Lockdowns, lethality, and laissez-faire politics. Public discourses on political authorities in high-trust countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Racial Attitudes and Perceptions of Government Response during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Public Health Strategies

BACKGROUND

This study explored whether opinions about the government's role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic vary based on demographic characteristics and racial beliefs. We hypothesized that opinions about the United States (U.S.) government's response to COVID-19 would differ based on an individual's characteristics such as age, race, and racial beliefs.

METHODS

We utilized an Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research dataset to examine differences in opinion regarding the government's pandemic response, considering personal characteristics and racial beliefs. Descriptive statistics depicted respondents' characteristics, and a Chi-square test for independence assessed whether differences emerged based on racial attitude, self-reported racial identity, sex, income, education, and age. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to independently determine which characteristics were associated with differences in evaluating the government's pandemic response.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 1028 respondents: 47.5% male and 52.5% female. Overall, the group viewed the government unfavorably, with only 40% reporting that the government responded correctly and 54% believing the government is almost always wasteful and inefficient. Hispanics or Latinos were more likely to view the government as wasteful or inefficient, while more Whites rated the government's pandemic response as appropriate. Individuals who believed that racial discrimination is the main reason why many Black people cannot get ahead generally regarded the government's pandemic response more favorably. Only 5% deemed the government's response excessive. Being Black, younger, and female was associated with the view that racial discrimination is the main reason why many Black people cannot get ahead. Individuals who felt this way viewed the government unfavorably by almost a 2:1 ratio.

CONCLUSIONS

A majority of U.S. residents do not believe the government responded correctly to the pandemic and more than half viewed the government as wasteful and inefficient. Differences emerged by ethnicity and racial attitudes, with individuals of color holding more negative views of the government's response. Understanding this perspective can help develop messaging and strategies that resonate with communities where racial and minority groups live.

Socio-economic pandemic modelling: case of Spain

A global disaster, such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic, affects every aspect of our lives and there is a need to investigate these highly complex phenomena if one aims to diminish their impact in the health of the population, as well as their socio-economic stability. In this paper we present an attempt to understand the role of the governmental authorities and the response of the rest of the population facing such emergencies. We present a mathematical model that takes into account the epidemiological features of the pandemic and also the actions of people responding to it, focusing only on three aspects of the system, namely, the fear of catching this serious disease, the impact on the economic activities and the compliance of the people to the mitigating measures adopted by the authorities. We apply the model to the specific case of Spain, since there are accurate data available about these three features. We focused on tourism as an example of the economic activity, since this sector of economy is one of the most likely to be affected by the restrictions imposed by the authorities, and because it represents an important part of Spanish economy. The results of numerical calculations agree with the empirical data in such a way that we can acquire a better insight of the different processes at play in such a complex situation, and also in other different circumstances.

"Is a game really a reason for people to die?" Sentiment and thematic analysis of Twitter-based discourse on Indonesia soccer stampede

This study examined discourses related to an Indonesian soccer stadium stampede on 1st October 2022 using comments posted on Twitter. We conducted a lexicon-based sentiment analysis to identify the sentiments and emotions expressed in tweets and performed structural topic modeling to identify latent themes in the discourse. The majority of tweets (87.8%) expressed negative sentiments, while 8.2% and 4.0% of tweets expressed positive and neutral sentiments, respectively. The most common emotion expressed was fear (29.3%), followed by sadness and anger. Of the 19 themes identified, "Deaths and mortality" was the most prominent (15.1%), followed by "family impact". The negative stampede discourse was related to public concerns such as "vigil" and "calls for bans and suspension," while positive discourse focused more on the impact of the stampede. Public health institutions can leverage the volume and rapidity of social media to improve disaster prevention strategies.

Sleep quality and the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in five European countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to lifestyle changes across Europe with a likely impact on sleep quality. This investigation considers sleep quality in relation to the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in five European countries. Using panel regressions and keeping policy responses to COVID-19 constant, we show that an increase in the four-week average daily COVID-19 deaths/100,000 inhabitants (our proxy for the evolution of the pandemic) significantly reduced sleep quality in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden between April 2020 and June 2021. Our results are robust to a battery of sensitivity tests and are larger for women, parents and young adults. Additionally, we show that about half of the reduction in sleep quality caused by the evolution of the pandemic can be attributed to changes in lifestyles, worsened mental health and negative attitudes toward COVID-19 and its management (lower degree of confidence in government, greater fear of being infected). In contrast, changes in one's own infection-status from the SARS-CoV-2 virus or sleep duration are not significant mediators of the relationship between COVID-19-related deaths and sleep quality.

