Fighting against the common enemy of COVID-19: a practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind

A repeated cross-sectional pilot study of the relationship between perceived a community with shared future for doctor-patient and benefit finding: the mediating role of health self-consciousness and moderating role of anxiety

OBJECTIVE

Since January 8, 2023, China has managed COVID-19 as a Class-B infectious disease, marking the epidemic's transition to a low-level stage. This study analyzes the relationship between the public's perceived a community with shared future for doctor-patient (PCSF), health self-consciousness, benefit finding, and anxiety in this stage. Additionally, it compares changes in these variables across different stages of COVID-19.

METHODS

Using a repeated cross-sectional design, three surveys were conducted respectively in three different stages of COVID-19 in China. Specifically, the first survey was conducted in Beijing, Dalian, Zhengzhou, Heihe, and Shangrao from November 13 to 20, 2021 in the outbreak stage of COVID-19, yielding 1,252 valid responses out of 1,534 collected questionnaires. The second survey was conducted in Dalian, Zhengzhou, Heihe, Shangrao, and Lanzhou from December 1 to 19, 2021 in the stable stage of COVID-19, with 872 valid responses obtained from 1,075 collected questionnaires. The third survey was conducted in Beijing, Dalian, Zhengzhou, Heihe, Shangrao, Lanzhou, and Chengdu from January 29 to February 4, 2023 in the low epidemic level stage of COVID-19, achieving 2,113 valid responses from the 2,461 questionnaires collected.

RESULTS

Unlike in the outbreak stage but similar to the stable stage, the public's anxiety, health self-consciousness and benefit finding decreased while PCSF was improved in the low epidemic level stage. Consistent with both the outbreak and stable stage, PCSF, health self-consciousness, benefit finding, and anxiety showed positive correlations in the low epidemic level stage, with health self-consciousness partially mediating the positive impact of PCSF on benefit finding. Unlike in the stable stage but similar to the outbreak stage, anxiety did not moderate the relationship between PCSF and health self-consciousness in the low epidemic level stage.

CONCLUSIONS

The public's health self-consciousness, benefit finding, and anxiety decreased, while PCSF increased in the low epidemic level stage. Furthermore, PCSF had a greater impact on benefit finding, and anxiety's impact on health self-consciousness was significantly reduced. Across different stages of COVID-19, PCSF directly increased benefit finding and also enhanced benefit finding by improving health self-consciousness. Thus, comprehensive intervention measures are beneficial in the low epidemic level stage.

Social Determinants Predicting the Community Pharmacists' Workforce Preparedness for, and Response to, the Public Health Emergencies

OBJECTIVES

To identify the predicting factors that contribute to preparedness for public health emergencies among community pharmacists in India.

METHODS

Multistage cluster sampling was done. The geographic breakdown was done based on villages and areas and used as clusters. A simple random method was done in the first stage to select the villages as clusters. From each selected village, a simple random method was done in the second stage to select the areas. From each selected area, all the community pharmacies were selected. The survey questionnaire had 3 sections with 43 items: (A) demographic information, (B) preparedness, (C) response toward infectious diseases. The participants chose "Yes/No", in sections B and C. A score of 1 was given for "Yes", and a score of zero was given for "No".

RESULTS

Multiple correlation analyses were conducted between participants' preparedness and response (PR) scores and independent variables. The independent variables such as "More than one Pharmacist working in a pharmacy", "Pharmacists who are trained more than once on disaster management", and encountered more than 1 patient with the infectious disease were positively and significantly correlated with the dependent variable (PR scores).

CONCLUSIONS

Community pharmacists were aware of the issues they may face in their community concerning public health emergencies. They believed that the medications available in their pharmacy are sufficient to face any emergency. They could identify the clinical manifestations of public health emergency conditions and provide counselling to the customers toward them. Community pharmacists who were trained more than once in disaster management were the strongest predicting factor.

Orientation of One Health development: think globally and act locally

One Health is dedicated to maintaining and fostering a dynamic balance among humans, animals, and the environment. Since 2013, it has seen considerable developments globally. This review aims to encapsulate the history of One Health, as well as chart its future trajectory. Numerous research institutions founded under the principles of One Health have been established, and several pragmatic projects are currently underway. While it is imperative to solidify foundational education, further policy support is required to cultivate the One Health paradigm. Identifying research directions at a political level is necessary to provide the technical support needed for practical application. The future of One Health envisions a comprehensive approach to primary prevention, the utilization of open and shared data sets, as well as real-world surveys and interviews. This integrated approach is encapsulated in the concept of One Health Delivery. At this stage, One Health Delivery needs to build a systematic framework that focuses on integrating and communicating across disciplines and training researchers with complete practical skills.

Impact of COVID-19 on hospital screening, diagnosis and treatment activities among prostate and colorectal cancer patients in Canada

BACKGROUND

Suspension of cancer screening and treatment programs were instituted to preserve medical resources and protect vulnerable populations. This research aims to investigate the implications of COVID-19 on cancer management and clinical outcomes for patients with prostate and colorectal cancer in Canada.

METHODS

We examined hospital cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, length of stay, and mortality data among prostate and colorectal cancer patients between April 2017 and March 2021. Baseline trends were established with data between April 2017 and March 2020 for comparison with data collected between April 2020 and March 2021. Scenario analyses were performed to assess the incremental capacity requirements needed to restore hospital cancer care capacities to the pre-pandemic levels.

RESULTS

For prostate cancer, A 12% decrease in diagnoses and 5.3% decrease in treatment activities were observed during COVID-19 between April 2020 and March 2021. Similarly, a 43% reduction in colonoscopies, 11% decrease in diagnoses and 10% decrease in treatment activities were observed for colorectal cancers. An estimated 1,438 prostate and 2,494 colorectal cancer cases were undiagnosed, resulting in a total of 620 and 1,487 unperformed treatment activities for prostate and colorectal cancers, respectively, across nine provinces in Canada. To clear the backlogs of unperformed treatment procedures will require an estimated 3%-6% monthly capacity increase over the next 6 months.

INTERPRETATION

A concerted effort from all stakeholders is required to immediately ameliorate the backlogs of cancer detection and treatment activities. Mitigation measures should be implemented to minimize future interruptions to cancer care in Canada.

Serological survey to estimate SARS-CoV-2 infection and antibody seroprevalence at a large public university: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among adults over 18 years.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study.

SETTINGS

A large public university.

PARTICIPANTS

This study took volunteers over 5 days and recruited 1064 adult participants.

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies due to previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and/or vaccination.

RESULTS

The seroprevalence of the antireceptor binding domain (RBD) antibody was 90% by a lateral flow assay and 88% by a semiquantitative chemiluminescent immunoassay. The seroprevalence for antinucleocapsid was 20%. In addition, individuals with previous natural COVID-19 infection plus vaccination had higher anti-RBD antibody levels compared with those who had vaccination only or infection only. Individuals who had a breakthrough infection had the highest anti-RBD antibody levels.

CONCLUSION

Accurate estimates of the cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection can inform the development of university risk mitigation protocols such as encouraging booster shots, extending mask mandates or reverting to online classes. It could help us to have clear guidance to act at the first sign of the next surge as well, especially since there is a surge of COVID-19 subvariant infections.

Roboethics of tourism and hospitality industry: A systematic review

This study aims to give a comprehensive analysis of customers' acceptance and use of AI gadgets and its relevant ethical issues in the tourism and hospitality business in the era of the Internet of Things. Adopting a PRISMA methodology for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, the present research reviews how tourism and hospitality scholars have conducted research on AI technology in the field of tourism and the hospitality industry. Most of the journal articles related to AI issues published in Web of Science, ScienceDirect.com and the journal websites were considered in this review. The results of this research offer a better understanding of AI implementation with roboethics to investigate AI-related issues in the tourism and hospitality industry. In addition, it provides decision-makers in the hotel industry with practical references on service innovation, participation in the design of AI devices and AI device applications, meeting customer needs, and optimising customer experience. The theoretical implications and practical interpretations are further identified.

