is available in Spanish, English, Arabic, French, and German.

Experts to Follow on Twitter

Here are some prominent experts on Twitter who are writing about COVID-19 transmission and safety measures in an accessible way.

Linsey Marr: @linseymarr


Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg: 
@Wymelenberg

Muge Cevik: @mugecevik

Jose-Luis Jimenez: @jljcolorado


Kimberly Prather: @kprather88


Zeynep Tufecki: @zeynep

Laurie Garrett: @Laurie_Garrett

Devi Sridhar: @devisridhar

Shelly Miller @shellymboulder

Charles Haas: @ProfCharlesHaas


Richard Corsi: @CorsIAQ

André Picard: @picardonhealth

Trevor Bedford: @trvrb

Joseph Allen: @j_g_allen

Megan Ranney: @meganranney

Also follow us on Twitter at @lastmileworks where we retweet useful information.

News Links

There are so many articles on COVID-19. In the age of “fake news,” it’s hard to know what sources you can trust. We’ve researched a lot of what’s out there and sought out advice from experts in their fields who have vetted this list of some of our favorite articles that are super actionable.

Tools We Love

While COVID-19 spreading through the air may sound new, it has been well studied by scientists who research air quality in buildings. Check out these COVID-19 risk estimation tools that leverage the latest scientific evidence that will help you stay safe.

Dojo is a tool to estimate your risk of getting COVID-19 through aerosol transmission at work.

Using the space’s size, occupancy, and ventilation settings, as well as local conditions and the presence of a COVID-19 carrier, Dojo provides an actionable risk estimate based on how long you spend in the space. To put the numbers in perspective, it compares your COVID-19 risk with your average risk of dying in a car crash.

Our partner, Silverstein Properties, teamed up with Dr. Jose L. Jimenez of the University of Colorado and a team of scientists to design Dojo.

The Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health created an easy-to-use webapp called My COVID Risk that will help you evaluate your risk of catching COVID-19. The tool uses information you provide, such as how long you are spending in a space and the type of activity, to give you a risk score ranging from Very Low to Very High. 

The app then asks you what protective measures you can take, and uses that information to recalculate your score. From start to finish you can see how risky a situation will be and then learn how to reduce that risk in under 3 minutes.


The COVID Tracking Project, a data compilation and visualization effort by The Atlantic, shows you the latest numbers on tests, cases, hospitalizations, and patient outcomes from every US state and territory daily so that you can stay up to date on how COVID-19 is spreading across the country.

This effort is the most comprehensive collection of COVID-19 related data available to the public.