Public Interest, Risk, Trust, and Personal Protective Equipment Purchase and Usage: Face Masks Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research on the impact mechanism of changes in the production of medical solid waste in China before and after COVID-19

The changes of medical solid waste (MSW) output in recent years have had a significant impact on the spread of the virus. There is a high-risk transmission of MSW in various stages such as storage, transportation, and treatment during the COVID-19. To cope with the risks brought by the epidemic, normalized prevention consumes a large amount of protective clothing, medical masks, goggles, packaging bags, and other related medical supplies. There is a significant uncertainty in the amount of MSW output that poses a risk of COVID-19 infection in the event of an emergency, which increases the difficulty of collecting and handling epidemic prevention MSW. The analysis of MSW data from 2000 to 2022 found a stable growth trend before 2019. However, the MSW data was a sudden increase trend from 2020 to 2022, and the COVID-19 in China was characterized by an initial stage, an outbreak stage, and a stable growth stage. The range of MSW output during the epidemic was (1.19-1.75) × 106 t a-1. The amount of MSW was approximately 1.19 × 106 t a-1 during the normalized epidemic period, and its treatment cost was as high as 3.57 × 109 yuan (RMB)·a-1. The distribution of MSW output was uneven due to factors such as climate conditions, population data, and local economy. This study has important reference value for epidemic medical material reserves and MSW treatment.

Public interest in different types of masks and its relationship with pandemic and policy measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study using Google Trends data

Google Trends data have been used to investigate various themes on online information seeking. It was unclear if the population from different parts of the world shared the same amount of attention to different mask types during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to reveal which types of masks were frequently searched by the public in different countries, and evaluated if public attention to masks could be related to mandatory policy, stringency of the policy, and transmission rate of COVID-19. By referring to an open dataset hosted at the online database Our World in Data, the 10 countries with the highest total number of COVID-19 cases as of 9th of February 2022 were identified. For each of these countries, the weekly new cases per million population, reproduction rate (of COVID-19), stringency index, and face covering policy score were computed from the raw daily data. Google Trends were queried to extract the relative search volume (RSV) for different types of masks from each of these countries. Results found that Google searches for N95 masks were predominant in India, whereas surgical masks were predominant in Russia, FFP2 masks were predominant in Spain, and cloth masks were predominant in both France and United Kingdom. The United States, Brazil, Germany, and Turkey had two predominant types of mask. The online searching behavior for masks markedly varied across countries. For most of the surveyed countries, the online searching for masks peaked during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic before the government implemented mandatory mask wearing. The search for masks positively correlated with the government response stringency index but not with the COVID-19 reproduction rate or the new cases per million.

What attributes influence rural household's willingness to get vaccinated for COVID-19? Perspectives from six Chinese townships

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccinations have been identified as the most effective mitigation strategy against the deadly virus. This has led developed nations to accelerate research and shorten the licensure process for COVID-19 vaccines, but these changes have caused widespread concerns about vaccine safety. Research literature has long indicated that citizens' perceptions of protective actions will determine their behaviors, and thus, the relationship between vaccine perception and vaccination intention needs to be assessed. To better understand vaccination willingness, especially in rural populations, this study surveyed 492 households from six townships in the Ya'an region of China's Sichuan Province in November 2020. The survey followed the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) framework for collecting perceptions about the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines as protective actions, information sources, emergency preparedness, emotional response, and demographic characteristics. The results showed that influenza vaccine perceptions significantly affected people's COVID-19 vaccination perceptions and intentions. Unlike previous vaccination willingness and other COVID-19 studies, this study found that perceptions of resource-related attributes and health-related attributes both affected COVID-19 vaccination intentions, but the former were slightly stronger than the latter. Moreover, these effects were strongest among respondents who had the most positive perceptions of their influenza vaccine experience. This study's findings will benefit local authorities in designing appropriate policies and measures (e.g., hazard education, risk communication, vaccination convenience enhancement) for increasing vaccination compliance for the current and future pandemics.

Riding the Pandemic Waves—Lessons to Be Learned from the COVID-19 Crisis Management in Romania

In our analysis, we assessed how Romania dealt with the numerous challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic during 2021. In that year, the government had to deal with two waves of COVID-19 pandemics caused by the new variants, the low vaccination rate of the population, the overload of the healthcare system and political instability at the same time. Based on publicly available databases and international literature, we evaluated government measures aimed at reducing the spread of the pandemic and ensure the operation of the healthcare workforce and infrastructure. In addition, we evaluated measures to provide health services effectively and the government’s pandemic responses regarding excess mortality in 2021. In the absence of a complex monitoring system, limited information was available on the spread of the pandemic or the various risk factors at play. Due to incomplete and inadequate management systems, the government was unable to implement timely and adequate measures. Our analysis concludes that the management of a pandemic can only be successful if data are collected and evaluated using complex systems in a timely manner, and if members of society adhere to clearly communicated government measures due to high levels of trust in the government.