Perceived a community with shared future for doctor-patient and benefit finding: a moderated mediation model

BACKGROUND

Under the background that the concept of a community with shared future for mankind has been advocated, the doctor-patient relationship has rapidly sublimated into a community with shared future for doctor-patient. The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes and relationships of anxiety, perceived a community with shared future for doctor-patient (PCSF), health self-consciousness (HSC) and benefit finding (BF) in the outbreak stage of COVID-19 and in the stable stage of COVID-19.

METHODS

The questionnaire consisted of a self-designed health self-consciousness scale, perceived a community with shared future for doctor-patient scale, revised 7-item generalized anxiety disorder scale and benefit finding scale. Questionnaires were administered in the outbreak stage of COVID-19 and in the stable stage of COVID-19 to address public anxiety, BF, and trust between medical staff and patients.

RESULTS

Risk perception will increase anxiety in public, and the public who trust medical staff and the ability of the government to prevent and control the epidemic will have a higher PCSF. Compared with those in the outbreak stage of COVID-19, PCSF, HSC and BF all decreased in the stable stage of COVID-19. HSC partly plays a mediating role in the process of the influence of PCSF and BF (95% CI = [0.3785, 0.5007], [0.2357, 0.3695], P < .001). The R-value of the model in the outbreak stage of COVID-19 and in the stable stage of COVID-19 were 0.555 and 0.429, and the value of R² was 0.308 and 0.184 respectively (P < .001). In the stable stage of COVID-19, the coefficient of anxiety ✕ PCSF is negative. The B values of anxiety and PCSF are positive, and the moderating effect is negative (P = .038). Anxiety has a negative moderating effect between PCSF and HSC, indicating that anxiety will weaken the positive impact of PCSF on HSC. It means that there exists a substitution relationship between anxiety and PCSF.

CONCLUSIONS

The common goal of medical staff and patients is health, and health is the premise of the meaning of life. Vigorously advocating for PCSF can not only promote a harmonious doctor-patient relationship, but also establish a good HSC and improve the understanding of the meaning of life in the public. Furthermore, if the common concept of a community with a shared future for doctor-patient is integrated into the values of life, it may be more stable and long-term to maintain a good doctor-patient relationship. In addition, we should guard against the influence of high-level anxiety on the path of meaning perception.

Psychological first aid intervention: rescue from psychological distress and improving the pre-licensure nursing students' resilience amidst COVID-19 crisis and beyond

Background

The public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in mental and psychological ramifications on the healthcare professionals. The pre-licensure nursing students found themselves not only fighting against the baneful virus but also weak ego resilience. At this point, enriching the pre-licensure nursing students with psychological first aid (PFA) could help them to recover from the feeling of psychological distress and improve their resilience capacity to encounter any upcoming outbreaks.

Methods

A quasi-experimental two groups, a pre-post-test study was used in which sixty-four pre-licensure nursing students completed a baseline survey which revealed high levels of psychological distress and low resilience capacity due to the COVID-19 crisis. The study group engaged in the Psychological First- aid Intervention (PFA) at the end of the clinical practicum course period, while the comparison group received routine psychological support.

Results

A significant reduction in the psychological distress levels among students in the PFA group (F^ET=7.83, P = 0. 001). Likewise, significant improvements in the students' resilience capacity level immediately after the intervention (F^ET=3.34, P = 0.019) and during the two-month follow-up (F^ET=12.94, P = 0. 001). The implementation of PFA enhanced the pre-licensure nursing students' psychological health status and resilience capacity levels after their clinical training amid the ambiance of the COVID-19 crisis.

Conclusion

The PFA effectively fostered the pre-licensure nursing students' recovery from the COVID-19 related- psychological distress and improve their resilience capacity. The application of RAPID model is recommended to reduce stress and prevent burnout among novice and future nurses who show signs of psychological exhaustion.

Decent work and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic: A two-wave study1

BACKGROUND

The world is going through a challenging historical moment, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting billions of lives and communities worldwide.

OBJECTIVE

Building on the widespread negative impact of the pandemic on the socio-economic context, and consequently on the labour market, the aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers' perception of decent work.

METHODS

The Decent Work Questionnaire was administered to 243 workers from seven Portuguese organisations at two-time points (before and during the pandemic).

RESULTS

Results revealed a positive and significant effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on six of seven dimensions of decent work, particularly those related to Meaningful Remuneration for the Exercise of Citizenship and Health and Safety.

CONCLUSION

The positive effects of social comparison processes are stronger than the negative effects of the adverse socio-economic context. Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, workers may have compared their work situation with the condition of other workers, activating an increase in their subjective perception of the value of their current reality.

Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 during the Pandemic by Multiplex RT-rPCR hCoV Test: Future Perspectives

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has rapidly become a significant threat to public health. However, among the Coronaviridae family members, there are other viruses that can also cause infections in humans. Among these, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) have posed significant threats to human health in the past. Other human pathogenic coronaviruses have been identified, and they are known to cause respiratory diseases with manifestations ranging from mild to severe. In this study, we evaluated the performance of a multiplex RT-rPCR specific to seven human pathogenic coronaviruses in mainly detecting SARS-CoV-2 directly from nasopharyngeal swabs obtained from suspected COVID-19 infected patients, while simultaneously detecting different human pathogenic coronaviruses in case these were also present. We tested 1195 clinical samples suspected of COVID-19 infection. The assay identified that 69% of the samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (1195), which was confirmed using another SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR kit available in our laboratory. None of these clinical samples were positive for SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV or HCoV. This means that during the endemic phase of COVID-19, infection with other human pathogenic coronaviruses, even the common cold coronavirus (HCoV), is very uncommon. Our study also confirmed that the multiplex RT-rPCR is a sensitive assay for detecting SARS-CoV-2 regardless of differences among the variants. This multiplex RT-rPCR is also time- and cost-saving and very easy to apply in the diagnostic laboratory due to its simple procedure and its stability in storage after preparation. These features make the assay a valuable approach in screening procedures for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 and other human pathogenic coronaviruses that could affect public health.

Current global research landscape on COVID-19 and cancer: Bibliometric and visualization analysis

BACKGROUND

Cancer is a severe public health issue that seriously jeopardizes global health. In individuals with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), cancer is considered an independent risk factor for severe illness and increased mortality.

AIM

To identify research hotspots and prospects, we used bibliometrics to examine the global production of COVID-19 literature published in the field of oncology.

METHODS

Data on publication output were identified based on the Scopus database between January 1, 2020, and June 21, 2022. This study used VOSviewer to analyze collaboration networks among countries and assess the terms most often used in the titles and abstracts of retrieved publications to determine research hotspots linked to cancer and COVID-19. The Impact Index Per Article for the top 10 high-cited papers collected from Reference Citation Analysis (RCA) are presented.

RESULTS

A total of 7015 publications were retrieved from the database. The United States published the greatest number of articles (2025; 28.87%), followed by Italy (964; 13.74%), the United Kingdom (839; 11.96%), and China (538; 7.67%). The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (n = 205, 2.92%) ranked first, followed by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (n = 176, 2.51%). The European Journal of Cancer (n = 106, 1.51%) ranked first, followed by the Frontiers in Oncology (n = 104, 1.48%), Cancers (n = 102, 1.45%), and Pediatric Blood and Cancer (n = 95; 1.35%). The hot topics were stratified into “cancer care management during the COVID-19 pandemic”; and “COVID-19 vaccines in cancer patients”.

CONCLUSION

This is the first bibliometric analysis to determine the present state and upcoming hot themes related to cancer and COVID-19 and vice versa using VOSviewer during the early stages of the pandemic. The emergence of hot themes related to cancer and COVID-19 may aid researchers in identifying new research areas in this field.

Nurses' lived experiences of caring for patients with COVID-19: a phenomenological study

Background

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a novel Coronavirus which transmits from person to person throughout the world. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of nurses' caring for patients with COVID-2019 in the context of the healthcare system of Iran.

Methods

This is a phenomenological study with 13 participant nurses (6 men and 7 women) who were caring for COVID-19 patients in one of the university hospitals in Southeast of Iran. Qualitative data were analysed by the seven steps of Colaizzi's method.

