Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during COVID-19 pandemic: A letter to the editor on "Envisioning the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the lens of clean water sanitation, life below water, and life on land in Fiji"

Sustainable Development Goals in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

The present narrative review aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sustainable development goals (SDGS). This information would allow a better comprehension of the actual state of the SDGS and a more efficient programming in future interventions. To achieve the objective of the study, a consensual and critical review was carried out using both primary sources, such as scientific articles, and secondary sources, such as bibliographic indexes, web pages and databases. The Sustainable Development Goals are a global call to action to end poverty, close the gender gap, protect the planet, and improve the lives of people around the world. In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 17 goals as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which sets out a plan to achieve the goals in 15 years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic crisis has been a turning point in the achievement of these goals, due to all its consequences at the political, economic, and socio-cultural levels. This review can be used as a guide for future research and reviews in order to understand the status of each of the SDGs and what actions have been taken and proposed in the aftermath of the pandemic in recent years.

Practice, benefits, and impact of personal protective equipment (PPE) during COVID-19 pandemic: Envisioning the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) through the lens of clean water sanitation, life below water, and life on land in Fiji

BACKGROUND

The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) highlights the global health emergency. To limit the rate of COVID-19 transmission to health care workers, adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) are required. Emerging reports indicate that the widespread usage of PPE during the COVID-19 outbreak has exacerbated plastic contamination in the ocean.

PURPOSE

This paper attempts to understand the influence of practice, benefits, and impact of PPE during the COVID-19 crisis on clean water sanitation, life below water, and life on land (SDGs 6, 14, and 15 respectively) in Fiji and assess the effectiveness of measurements taken to deal with this crisis. Fiji is a small Pacific Island Country (PIC) and the global crisis of COVID-19 entered the Fijian border on 19th, March 2020. The second wave of COVID-19 was reported on 18th, April 2021, which began at a managed quarantine facility after contact between a couple returning from India to Fiji and a soldier. Since then the number of cases has been increasing daily and posing a risk to the public.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

A personal observation was made to collect the PPE pollution on the streets, near roads, car parks, markets, and towns.

RESULTS

Widespread PPE pollution was noticed, and the common PPE found on the Vesivesi road in Suva, Fiji were facemasks (61.36%) and hand gloves (38.64%), as it is mostly used by the public, police officers, municipal waste management, shopping malls workers, and medical care workers. Face shield littering was limited due to fewer users.

CONCLUSIONS

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study stresses a great concern on enabling SDGs 6, 14, and 15 and how the use of PPE during this period has impacted the natural environment. It is critical to remember that managing PPE waste during a contagious pandemic should be treated as an emergency and handled quickly.

The use of careFiji app for contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Digital gap and challenges faced in Fiji

Globally, digital contact tracing initiatives has been used as a tool to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fijian Government and Ministry of Health are promoting the use of the "careFiji" app to help in contact tracing. This paper will discuss the rollout of the careFiji app which helps in combating COVID-19 in Fiji, and the challenges caused by the digital gap that has surfaced during the pandemic.

Remote learning and online teaching in Fiji during COVID-19: The challenges and opportunities

Fiji is a small Pacific Island Country with a population of around 902,536 people. The current pandemic of COVID-19 is impacting the well-being, social life, and economic status of the country. Besides, the well-known health difficulties caused by this virus, education is another crucial sector that has been crippled. To prevent the local transmission of such deadly virus the common exercises used globally are lockdowns (stay-in), social distancing, and use of PPEs (facemask, hand glove, and face shield). As a result, students, and teachers at all levels of school have been obliged to quickly adapt to online learning. Therefore, in this paper, an outlook of COVID-19 and its impact on the educational system is discussed.