The COVID-19 outbreak is a rapidly evolving situation. In addition to the resources listed below be sure to check with your local state, county and municipal public health agencies.

I recently shared with friends that fate would have it that I am currently taking a library science course on evaluating and curating consumer health information (CHI) for libraries. So, while I am observing the evolution of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic as a citizen, I am also studying the response to the pandemic through the lens of a library employee and library science student who may one day be in a position of curating a consumer health library collection.

As a member of the American Library Association (ALA), I ascribe to the organization’s core values and ethics. Among those core values is a belief in “social responsibility” which translates into the contribution that librarianship can make in ameliorating or solving the critical problems of society, and support efforts to help inform and educate the people of the United States on these problems (American Library Association, 2006). In light of that commitment to social responsibility, I have compiled the following list of resources for information on the COVID-19 coronavirus.

These resources have been selected because they meet the criterion of being relevant, credible, timely (not out-dated), accessible, and interactive (in that they offer printable and/or shareable information or their contact information). They also have information which facilitates discussions between patients and healthcare provider .

COVID-19 Information for the General Public

Achoo! A Comic About COVID-19. (n.d.). New Naratif. https://newnaratif.com/comic/achoo-a-comic-about-the-wuhan-coronavirus/share/orireyl.n.q.onq/3ef5764a72ad37e4d646253c2da89066

Advice for the public. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

Center for Disease Control and Prevention Coronavirus (COVID-19
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

Coronavirus and “Alternative” Treatments. NCCIH. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/in-the-news-in-the-news-coronavirus-and-alternative-treatments

Coronavirus Infections. (n.d.). [Text]. National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/coronavirusinfections.html

COVID-19: Adjusting to the “new normal” – National Institute on Aging
https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/blog/2020/03/covid-19-adjusting-new-normal

COVID-19 Fact Sheets for Tribes and Urban Indian Communities. (n.d.). Urban Indian Health Institute. https://www.uihi.org/resources/covid-19-fact-sheets-for-providers-employers-and-the-general-public/

COVID-19 Resources for State Leaders
– The Council of State Governments. (n.d.). https://web.csg.org/covid19/

Enfermedad del coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://espanol.cdc.gov/enes/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Everyday Health | Latest Coronavirus and COVID-19 Updates, News, and Important Information
https://www.everydayhealth.com/coronavirus/

FamilyDoctor.org – Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
medical advice from the American Academy of Family Physicians
https://familydoctor.org/condition/coronavirus/

Get Your Community and Faith-Based Organizations Ready for Coronavirus Disease 2019. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/guidance-community-faith-organizations.html

How to protect yourself against COVID-19. (n.d.).

Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus. (n.d.). NPR.Org. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus

For more great health comics for children and adults visit
Graphic Medicine
https://www.graphicmedicine.org/covid-19-comics/

Morris, T. (2020, March 25). The Side Eye: Viruses vs Everyone. The Spinoff. https://thespinoff.co.nz/covid-19/25-03-2020/the-side-eye-viruses-vs-everyone/

National Public Radio (NPR) Series: The Coronavirus Crisis
https://www.npr.org/series/812054919/the-coronavirus-crisis

Novel Coronavirus COVID-19—Latest news. (n.d.). CNA. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/topics/wuhan-virus

Project N95 – The National COVID-19 Medical Equipment Clearinghouse
https://www.projectn95.com/

Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19). (n.d.). https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

Sesame Street talks with children about the importance of hand washing—it helps keep us healthy and it helps keep germs away! Act out the steps of hand washing and then practice together.

Washy Wash. (n.d.). [Video]. from Sesame Street
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-8nMVwir2w

Taylor, W., & Shwed, A. (2020, March 23). COVID-19 Myths, Debunked. The Nib. https://thenib.com/covid-19-myths-debunked/

Understanding the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)—GoInvo. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2020, from https://www.goinvo.com/vision/coronavirus/

Want to help others avoid COVID-19? Don’t share misinformation! (n.d.). News Literacy Project. https://newslit.org/updates/covid-19-dont-share-misinformation/

What do we know about the novel coronavirus from China? Singapore’s health minister shares details. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgc_K2x-GKA

Information for Family Caregivers

Advice for caregivers of children with disabilities
in the era of COVID-19 – American Psychological Association
https://www.apa.org/research/action/children-disabilities-covid-19

This website offers advice from psychologists on ways to help families, caregivers and children cope during the pandemic.  The site provides strategies for easing stressors, reassuring your child, prioritizing self-care, and links to resources such as downloadable communication boards

Caring for someone at home – Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) – CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/care-for-someone.html

This resource provides information on how to care from someone who has contracted a mild case COVID-19 that does not require hospitalization.  It covers topics such as: monitoring the person for symptoms,  recognizing the emergency signs, preventing the spread of germs, and treating the symptoms

Cleaning and Disinfection for Households – Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) – CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cleaning-disinfection.html

This resource provides information on cleaning and disinfecting private residences in which a person with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 resides. Since scientists are still learning new information about the virus,  the CDC updates this resource are new discoveries are made.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Tips for Dementia Caregivers from the Alzheimer’s Association
https://alz.org/help-support/caregiving/coronavirus-(covid-19)-tips-for-dementia-care