Results

Participants reported around a five-month history of caring for COVID-19 patients. After analysis, 597 codes, 16 categories, four sub-themes, and one theme were extracted. "Caring from self-sacrifice to avoidance" was the main theme of the study with sub-themes of "Anxiety Chain", "Manifestation of Humanitarian Caring", "Ethical Challenges", and "Challenges of Overcoming Crisis".

Conclusions

Nurses explained their caring experiences with patients on a continuum from humanitarian caring and self-sacrifice to caring avoidance. Because of the multi-sources of psychological stress and ethical challenges together with this infection, healthcare managers should plan for holistic regular psychological support services, prevention of job inequalities, and do strategic planning for access to enough resources in the healthcare system.

Behavioral symptoms among children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder during COVID-19 outbreak: a retrospective prospective cohort study

Background

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental conditions in children, and with the coronavirus pandemic, ADHD children now pose obvious challenges. This retrospective prospective cohort study was conducted on 150 ADHD children and adolescents that had previously attended the child unit of the Psychiatry Department, Zagazig University Hospitals, Sharkia, Egypt, and diagnosed as ADHD patients using the research diagnostic criteria of DSM-5 which administrated by experienced psychiatrists and evaluated by The Arabic version of Conner’s Parent Rating Scale Revised-short version (CPRS-48) before the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. We collected the other data of the study by applying an Arabic language questionnaire which included the data related to the COVID -19 pandemic and the Arabic version of CPRS-48 by which we reevaluated the behavioral symptoms of the subjects who participated in the study during COVID-19 pandemic. This research aimed to evaluate the behavioral symptoms among ADHD children and adolescents and detect the change in these symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic by comparing them before and during the pandemic.

Results

One hundred fifty ADHD children were included in the study with a mean age of 10 years old. The male gender was predominant and represented 76.7% of the sample. Ninety percent were living in urban areas with more low social class (50%), 84.7% of parents were married, 60% of the family member of our subjects had COVID-19 while 12% lost one or more of their relative by the pandemic (64.7%). The fathers continued working as normal, while 40.7% of the mothers stopped working because of COVID-19. 62.7% of the parents were verbally and physically abusive to their children. Unfortunately, 100% of the subjects stopped attending their behavioral therapy center, 96.0% stopped their Follow up with a psychiatrist, and 55% stopped complying with their medications. As we presumed, we found a statistically significant change in the behavioral and psychological symptoms measured by Conner’s Parent Rating Scale Revised-short version (CPRS-48) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the period before. The worsening of the symptoms was associated with age, sex, residency, social class, father and mother present working and couple status, having positive cases or losses of COVID-19 among family members, and patient maltreatment.

Conclusions

To conclude, this study suggests that the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened symptoms in a significant number of children and adolescents with ADHD, which needs clinical attention. Moreover, the patients’ psychiatric follow-up and compliance with their medications were markedly affected. Additionally, the lockdown has also led to an increase in the abusive behavior of the parents towards their children.

SARS-CoV-2 interacts with renin-angiotensin system: impact on the central nervous system in elderly patients

SARS-CoV-2 is a recently identified coronavirus that causes the current pandemic disease known as COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 uses angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a receptor, suggesting that the initial steps of SARS-CoV-2 infection may have an impact on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Several processes are influenced by RAS in the brain. The neurological symptoms observed in COVID-19 patients, including reduced olfaction, meningitis, ischemic stroke, cerebral thrombosis, and delirium, could be associated with RAS imbalance. In this review, we focus on the potential role of disturbances in the RAS as a cause for central nervous system sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in elderly patients.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Renewable Energy Sector and Mitigation Strategies

This review explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the renewable energy (RE) sector, especially in countries with the highest RE capacities, e.g., the USA, China, India, and the EU. It highlights stimulus packages put in place by governments worldwide and their sustainability to cushion the RE sector. Commissioning of RE projects has stalled due to lack of funding allocation and interruptions in the supply of equipment and components due to lockdown measures. Despite the need to fund COVID-19 vaccination programs and other related health services, the world must not neglect other sectors of the economy, creating more problems, such as worsening the climate change situation in the long run. This review aims to present the information needed to sustain future energy during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

'You're Not Alone for China': The First Song in Times of COVID-19 to Keep the Faith in a World Crying in Silence

Collective mourning is an expression of societal maturity, cohesion, and respect. The world is in grief, but in early January 2020, before nobody could even imagine that SARS-CoV-2 would turn into the COVID-19 pandemic, a music video version of a pop ballad about love and isolation was spread across a Chinese social network. The song 'You Are Not Alone' was adapted as a cover by young foreigners living in China to express their support to bereaved families and frontline workers and encourage the people of China, their second home. At that time, the rest of the world looked to distant China but could hardly expect to face the same adversity months later. The authors reported that the music video was a spontaneous artistic expression copying such traumatic events and the mourning process. The present work analyses how the music was blended with lyrics and images describing the outbreak in Wuhan to reach their goal. The original song and this shortened version for China were compared regarding musical and lyric structures and main characteristics. Additionally, an analysis of the two videos was done regarding cinemetric variables and non-verbal communication that emphasized the power of songs to express deep sorrow and sympathy but also to give hope. Psychological first aid, the five stages of the mourning process by Kübler-Ross, the dual-process model by Stroebe and Schut, and Taylor's tend-to-befriend provided a better understanding of the translation from interpersonal to societal mourning. Finally, other memorable songs that society spontaneously chose to be performed alone or together to cope with sudden and dramatic situations, mitigate physical distancing, and alleviate human suffering are discussed. Music, lyrics, and artistic performance are playing a key role in building social and emotional ties during this pandemic, hampering individual and social pain and sorrow despite cultural barriers.

Knowledge of COVID-19 and its prevention among rural residents in Fuqing, China

Objectives

Rural areas are the weakest place for epidemic prevention and control, yet few studies have specifically conducted surveys in rural areas. The purpose of this study is to assess rural residents’ knowledge of the COVID-19 and its prevention in China.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey study containing 1,426 samples was conducted in Fuqing, China to assess rural residents’ knowledge of the COVID-19 and its prevention. Logistic regression was used to identify potential differences in participants’ knowledge of COVID-19 and its prevention and control in different population subgroups.

Results

The mean and median of residents’ knowledge of COVID-19 was 5.53 and 6 points, respectively. The mean and median of residents’ knowledge related to self-protection against COVID-19 was 10.34 and 11 points, respectively. Older adults (AOR_45–59 = 2.26, 95% CI 1.20 to 4.27; AOR_60-69 = 3.13, 95% CI 1.63 to 5.98; AOR_≥70 = 4.68, 95% CI 2.35 to 9.33) were more deficient in knowledge of COVID-19. Those who were better educated and with a higher average annual household income were less likely to be deficient in the knowledge of COVID-19 and knowledge of self-protection against COVID-19. Moreover, those who were single, divorced, or widowed (AOR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.46) were more deficient in the knowledge of self-protection against COVID-19.

Conclusions

Our study suggests that when facing a pandemic like COVID-19, the key is to inform the public to understand simple and effective self-protection measures. Therefore, we call on the governments to give priority to publicity and education on self-prevention measures for the targeted populations and regions. This is most evident among the vulnerable groups like those who were unmarried, elderly, and those with low education or low income. Similar suggestions may be of use in other countries as well.

Knowledge, Perception and Preparedness Related to COVID-19 among Adult Rural Population in Konso, Southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

According to the world health organization, the COVID-19 outbreak has currently affected millions of people worldwide. Since the start of the pandemic in China, everything countries have thrown at the virus turned unsuccessful. As there is no established vaccine to halt the virus transmission, it might be very difficult for developing countries like Ethiopia even after vaccine development. Thus, focusing on improving knowledge, perception, and preparedness related to the virus might be very vital.

METHODS

A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted using the questionnaire applied in most countries which is suitable to apply in the Konso zone in South Nations Nationalities Region (SNNPR) from April.2020 to July 2020. Data were collected, cleaned, coded, checked, and entered into Epi Info and then exported and analyzed in STATA 15. We fitted a binary logistic regression model. Categorical variables were presented using figure tables, and proportion and for continuous variables, mean and standard deviation were used. The results were also presented using Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% CI.