The making of a Swedish strategy: How organizational culture shaped the Public Health Agency's pandemic response

Several suggestions have been made as to why Sweden's approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic came to rely on a strategy based on voluntary measures. Two of the most prominent explanations for why the country chose a different strategy than many other countries have focused on micro- and macro-level factors, explaining the strategy either in terms of the psychologies of prominent actors or by pointing to particularities in Swedish constitutional law. Supported by a qualitative analysis using interviews and text analysis, we argue that the Swedish strategy cannot be understood without paying attention to the meso-level and the organizations that produced the strategy. Moreover, we argue that to understand why one of the central organizations in Swedish pandemic management, the Public Health Agency, came to favor certain interventions, one must investigate the culture of production inside the organization and how it created precedents that led the Agency to approach pandemic management with a focus on balancing current and future health risks.

Trust in the U.S. Government and Its Health Agencies in the Time of COVID-19

This article examines the factors affecting Americans' trust in their federal government and its health agencies during the COVID-19 public health crisis. More specifically, we examine the evolution of Americans' trust in their government and health system and how, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic response, it has been affected by multiple factors. Several academic journals, government policy recommendations and public health polls were evaluated to understand the public's trust in the federal government and its health institutions. Public trust in institutions during a global pandemic is essential in influencing adherence to a pandemic response (both non-pharmaceutical and medical interventions). Americans' trust in institutions is built and maintained by a variety of factors. We focus on: political polarization and involvement, media influence and health communications, history of systemic racism and socioeconomic inequalities, and pandemic fatigue. Based on the interplay of these factors, we conclude with recommendations for future pandemic response strategies.

Classification Schemes of COVID-19 High Risk Areas and Resulting Policies: A Rapid Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a significant global health threat since January 2020. Policies to reduce human mobility have been recognized to effectively control the spread of COVID-19; although the relationship between mobility, policy implementation, and virus spread remains contentious, with no clear pattern for how countries classify each other, and determine the destinations to- and from which to restrict travel. In this rapid review, we identified country classification schemes for high-risk COVID-19 areas and associated policies which mirrored the dynamic situation in 2020, with the aim of identifying any patterns that could indicate the effectiveness of such policies. We searched academic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, medRxiv, Google Scholar, and EMBASE. We also consulted web pages of the relevant government institutions in all countries. This rapid review's searches were conducted between October 2020 and December 2021. Web scraping of policy documents yielded additional 43 country reports on high-risk area classification schemes. In 43 countries from which relevant reports were identified, six issued domestic classification schemes. International classification schemes were issued by the remaining 38 countries, and these mainly used case incidence per 100,000 inhabitants as key indicator. The case incidence cut-off also varied across the countries, ranging from 20 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past 7 days to more than 100 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past 28 days. The criteria used for defining high-risk areas varied across countries, including case count, positivity rate, composite risk scores, community transmission and satisfactory laboratory testing. Countries either used case incidence in the past 7, 14 or 28 days. The resulting policies included restrictions on internal movement and international travel. The quarantine policies can be summarized into three categories: (1) 14 days self-isolation, (2) 10 days self-isolation and (3) 14 days compulsory isolation.

Understanding and navigating the repercussions of the politically polarized climate in mental health

The world is experiencing a moment of political polarization between liberal and conservative ideas, which has aggravated since the arrival of the Covid-19. Many countries (Brazil included) have been experiencing the generalized occurrence of people fighting over politics, in contexts including family, workplace, friendships, and romantic relationships. Over the past 2 years, it has been possible to observe an unexpected and overwhelming effect of the political climate on psychotherapy patients, some of whom have started to actively look for therapists who share their convictions. Brazil is experiencing a moment of severe sanitary, economic, social, and political crisis, which is directly affecting our patients. Nevertheless, the impact of the political climate on our population has not been systematically investigated. However, as the political environment is an inherent part of the social component of the psychosocial model, it is important that mental health professionals be prepared to have this conversation with their patients. This highlights the need to address these difficulties in supervision, rounds, and clinical discussions.