Faith Clotworthy is no ordinary 9-year-old. Dedicated to making other children smile during lockdown, she fills party bags full of little goodies and delivers them to children in her hometown Essex (UK).
We live in the digital age, hence in fighting corona we have powerful digital infrastructure and technology at our disposal. Tech health startups are using digital technologies to identify potential corona cases, limit the spread of the disease, inform the local population or simply reassure the anxious public.
The summer holidays are just beginning, but with travel abroad limited, this initiative helps holiday makers explore the great outdoors closer to home. Dutch startup Campspace has set up a platform for renting micro camping spots in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and beyond. Its aim is to provide everyone with a place to camp within 30 minutes from their home.
COVID-19 measures affect the way essential workers commute to work. South African initiative Heroes on Bikes donated bicycles to frontline workers from the townships so they can travel to work safely.
In February 2020, In-Made developed a production line for non-medical mouth masks together with medical and business experts and their customers. In-Made is a Ministry of Justice production company which helps prison detainees gain work experience for their reintegration into society once the detainee has served their sentence. They began with around 100 detainees working in six Dutch prisons producing 50,000 masks a week.
In times of crisis, sound and accurate information saves lives. For the last 20 years Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) has been promoting community radio as a means to give people in remote rural areas a voice. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, its work has become all the more urgent.
War veteran Captain Sir Thomas Moore (aka Captain Tom, 100) became world news when he raised millions for the UK National Health Service. He inspired a whole generation of seniors to do the same. Retired GP Alfons Leempoels (103) from Rotselaar, Belgium must be among the oldest.