RESULTS

From 636 respondents expected, 615(97%) were participated and possessed the knowledge of 39%, and 64% perception and preparedness each. Measurements related to the policy and interventions like restrictions to movement, self-isolation, wearing a face mask, & the need for more tests was not supported by most participants.

CONCLUSION

The poor knowledge, perception, and preparedness were correlated with the unavailability of water and electricity, less education, and informal source of information which could be improved through area appropriate health education interventions.

The impact of economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19 on renewable energy stocks

By employing time-frequency-domain frameworks, this study analyzes the spillover effects of news-based economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic on three renewable energy stock indices in the USA, Europe, and the world. The empirical results reveal that the total spillover from economic uncertainty to the three renewable energy stock returns was concentrated at a high frequency, whereas those to volatilities appeared at low frequencies. Utilizing a rolling-window method, we observed that the impact of uncertainty caused by COVID-19 on three renewable energy stock returns and volatilities is more significant than that resulting from the global financial crisis (GFC). During COVID-19, the majority of the spillover effects from economic uncertainty to returns and volatilities of the three indices focused on the long term.

What influences people's responses to public health messages for managing risks and preventing infectious diseases? A rapid systematic review of the evidence and recommendations

BACKGROUND

Individual behaviour changes, such as hand hygiene and physical distancing, are required on a population scale to reduce transmission of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. However, little is known about effective methods of communicating risk reducing information, and how populations might respond.

OBJECTIVE

To synthesise evidence relating to what (1) characterises effective public health messages for managing risk and preventing infectious disease and (2) influences people's responses to messages.

DESIGN

A rapid systematic review was conducted. Protocol is published on Prospero CRD42020188704.

DATA SOURCES

Electronic databases were searched: Ovid Medline, Ovid PsycINFO and Healthevidence.org, and grey literature (PsyarXiv, OSF Preprints) up to May 2020.

STUDY SELECTION

All study designs that (1) evaluated public health messaging interventions targeted at adults and (2) concerned a communicable disease spread via primary route of transmission of respiratory and/or touch were included. Outcomes included preventative behaviours, perceptions/awareness and intentions. Non-English language papers were excluded.

SYNTHESIS

Due to high heterogeneity studies were synthesised narratively focusing on determinants of intentions in the absence of measured adherence/preventative behaviours. Themes were developed independently by two researchers and discussed within team to reach consensus. Recommendations were translated from narrative synthesis to provide evidence-based methods in providing effective messaging.

RESULTS

Sixty-eight eligible papers were identified. Characteristics of effective messaging include delivery by credible sources, community engagement, increasing awareness/knowledge, mapping to stage of epidemic/pandemic. To influence intent effectively, public health messages need to be acceptable, increase understanding/perceptions of health threat and perceived susceptibility.

DISCUSSION

There are four key recommendations: (1) engage communities in development of messaging, (2) address uncertainty immediately and with transparency, (3) focus on unifying messages from sources and (4) frame messages aimed at increasing understanding, social responsibility and personal control. Embedding principles of behavioural science into public health messaging is an important step towards more effective health-risk communication during epidemics/pandemics.

Attitude towards Covid-19 Vaccine: A Cross-Sectional Urban and Rural Community Survey in Punjab, Pakistan

The study's objective was to ascertain the general public's attitudes regarding the covid-19 vaccine in Pakistan. A cross sectional design and e-survey was conducted by 1647 general public. The sample was divided into two sections: urban (702) and rural (945). The majority of participants were between the ages of 18 and 45. The urban participants believe it is safe. Those who live in large cities and have a college degree or above have a positive attitude towards vaccines and do not find any religious reason not to be vaccinated. Individuals from rural areas seem to be skeptical of getting vaccines and they refuse to receive them. Individuals with little education, little information, and a low annual income express a strong mistrust of the vaccine's benefits.

COVID-19, poverty and inclusive development

The COVID-19 epidemic provides yet another reason to prioritize inclusive development. Current response strategies of the global community and countries expose a low level of solidarity with poorer nations and poorer people in all nations. Against this background, this paper addresses the question: What are the development challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic lays bare and what lessons can be learnt for the way recovery processes are designed? Using an inclusive development and DPSIR lens to assess the literature, our study finds that, first, the current response prioritises the 'state' and 'impact' concerns of wealthier classes at the expense of the remainder of the world population. Second, responses have ignored underlying 'drivers' and 'pressures', instead aiming at a quick recovery of the economy. Third, a return to business-as-usual using government funding will lead to a vicious cycle of further ecological degradation, socio-economic inequality and domestic abuse that assist in exacerbating the drivers of the pandemic. We argue instead for an inclusive development approach that leads to a virtuous cycle by emphasizing human health, well-being and ecosystem regeneration. We conclude that the lost years for development did not commence in 2020 with the onset of COVID-19; the downward trend has actually been waxing over the past three decades. From this perspective, COVID-19 may be the shock needed to put the last first and transform vicious into virtuous cycles of inclusive development.

Challenges and Strategies for Pakistan in the Third Wave of COVID-19: A Mini Review

The world is currently gripped by the fear of the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The causative agent of COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that attacks humans without prejudice, and primarily targets the respiratory system. Pakistan is a developing country with a large population and a weak economy. Currently, it is facing a major challenge to cope with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the third wave. This fatal virus has increased its presence many folds in Pakistan. On average, 100 deaths per day were being recorded in the late spring of 2021. Delay in the acquisition of vaccine has slowed down the vaccination program for this disease. This in turn will accelerate the spreading of virus, and thus will lead to a lockdown situation.

Compliance With Protective Behavioral Recommendations in the Outbreak of COVID-19 Among People Working in the Urban-Based Informal Economy in Southern Ethiopia

Regardless of the advocacies made by the media and numerous organizations about the need for preventing the spread of COVID-19, there still exists a gap as far as compliance to regular implementation of the preventive mechanisms within communities is concerned. The purpose of the present study was, therefore, to examine compliance to personal protective behavioral recommendations to contain the spread of COVID-19 among urban residents engaged in the informal economic activities in Wolaita Sodo town, Southern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study design was used where quantitative data were collected through the survey research method. Three hundred and eighty-four participants of the urban-based informal economy were randomly selected and contacted in their own natural settings with an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were inserted into SPSS software for analysis that involved both descriptive and inferential statistics, including frequency and percentage distributions, binomial and multinomial logistic regressions. The results of the research indicated that only 35.4% of the respondents regularly wore a mask. In addition, 54.9% of the survey participants disclosed that they do not clean their hands with disinfectants after touching objects under circumstances where they cannot get access to water and soap. Moreover, the most commonly reported reason of respondents for non-compliance to regular wearing of a mask has been its inconvenience or discomfort (62.8%), followed by the need to appear indifferent because most people around them do not wear a mask (25.2%). Furthermore, experiences of the respondents of regularly wearing a mask are significantly associated with regular attendance of the media regarding the preventive mechanisms of COVID-19 (OR = 0.224; P < 0.001; 95%C.I: 0.109-0.460), knowledge of someone ever infected by COVID-19 (OR = 0.402; P < 0.05; 95%C.I: 0.190-0.851), the belief that COVID-19 causes a severe illness (OR = 0.444; P < 0.05; 95%C.I: 0.201-0.980), and perception of the likelihood of dying as a result of infection by COVID-19 (OR = 0.374; P < 0.01; 95% C.I: 0.197-0.711). The authors have found a low level of compliance to the recommended safety measures, especially wearing of masks. It is, therefore, important that continued efforts of raising awareness should be done by all the concerned bodies. Above all, urban safety net programs that aim at keeping such social groups at home, at least during the critical wave of the pandemic, should also be strengthened.

The Potential Use of Vitamin C to Prevent Kidney Injury in Patients with COVID-19

The newly found SARS-CoV-2 has led to the pandemic of COVID-19, which has caused respiratory distress syndrome and even death worldwide. This has become a global public health crisis. Unfortunately, elders and subjects with comorbidities have high mortality rates. One main feature of COVID-19 is the cytokine storm, which can cause damage in cells and tissues including the kidneys. Here, we reviewed the current literature on renal impairments in patients with COVID-19 and analyzed the possible etiology and mechanisms. In addition, we investigated the potential use of vitamin C for the prevention of renal injury in those patients. It appears that vitamin C could be helpful to improve the outcomes of patients with COVID-19. Lastly, we discussed the possible protective effects of vitamin C on renal functions in COVID-19 patients with existing kidney conditions.

