CORE RESPONSE

A PRESENTATION ON INTERNSHIP
ACTIVITIES & PROJECT

STEPHANIE ERNDL
SUMMER
INTERNSHIP
• Worked as a part-time intern mostly with the
safety/protocol team at CORE
• Jonathan Golden was my official supervisor but I
worked more closely with Adrian Backus who was
the director of the safety/protocol team
• Participated in extensive research on COVID-19 and
how it is effecting the areas that CORE is serving
• Partnered with Lanier (classmate) on mapping
project/assignment
OBJECTIVES

• The first goal of this presentation is to provide a better understanding of COVID-19 in

general as well as why testing is so important.
• The second goal of this presentation is to explain the project and activities I completed
during my internship and how they bring value to CORE.
• The third goal of this presentation is to provide general information about CORE and how
they are helping combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
• CORE WAS FOUNDED AS A DISASTER/HUMANITARIAN RELIEF ORGANIZATION AND
SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THEY HAVE SHIFTED THEIR EFFORTS TO
PROVIDING FREE AND ACCESSIBLE TESTING IN HIGH NEED AREAS AROUND GA
AND MANY OTHER PLACES IN THE US.
• PREVALENCE IN GA
• 152,302 CONFIRMED CASES
• 3,335 DEATHS
• 15,922 HOSPITALIZATIONS
• 2,967 ICU ADMISSIONS

B A C K G R O U N D O F P U B L I C H E A LT H I S S U E
 COVID-19: 1. Diseases can make anyone sick regardless of
their race or ethnicity.
T H E FA C T S 2. For most people, the immediate risk of
becoming seriously ill from the virus is thought
to be low.
3. Someone who has completed quarantine or has
been released from isolation does not pose a
risk of infection to other people.
4. Take the proper precautions to keep yourself
and others healthy.
5. You can help stop the spread by knowing the
signs and symptoms.
TOP FIVE COUNTIES

FULTON GWINNETT DEKALB

COUNTY COUNTY COUNTY

COBB HALL
COUNTY COUNTY
 FULTON
GWINNETT
NEWTON
COUNTIES
SERVED BY ROCKDALE
CORE
COBB
DOUGLAS
DEKALB
INTERNSHIP ACTIVITIES
• AT HOME CARE FOR N95 MASKS
• HOW TO GET YOUR TEST RESULTS
• REOPENING BUSINESSES DURING A PANDEMIC
• FINDING NEW LOCATIONS FOR CORE TESTING SITES
• RESEARCH
• MAPPING PROJECT
 AT HOME CARE FOR N95 MASKS
● Store in a cool, dry place
● Store in a breathable container or paper bag to make sure the mask does not come in contact
with other surface contaminants
● Do NOT spray with disinfectant sprays like Lysol because the chemicals in these products can
affect the efficacy of the filtering component in the masks
● When removing your mask and transferring it to a container to take it home, make sure to
touch the mask as little as possible in order to reduce decontamination and increase likelihood
of reusability
● Clean and sanitize your hands before and after touching your mask
● When adjusting, taking off, and storing your mask avoid touching the inside of the mask

STERILIZATION FOR N95 MASKS

● Vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP)- reuse up to three times
● UV light- reuse up to three times
● Dry heat (70 degrees Celsius) eliminates the virus but only effective for two uses instead of
three
● 70% ethanol spray- reuse up to three times
● Most of these methods may be difficult to implement at home but the method that is most
commonly and easily used is the dry heat method.
MAPPING PROJECT
PROJECT GOAL

ASSESS THE UTILIZATION OF

CORE RESOURCES TO SEE IF WE
A R E E F F E C T I V E LY TA R G E T I N G
HIGH NEED AREAS
• PREVALENCE OF COVID-19 IN THE AREAS WE ARE TESTING
• ACCESS TO COMMERCIAL TESTING WITHIN THE AREAS WE ARE TESTING
• INCOME LEVELS IN THE AREAS WE ARE TESTING
• RELATIVE RISK OF THE PATIENTS WE ARE TESTING
• PREVALENCE OF COVID-19 AT SPECIFIC TESTING LOCATIONS

METRICS OF INTEREST
 Step 1 Map all the areas we have conducted testing using google maps

Step 2 Use publicly available data from county health departments to link
the prevalence of infection at the time of testing

PROJECT
PHASES
Step 3 Link to a source for epidemiology reports to assess the prevalence
of COVID-19 on an ongoing basis

Step 4 Keep an updated map layer of available COVID testing resources

 Step 5 Pull in other data to assess race and age demographics in the
areas surrounding our sites

Step 6 Start mapping prospective sites to see how they align with
current/previous data

PROJECT
PHASES
Step 7 Compare observed demographics at testing sites to theoretical
demographics of surrounding populations

Step 8 Monitor and update on an ongoing basis to assess efficacy of

our programs
PROJECT COMPONENTS
• Race and age demographics for all counties served
• Current covid-19 prevalence for all areas served
• All testing locations plotted on map with dates of
testing
• Libraries in hotspot locations for future testing
partnerships
• Relevant zip codes identified with median incomes
of those areas
• Commercial testing sites for comparison
 • Statistics have shown that certain races are slightly
more impacted by the virus than others
• Age is a prominent factor in how serious the virus will
be if contracted

WHY ARE • Current prevalence is used to compare numbers from

the past to the future in the areas CORE is testing
THESE
I M P O RTA N T ? • Finding businesses in virus hotspot locations helps
CORE target the highest need areas to implement
testing
• Median income information can help us understand if
that is an influencing factor of the rate of infection
 Contact tracing

LOOKING Ongoing surveillance of CORE’s

TO THE programs
FUTURE

Exporting data into spreadsheet to use

as an informational resource
 The goal of this project was to figure out if
CORE is effectively targeting high need areas

A lot more work can be done with this project

E VA L U A T I O
N OF
PROJECT Visualizing testing sites on a map leads to
identifying important correlations

Fulton County has the highest prevalence rate

and CORE has the most amount of testing sites
in that county
CONCLUSION

OVERCOMING DEVELOPING NEW RESEARCH TEAM-WORK &

CHALLENGES SKILLS AND COMMUNICATION
ABILITIES