This resource provides information for caregivers of persons with dementia.  It provides tips for family caregivers caring from someone in the home, or who have a loved one in an assisted living facility. It also provides options for responding if your loved one’s residential facility has an incidence of COVID-19

COVID-19 and Family Caregiving
https://caregiveraction.org/covid-19

Caregiver Action Network (CAN) is the nation’s leading family caregiver organization working to improve the quality of life for the more than 90 million Americans who care for loved ones with chronic conditions, disabilities, disease, or the frailties of old age.  This resource provides advice from experienced caregivers on how to care for your loved one.  It provides tips on in-home care,  quarantining,  and hospital stays

COVID-19 Health Literacy Project – Fact Sheets on COVID-19 in 35 Languages
https://covid19healthliteracyproject.com/#languages

This resource provides COVID-19 fact sheets translated into 35 different languages.  All of  the materials are reviewed and vetted by medical professionals at the Harvard hospitals and are freely available for download and distribution without copyright restrictions.  It provides fact sheets on:  COVID-19 Prevention; General Information about COVID-19; Managing COVID-19; COVID-19 and Pregnancy; COVID-19 for 3-6-year olds; COVID-19 for 5-12-year olds; and, COVID-19 for 13-18-year olds.

COVID-19 Resources for Families of Individuals with Autism
https://nationalautismassociation.org/covid-19-resources-for-families/

This resource provides information for caregivers of individuals with Autism.  It provides information how to explain a global health emergency,  how to reinforce hand-washing and social distancing, and how to help children cope with a disrupted schedule.

The COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Survival Guide for Those Caring for a Loved One with Dementia
– The Penn Memory Center’s COVID-19 Guide
https://pennmemorycenter.org/covid-19/

The Penn Memory Center, a part of the University of Pennsylvania Health Center, is for those age 65 and older seeking evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, information, and research opportunities related to symptoms of progressive memory loss, and accompanying changes in thinking, communication and personality.  This resource provides a general overview of the COVID-19 virus as well as an excellent list of tips for caring for a loved one as well as family caregiver self-care.

Familydoctor.org Coronavirus: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment. https://familydoctor.org/condition/coronavirus/

This resource from American Academy of Family Physicians provides general information about the COVID-19 virus along with questions that can be used to begin a discussion with your doctor.

Helping Children Cope With Changes Resulting From COVID-19
– National Association of School Psychologists
https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-climate-safety-and-crisis/health-crisis-resources/helping-children-cope-with-changes-resulting-from-covid-19

This resource is provided by the National Association of School Psychologists.  It provides strategies for adults to help children with problem-solving, flexibility, and adjusting to the drastic changes in their schedules caused by the COVID-19 crisis. 

General Health Information

Fact Sheets – The Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight – Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
https://www.cms.gov/cciio/Resources/Fact-Sheets-and-FAQs/index#COVID-19

The Patient Care Partnership – A downloadable brochure for patients about what they should expect during their hospital stay with regard to their rights and responsibilities. This replaced the earlier Patients’ Bill of Rights
https://www.aha.org/other-resources/patient-care-partnership

Information for Researchers

The Atlantic COVID tracking project (COVID Tracking)
https://covidtracking.com/about-project

European Centre for Disease Control. (n.d.). Situation update worldwide. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases

Healthdata.org

IHME | COVID-19 Projections. (n.d.). Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections

Healthmap – Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak timeline map
https://www.healthmap.org/covid-19/

Johns Hopkins CSSE COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker (2019-nCoV). (n.d.). http://bit.ly/3aGHUMn

Mapping the novel coronavirus pandemic (Esri StoryMaps)
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4fdc0d03d3a34aa485de1fb0d2650ee0

SAS 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. (n.d.). SAS  Coronavirus Report – Powered by SAS® Viya®. https://tbub.sas.com/COVID19/

SharedGeo – US spread of COVID-19 maps and analytics
https://uscovid-19map.org/

Topos COVID-19 Compiler
https://covid19.topos.com/

University of Virginia. (n.d.). COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard. COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard. http://nssac.bii.virginia.edu/covid-19/dashboard

University of Washington. (n.d.). Novel Coronavirus Infection Map. Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Map. https://hgis.uw.edu/virus/

Additional Resources

MedlinePlus Guide to Healthy Web Surfing
https://medlineplus.gov/healthywebsurfing.html

Trust It or Trash It
A tool to help you think critically about the quality of health information (including websites, handouts, booklets, etc.).
http://www.trustortrash.org/

American Library Association. (2006, July 26). Core Values of Librarianship [Text]. Advocacy, Legislation & Issues. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues

Disclaimer: This page is not intended as an official communication from any public or private organization. I am a graduate student in a Library and Information Science program.

The information on this page is intended to provide general information for the public. I am not a medical professional. Please consult your health professional with specific medical questions and for an interpretation of any of the terms.

The images in this post are being shared under section 107 of the US Copyright Act 1976, which makes allowance for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.

Page created: March 1, 2020
Last updated: April 22, 2020