Microglial Implications in SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19: Lessons From Viral RNA Neurotropism and Possible Relevance to Parkinson's Disease

Since December 2019, humankind has been experiencing a ravaging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, the second coronavirus pandemic in a decade after the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) disease in 2012. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 results in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is responsible for over 3.1 million deaths worldwide. With the emergence of a second and a third wave of infection across the globe, and the rising record of multiple reinfections and relapses, SARS-CoV-2 infection shows no sign of abating. In addition, it is now evident that SARS-CoV-2 infection presents with neurological symptoms that include early hyposmia, ischemic stroke, meningitis, delirium and falls, even after viral clearance. This may suggest chronic or permanent changes to the neurons, glial cells, and/or brain vasculature in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19. Within the central nervous system (CNS), microglia act as the central housekeepers against altered homeostatic states, including during viral neurotropic infections. In this review, we highlight microglial responses to viral neuroinfections, especially those with a similar genetic composition and route of entry as SARS-CoV-2. As the primary sensor of viral infection in the CNS, we describe the pathogenic and neuroinvasive mechanisms of RNA viruses and SARS-CoV-2 vis-à-vis the microglial means of viral recognition. Responses of microglia which may culminate in viral clearance or immunopathology are also covered. Lastly, we further discuss the implication of SARS-CoV-2 CNS invasion on microglial plasticity and associated long-term neurodegeneration. As such, this review provides insight into some of the mechanisms by which microglia could contribute to the pathophysiology of post-COVID-19 neurological sequelae and disorders, including Parkinson's disease, which could be pervasive in the coming years given the growing numbers of infected and re-infected individuals globally.

The Promise of AI in Detection, Diagnosis, and Epidemiology for Combating COVID-19: Beyond the Hype

COVID-19 has created enormous suffering, affecting lives, and causing deaths. The ease with which this type of coronavirus can spread has exposed weaknesses of many healthcare systems around the world. Since its emergence, many governments, research communities, commercial enterprises, and other institutions and stakeholders around the world have been fighting in various ways to curb the spread of the disease. Science and technology have helped in the implementation of policies of many governments that are directed toward mitigating the impacts of the pandemic and in diagnosing and providing care for the disease. Recent technological tools, artificial intelligence (AI) tools in particular, have also been explored to track the spread of the coronavirus, identify patients with high mortality risk and diagnose patients for the disease. In this paper, areas where AI techniques are being used in the detection, diagnosis and epidemiological predictions, forecasting and social control for combating COVID-19 are discussed, highlighting areas of successful applications and underscoring issues that need to be addressed to achieve significant progress in battling COVID-19 and future pandemics. Several AI systems have been developed for diagnosing COVID-19 using medical imaging modalities such as chest CT and X-ray images. These AI systems mainly differ in their choices of the algorithms for image segmentation, classification and disease diagnosis. Other AI-based systems have focused on predicting mortality rate, long-term patient hospitalization and patient outcomes for COVID-19. AI has huge potential in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic but successful practical deployments of these AI-based tools have so far been limited due to challenges such as limited data accessibility, the need for external evaluation of AI models, the lack of awareness of AI experts of the regulatory landscape governing the deployment of AI tools in healthcare, the need for clinicians and other experts to work with AI experts in a multidisciplinary context and the need to address public concerns over data collection, privacy, and protection. Having a dedicated team with expertise in medical data collection, privacy, access and sharing, using federated learning whereby AI scientists hand over training algorithms to the healthcare institutions to train models locally, and taking full advantage of biomedical data stored in biobanks can alleviate some of problems posed by these challenges. Addressing these challenges will ultimately accelerate the translation of AI research into practical and useful solutions for combating pandemics.

Health knowledge and care seeking behaviour in resource-limited settings amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study in Ghana

BACKGROUND

The emergence of a pandemic presents challenges and opportunities for healthcare, health promotion interventions, and overall improvement in healthcare seeking behaviour. This study explored the impact of COVID-19 on health knowledge, lifestyle, and healthcare seeking behaviour among residents of a resource-limited setting in Ghana.

METHODS

This qualitative study adopted an exploratory design to collect data from 20 adult residents in the Cape Coast Metropolis using face-to-face in-depth interviews. Data collected were analysed thematically and statements from participants presented verbatim to illustrate the themes realised.

RESULTS

Health knowledge has improved due to COVID-19 in terms of access to health information and increased understanding of health issues. There were reductions in risky health-related lifestyles (alcohol intake, sharing of personal items, and consumption of junk foods) while improvements were observed in healthy lifestyles such as regular physical exercise and increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. COVID-19 also positively impacted health seeking behaviour through increased health consciousness and regular check-ups. However, reduced healthcare utilization was prevalent.

CONCLUSION

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a positive cue to action and helped improved health knowledge, lifestyle, and care seeking behaviour although existing health system constrains and low economic status reduced healthcare utilization. To improve health systems, health-related lifestyles and healthcare seeking behaviour as well as overall health outcomes even after the pandemic wades off, COVID-19 associated conscious and unconscious reforms should be systematically harnessed.

Psychological effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on nurses working in tertiary women's and children's hospitals from Sichuan, China: A cross-sectional study

The evolving COVID-19 pandemic is placing unprecedented pressures on health systems. Accumulative studies suggest that nurses were more likely to develop negative psychiatric outcomes following a public health disaster than other medical staffs, due to their more frequent and closer contact with patients. We examined the psychological status of nurses working in the tertiary women's and children's hospitals in Sichuan, China, in order to explore the possible effect of the COVID-19. The cross-sectional survey was conducted at the peak period of COVID-19 among 1971 nurses. Their anxiety, depression and self-efficacy were assessed by the seven-item anxiety scale (GAD-7), the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and the General Self-efficacy Scale (GSES), respectively. 1934 valid questionnaires were returned with a response rate of 98.1%. We found that 29.3% and 22.7% of the nurses were identified with anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. The median score of GSES was 30, which was at the upper middle level among all populations. Nurses having longer working years and cold-like symptoms, those who were at work during breakout period and working in pediatric ward were significantly associated with the presence of anxiety and depression. Findings suggest that the epidemic of COVID-19 does not necessarily affect the psychological health of nurses working in women's and children's hospitals in Sichuan. The results of this study could serve as valuable suggestions to direct the promotion of psychological well-being among targeted nurses.

Research on International Cooperative Governance of the COVID-19

Since the first case of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has quickly spread to all the corners of the world. Amid the global public health threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, active cooperative governance has gradually emerged as the most powerful weapon against its spread. To facilitate international cooperation for pandemic governance, this paper applied the evolutionary game theory to analyze the factors influencing active cooperative governance and, based on the results, proposed a series of recommendations for promoting international cooperation. (1) leveraging the role of international organizations to reduce the cost of realizing the strategy of active cooperative governance, (2) promoting the international exchange of related experiences to lower the cost of active pandemic governance, (3) sustaining productive and daily activities during the pandemic in a classified and hierarchical manner to reduce the economic loss incurred by active pandemic governance, and (4) optimizing the incentive measures of international organizations to facilitate the selection of active cooperative governance. Finally, from the four aspects of resource management of pandemic treatment, supply management of living materials, population flow cooperation management, and governance fund cooperation management, this paper gives the path of international pandemic cooperative governance.

Targeting multiple conformations of SARS-CoV2 Papain-Like Protease for drug repositioning: An in-silico study

Papain-Like Protease (PLpro) is a key protein for SARS-CoV-2 viral replication which is the cause of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. Targeting PLpro can suppress viral replication and provide treatment options for COVID-19. Due to the dynamic nature of its binding site loop, PLpro multiple conformations were generated through a long-range 1 micro-second molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Clustering the MD trajectory enabled us to extract representative structures for the conformational space generated. Adding to the MD representative structures, X-ray structures were involved in an ensemble docking approach to screen the FDA approved drugs for a drug repositioning endeavor. Guided by our recent benchmarking study of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro, FRED docking software was selected for such a virtual screening task. The results highlighted potential consensus binders to many of the MD clusters as well as the newly introduced X-ray structure of PLpro complexed with a small molecule. For instance, three drugs Benserazide, Dobutamine and Masoprocol showed a superior consensus enrichment against the PLpro conformations. Further MD simulations for these drugs complexed with PLpro suggested the superior stability and binding of dobutamine and masoprocol inside the binding site compared to Benserazide. Generally, this approach can facilitate identifying drugs for repositioning via targeting multiple conformations of a crucial target for the rapidly emerging COVID-19 pandemic.

Kenya's response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a balance between minimising morbidity and adverse economic impact

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has ravaged the world's socioeconomic systems forcing many governments across the globe to implement unprecedented stringent mitigation measures to restrain its rapid spread and adverse effects. A disproportionate number of COVID-19 related morbidities and mortalities were predicted to occur in Africa. However, Africa still has a lower than predicted number of cases, 4% of the global pandemic burden. In this open letter, we highlight some of the early stringent countermeasures implemented in Kenya, a sub-Saharan African country, to avert the severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These mitigation measures strike a balance between minimising COVID-19 associated morbidity and fatalities and its adverse economic impact, and taken together have significantly dampened the pandemic's impact on Kenya's populace.

Exploring insights of hydroxychloroquine, a controversial drug in Covid-19: An update

The review summarizes chloroquine (CQ) and its safer derivative hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and its utility in Covid-19. Recently this well-established drug made its way back to the headlines during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This led to an upsurge in the scientific arena with multiple research and review articles along with expert opinions and commentaries. The HCQ has received mixed judgements so far about its efficacy to be used in Covid-19 patients in a limited trial conducted all across the Globe. The purpose of our article is to put forth the history, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacokinetics, along with the existing studies favouring and disapproving the role of HCQ in the treatment of Covid-19. We grouped HCQ use at three stages, this includes HCQ for i. prophylactic use by asymptomatic health workers or peoples at higher risk; ii. patients having mild symptoms; iii. patients with extreme symptoms. The review critically discusses the underlying plausible reasons and mechanisms exploring HCQ in prophylactic management or treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, we have critically analysed the reported pharmacokinetic parameters and compiled the proponent, opponent, or neutral opinions on the use of HCQ in Covid-19. Authors discretion is to conduct more studies considering the optimal dosing regimen and pharmacokinetics assessment.

Using Narrative Evidence to Convey Health Information on Social Media: The Case of COVID-19

During disease outbreaks or pandemics, policy makers must convey information to the public for informative purposes (eg, morbidity or mortality rates). They must also motivate members of the public to cooperate with the guidelines, specifically by changing their usual behavior. Policy makers have traditionally adopted a didactic and formalistic stance by conveying dry, statistics-based health information to the public. They have not yet considered the alternative of providing health information in the form of narrative evidence, using stories that address both cognitive and emotional aspects. The aim of this viewpoint paper is to introduce policy makers to the advantages of using narrative evidence to provide health information during a disease outbreak or pandemic such as COVID-19. Throughout human history, authorities have tended to employ apocalyptic narratives during disease outbreaks or pandemics. This viewpoint paper proposes an alternative coping narrative that includes the following components: segmentation; barrier reduction; role models; empathy and support; strengthening self-efficacy, community efficacy, and coping tools; preventing stigmatization of at-risk populations; and communicating uncertainty. It also discusses five conditions for using narrative evidence to produce an effective communication campaign on social media: (1) identifying narratives that reveal the needs, personal experiences, and questions of different subgroups to tailor messaging to produce targeted behavioral change; (2) providing separate and distinct treatment of each information unit or theory that arises on social networks; (3) identifying positive deviants who found creative solutions for stress during the COVID-19 crisis not found by other members of the community; (4) creating different stories of coping; and (5) maintaining a dialogue with population subgroups (eg, skeptical and hesitant groups). The paper concludes by proposing criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of a narrative.

HIF-1, the Warburg Effect, and Macrophage/Microglia Polarization Potential Role in COVID-19 Pathogenesis

Despite the international scientific community's commitment to improve clinical knowledge about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), knowledge regarding molecular details remains limited. In this review, we discuss hypoxia's potential role in the pathogenesis of the maladaptive immune reaction against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The state of infection, with serious respiratory dysfunction, causes tissues to become hypoxic due to a discrepancy between cellular O2 uptake and consumption similar to that seen within tumor tissue during the progression of numerous solid cancers. In this context, the heterogeneous clinical behavior and the multiorgan deterioration of COVID-19 are discussed as a function of the upregulated expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) and of the metabolic reprogramming associated with HIF-1 and with a proinflammatory innate immune response activation, independent of the increase in the viral load of SARS-CoV-2. Possible pharmacological strategies targeting O2 aimed to improve prognosis are suggested.

Knowledge, practice and associated factors towards the prevention of COVID-19 among high-risk groups: A cross-sectional study in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly transmittable virus that continues to disrupt livelihoods, particularly those of low-income segments of society, around the world. In Ethiopia, more specifically in the capital city of Addis Ababa, a sudden increase in the number of confirmed positive cases in high-risk groups of the community has been observed over the last few weeks of the first case. Therefore, this study aims to assess knowledge, practice and associated factors that can contribute to the prevention of COVID-19 among high-risk groups in Addis Ababa.

METHODS

A cross-sectional in person survey (n = 6007) was conducted from 14-30 April, 2020 following a prioritization within high-risk groups in Addis Ababa. The study area targeted bus stations, public transport drivers, air transport infrastructure, health facilities, public and private pharmacies, hotels, government-owned and private banks, telecom centers, trade centers, orphanages, elderly centers, prison, prisons and selected slum areas where the people live in a crowded areas. A questionnaire comprised of four sections (demographics, knowledge, practice and reported symptoms) was used for data collection. The outcomes (knowledge on the transmission and prevention of COVID-19 and practice) were measured using four items. A multi variable logistic regression was applied with adjustment for potential confounding.

RESULTS

About half (48%, 95% CI: 46-49) of the study participants had poor knowledge on the transmission mode of COVID-19 whereas six out of ten (60%, 95% CI: 58-61) had good knowledge on prevention methods for COVID-19. The practice of preventive measures towards COVID-19 was found to be low (49%, 95% CI: 48-50). Factors that influence knowledge on COVID-19 transmission mechanisms were female gender, older age, occupation (health care and grocery worker), lower income and the use of the 8335 free call centre. Older age, occupation (being a health worker), middle income, experience of respiratory illness and religion were significantly associated with being knowledgeable about the prevention methods for COVID-19. The study found that occupation, religion, income, knowledge on the transmission and prevention of COVID-19 were associated with the practice of precautionary measures towards COVID-19.

CONCLUSION

The study highlighted that there was moderate knowledge about transmission modes and prevention mechanisms. Similarly, there was moderate practice of measures that contribute towards the prevention of COVID-19 among these priority and high-risk communities of Addis Ababa. There is an urgent need to fill the knowledge gap in terms of transmission mode and prevention methods of COVID-19 to improve prevention practices and control the spread of COVID-19. Use of female public figures and religious leaders could support the effort towards the increase in awareness.

Generation and Characterization of recombinant SARS-CoV-2 expressing reporter genes

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen responsible of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has devastated public health services and economies worldwide. Despite global efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 is now found in over 200 countries and has caused an upward death toll of over 1 million human lives as of November 2020. To date, only one Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapeutic drug (Remdesivir) and a monoclonal antibody, MAb (Bamlanivimab) are available for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. As with other viruses, studying SARS-CoV-2 requires the use of secondary approaches to detect the presence of the virus in infected cells. To overcome this limitation, we have generated replication-competent recombinant (r)SARS-CoV-2 expressing fluorescent (Venus or mCherry) or bioluminescent (Nluc) reporter genes. Vero E6 cells infected with reporter-expressing rSARS-CoV-2 can be easily detected via fluorescence or luciferase expression and display a good correlation between reporter gene expression and viral replication. Moreover, rSARS-CoV-2 expressing reporter genes have comparable plaque sizes and growth kinetics to those of wild-type virus, rSARS-CoV-2/WT. We used these reporter-expressing rSARS-CoV-2 to demonstrate their feasibility to identify neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) or antiviral drugs. Our results demonstrate that reporter-expressing rSARS-CoV-2 represent an excellent option to identify therapeutics for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2, where reporter gene expression can be used as valid surrogates to track viral infection. Moreover, the ability to manipulate the viral genome opens the feasibility of generating viruses expressing foreign genes for their use as vaccines for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.IMPORTANCE Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has significantly impacted the human health and economic status worldwide. There is an urgent need to identify effective prophylactics and therapeutics for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection and associated COVID-19 disease. The use of fluorescent- or luciferase-expressing reporter expressing viruses has significantly advanced viral research. Here, we generated recombinant (r)SARS-CoV-2 expressing fluorescent (Venus and mCherry) or luciferase (Nluc) reporter genes and demonstrate that they represent an excellent option to track viral infections in vitro. Importantly, reporter-expressing rSARS-CoV-2 display similar growth kinetics and plaque phenotype that their wild-type counterpart (rSARS-CoV-2/WT), demonstrating their feasibility to identify drugs and/or neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) for the therapeutic treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Henceforth, these reporter-expressing rSARS-CoV-2 can be used to interrogate large libraries of compounds and/or monoclonal antibodies (MAb), in high-throughput screening settings, to identify those with therapeutic potential against SARS-CoV-2.

COVID-19 Crisis Creates Opportunity towards Global Monitoring & Surveillance

The spectrum of emerging new diseases as well as re-emerging old diseases is broadening as infectious agents evolve, adapt, and spread at enormous speeds in response to changing ecosystems. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a recent phenomenon and may take a while to understand its transmission routes from less traveled territories, ranging from fomite exposure routes to wastewater transmission. The critical challenge is how to negotiate with such catastrophic pandemics in high-income countries (HICs ~20% of the global population) and low-and middle-income countries (LMICs ~ 80% of the global population) with a total global population size of approximately eight billion, where practical mass testing and tracing is only a remote possibility, particularly in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Keeping in mind the population distribution disparities of high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs and urbanisation trends over recent years, traditional wastewater-based surveillance such as that used to combat polio may help in addressing this challenge. The COVID-19 era differs from any previous pandemics or global health challenges in the sense that there is a great deal of curiosity within the global community to find out everything about this virus, ranging from diagnostics, potential vaccines/therapeutics, and possible routes of transmission. In this regard, the fact that the gut is the common niche for both poliovirus and SARS-CoV-2, and due to the shedding of the virus through faecal material into sewerage systems, the need for long-term wastewater surveillance and developing early warning systems for better preparedness at local and global levels is increasingly apparent. This paper aims to provide an insight into the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, how it can be managed, and what measures are required to deal with a current global international public health concern. Additionally, it shed light on the importance of using wastewater surveillance strategy as an early warning practical tool suitable for massive passive screening, as well as the urgent need for microfluidic technology as a rapid and cost-effective approach tracking SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.

Psychological distress among Greater Jakarta area residents during the COVID-19 pandemic and community containment

Introduction

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging pandemic affecting the global population. Community-based quarantine can slow down the pandemic growth while adversely affecting population-wide psychological well-being. Affected psychological well-being could potentially influence population compliance in following stipulated community quarantine procedures.

Aim

The aim was to quantify psychological distress among Greater Jakarta area residents during the community containment period.

Objectives

The objective was to measure depression, anxiety, and stress levels using the Indonesian version of the DASS-21. Demographic data on sex, education strata, and working/productive-age group were also collected.

Methods

This cross-sectional observational analytic study employed an online questionnaire involving participants acquired through snowball sampling. The questionnaire comprises two parts: demographic data and psychological distress indicators. Linear regression evaluated psychological distress as a response variable.

Results

Among 1,205 women and 824 men, our findings suggested male sex, age in the range of 15-24 years, and having a bachelor's degree or professional qualification have a strong association with psychological distress.

Conclusion

By addressing the population at risk, policymakers can identify better countermeasures for preventing psychological distress.

Kenya's response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a balance between minimising morbidity and adverse economic impact

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has ravaged the world's socioeconomic systems forcing many governments across the globe to implement unprecedented stringent mitigation measures to restrain its rapid spread and adverse effects. A disproportionate number of COVID-19 related morbidities and mortalities were predicted to occur in Africa. However, Africa still has a lower than predicted number of cases, 4% of the global pandemic burden. In this open letter, we highlight some of the early stringent countermeasures implemented in Kenya, a sub-Saharan African country, to avert the severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These mitigation measures strike a balance between minimising COVID-19 associated morbidity and fatalities and its adverse economic impact, and taken together have significantly dampened the pandemic's impact on Kenya's populace.

The spatial transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in China under the prevention and control measures at the early outbreak

Background

Since severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was firstly reported in Wuhan City, China in December 2019, Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) that is caused by SARS-CoV-2 is predominantly spread from person-to-person on worldwide scales. Now, COVID-19 is a non-traditional and major public health issue the world is facing, and the outbreak is a global pandemic. The strict prevention and control measures have mitigated the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and shown positive changes with important progress in China. But prevention and control tasks remain arduous for the world. The objective of this study is to discuss the difference of spatial transmission characteristics of COVID-19 in China at the early outbreak stage with resolute efforts. Simultaneously, the COVID-19 trend of China at the early time was described from the statistical perspective using a mathematical model to evaluate the effectiveness of the prevention and control measures.

Methods

In this study, the accumulated number of confirmed cases publicly reported by the National Health Committee of the People’s Republic of China (CNHC) from January 20 to February 11, 2020, were grouped into three partly overlapping regions: Chinese mainland including Hubei province, Hubei province alone, and the other 30 provincial-level regions on Chinese mainland excluding Hubei province, respectively. A generalized-growth model (GGM) was used to estimate the basic reproduction number to evaluate the transmissibility in different spatial locations. The prevention and control of COVID-19 in the early stage were analyzed based on the number of new cases of confirmed infections daily reported.

Results

Results indicated that the accumulated number of confirmed cases reported from January 20 to February 11, 2020, is well described by the GGM model with a larger correlation coefficient than 0.99. When the accumulated number of confirmed cases is well fitted by an exponential function, the basic reproduction number of COVID-19 of the 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland, Hubei province, and the other 30 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland excluding Hubei province, is 2.68, 6.46 and 2.18, respectively. The consecutive decline of the new confirmed cases indicated that the prevention and control measures taken by the Chinese government have contained the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in a short period.

Conclusions

The estimated basic reproduction number thorough GGM model can reflect the spatial difference of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in China at the early stage. The strict prevention and control measures of SARS-CoV-2 taken at the early outbreak can effectively reduce the new confirmed cases outside Hubei and have mitigated the spread and yielded positive results since February 2, 2020. The research results indicated that the outbreak of COVID-19 in China was sustaining localized at the early outbreak stage and has been gradually curbed by China’s resolute efforts.

In silico analysis of SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease potential inhibitors

The emergent outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 continues spreading and causing huge social and economic disruption. Papain-like protease (PLpro) has a crucial role in the cleavage of viral polyproteins, and disruption of host responses. PLpro is considered an important goal for the development of SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. ZINC101291108 (lead 1) and ZINC16449029 (lead 2) were identified as potent SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors with IC₅₀ values of 0.085 μM and 0.063 μM, respectively. Molecular dynamics simulations (MD) were carried out for lead 1, 2 and several reported SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. Analysis results of the simulations confirmed the stability of both compounds and showed that they adopted two confirmations along the simulation period. The per-residue decomposition results revealed that the key residues involved in inhibitor binding were E167, P247, P248, Y264, Y268 and Q269. H-bond analyses showed H-bonds with G266 and N267 and salt bridges with G209 and Y273, which are essential for strengthening the substrate-binding pocket. Both inhibitors showed hydrophobic interactions with the S4 site and BL2 loop residues. The RMSD of the BL2 loop with the two inhibitors was investigated, and the results showed that the Y268 and Q269 BL2 loop residues moved outward to accommodate the large size of lead 2. The van der Waals interaction was the main energy contribution that stabilized lead 2, while van der Waals and electrostatic interactions were the main energy contributions stabilizing lead 1. Rational design strategies were suggested to replace the 2-(2-hydroxybenzylidene) hydrazine moiety with naphthalene or nitrobenzene at the P4 position of lead 2 and introduce polar substituents as aniline and benzoate groups at position P1 to enhance hydrophobic interactions and H-bonds, respectively.

The emergent outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 continues spreading and causing huge social and economic disruption.

The Effect of Staggered Shift Scheduling Mode on Nurses in the COVID-19 Isolation Ward- A Cross Sectional Study

In order to explore the rational use of nursing resources in the epidemic situation of COVID-19, we optimized the shift arrangement in COVID-19 isolation area and constructed a reasonable nursing schedule under the condition of limited human resources. Seventy-eight nurses were arranged in COVID-19 isolation area to work for 1 week according to 3 different shifts: 4 + 4 h, 6 h and 6 h (overlapping by 1 h). Through the form of questionnaire, the comprehensive job satisfaction of 3 different models were compared, and the nursing quality and the consumption of protective equipment under 3 different modes were analyzed. The results showed that the comprehensive job satisfaction and nursing quality of nurses in 6 h (overlapping by 1 h) shift mode were better than those in other shift modes, and the consumption of protective equipment was lower.

Perspective Adjunctive Therapies for COVID-19: Beyond Antiviral Therapy

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the largest health crisis ever faced worldwide. It has resulted in great health and economic costs because no effective treatment is currently available. Since infected persons vary in presentation from healthy asymptomatic mild symptoms to those who need intensive care support and eventually succumb to the disease, this illness is considered to depend primarily on individual immunity. Demographic distribution and disease severity in several regions of the world vary; therefore, it is believed that natural inherent immunity provided through dietary sources and traditional medicines could play an important role in infection prevention and disease progression. People can boost their immunity to prevent them from infection after COVID-19 exposure and can reduce their inflammatory reactions to protect their organ deterioration in case suffering from the disease. Some drugs with in-situ immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activity are also identified as adjunctive therapy in the COVID-19 era. This review discusses the importance of COVID-19 interactions with immune cells and inflammatory cells; and further emphasizes the possible pathways related with traditional herbs, medications and nutritional products. We believe that such pathophysiological pathway approach treatment is rational and important for future development of new therapeutic agents for prevention or cure of COVID-19 infection.

The Spectrum of Biochemical Alterations with Molecular and Serological Biomarkers in the Diagnosis of COVID-19: Searching for Novel One to Identify Disease Earlier with Better Prognosis and Drug Discovery

Clinical and laboratory predictors of progression to serious and deadly forms are crucial in the fight against COVID-19, which has now become a worldwide pandemic. The clinical laboratory's vital role in today's crises has never been more obvious. These subjective clinical signals can be perceived more confidently during an examination with the help of biomarkers. To best combat present and future pandemics, global unity on test access is required, as well as infection prevention and diagnostic measures that are tightly linked.

Effects of Covid-19 outbreak on environment and renewable energy sector

Many articles have been written in the medical field related to the Covid-19 outbreak that has surrounded the World and killed many people. However, its environmental and energy impacts have not been sufficiently studied. Some sources argue that Covid-19 outbreak reduces pollution environmentally, while others say that environmentally significant damages await us. On the other hand, it is wondered how the global flexible renewable energy sector will react to Covid-19 outbreak. In this study, the effects of Covid-19 outbreak in terms of the environment and renewable energy sector in the literature were examined in detail and the findings obtained were discussed. The main aim of this study is to shed light on the future studies of environmental and renewable energy researchers.

COVID-19: A Global Challenge with Old History, Epidemiology and Progress So Far

Humans have witnessed three deadly pandemics so far in the twenty-first century which are associated with novel coronaviruses: SARS, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and COVID-19. All of these viruses, which are responsible for causing acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs), are highly contagious in nature and/or have caused high mortalities. The recently emerged COVID-19 disease is a highly transmittable viral infection caused by another zoonotic novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Similar to the other two coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 is also likely to have originated from bats, which have been serving as established reservoirs for various pathogenic coronaviruses. Although, it is still unknown how SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted from bats to humans, the rapid human-to-human transmission has been confirmed widely. The disease first appeared in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and quickly spread across the globe, infected 48,539,872 people, and caused 1,232,791 deaths in 215 countries, and the infection is still spreading at the time of manuscript preparation. So far, there is no definite line of treatment which has been approved or vaccine which is available. However, different types of potential vaccines and therapeutics have been evaluated and/or are under clinical trials against COVID-19. In this review, we summarize different types of acute respiratory diseases and briefly discuss earlier outbreaks of coronaviruses and compare their occurrence and pathogenicity with the current COVID-19 pandemic. Various epidemiological aspects of COVID-19 such as mode of spread, death rate, doubling time, etc., have been discussed in detail. Apart from this, different technical issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic including use of masks and other socio-economic problems associated with the pandemic have also been summarized. Additionally, we have reviewed various aspects of patient management strategies including mechanism of action, available diagnostic tools, etc., and also discussed different strategies for the development of effective vaccines and therapeutic combinations to deal with this viral outbreak. Overall, by the inclusion of various references, this review covers, in detail, the most important aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Race against death or starvation? COVID-19 and its impact on African populations

BACKGROUND

Born in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on global health and economies have been and continue to be devastating. In Africa, its countries grieve for unprecedented burdens of caseloads and mortality due to COVID-19, the virus responsible for the disease. This narrative review aims to establish the scale of the health and economic crisis wrought by the pandemic in Africa, including its impact on the informal economic sector, projections of the effect on national GDP, as well as its political dimensions.

METHODS

Documentary evidence issued between January and 8 August 2020 was sought from the Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Searches of published and unpublished abstracts were also conducted from appropriate websites, government documents, organizational reports, newspaper commentaries, and reports issued by global, regional, and local centers of disease control and prevention.

RESULTS

The COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for a fourfold crisis in Africa: (1) a health crisis: the victimization of frontline healthcare workers and the looming caseload and death tolls with 1.039 million (12%) cases being confirmed and over 22,966 (2.4%) deaths as of 8 August 2020. The highest death toll was recorded in Southern Africa of 11,024 (48%) followed by North Africa with 6,989 (29.2%) deaths; (2) a social crisis: with the violation of human rights, the killing of citizens by security forces and increased crime. This, in turn, exacerbates social inequalities, the breakdown of households, instances of social unrest, and general impoverishment; (3) an economic crisis: manifested by a decline in GDP and mass unemployment; (4) a political crisis: implementation of measures that may not be appropriate for Africa, discrimination of refugees and immigrants, evacuation of citizens to their home countries, resulting in distrust of political leaders and postponement of national elections, and mounting cases of conflicts and unrest.

CONCLUSION

Lockdown during the COVID-19 outbreak is a prevention mechanism in affluent countries, in contrast to developing regions such as Africa, where it is a race against death and starvation. Policymakers must apply novel and locally relevant prevention and management strategies to cope with this growing disaster.

Analysis of Environmental Policy and the Performance of Sustainable Agricultural Development in China

A community with a shared future for mankind embodies the concept of sustainable development. This is also China’s contribution to global governance. Some of the Sustainable Development Goals (such as the elimination of hunger and malnutrition) require countries to implement people-centered overall agricultural transformations, and achieving such agricultural transformations is key to ensuring sustainable agricultural development and shifting agriculture toward a greener and more ecological direction. This paper uses the SBM Directional Distance Function and Malmquist Productivity Index with calculated data from 2000 to 2016. The results show that, since 2000, China’s environmental performance index growth has been slow, with an average annual growth rate of only 0.80%. This growth has gone through three phases: a stable up and down phase, a volatility decrease phase, and a volatility increase phase. In general, agricultural technological advances have played a more visible role in promoting a strong performance in reducing carbon emissions. Agriculture in China is also on the way to becoming more sustainable and green.