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Introduction: New conflict types have arisen in leisure sports activities due to social regulations designed to address COVID-19. We analyze the differences in conflict-inducing factors and coping strategies across various types of leisure sports and levels of spatial proximity., Methods: Korean adults aged between 20 and 60 years, who had participated in leisure sports activities since the COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020, were surveyed, and 508 responses were collected for analysis. The differences in leisure sports conflicts and coping strategies across the types of leisure sports participation and spatial proximity were tested., Results: The results show that conflict due to prejudice was higher in typical indoor sports activities, such as Pilates, yoga, and gym workouts, whereas conflict due to competition or not observing etiquette was higher in indoor golf. Second, conflict due to prior expectations and prejudice was high in outdoor sports activities, such as jogging and hiking. Finally, all participants showed avoidance behavior, but it was observed more frequently in outdoor sports than indoor sports., Discussion: The study reveals how much leisure conflict is induced by various types of leisure sports participation, particularly during outdoor activities, which usually feature a relatively low density of participants. It underscores the necessity of developing structural approaches to resolving leisure conflicts in dangerous spaces or requiring intensive management and creating new leisure sports activities., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Kim, Shin and Kang.)

Background: The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China has now spread to every inhabitable continent, but now the attention has shifted from China to other epicentres. This study explored early assessment of the influence of spatial proximities and travel patterns from Italy on the further spread of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide., Methods: Using data on the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and air travel data between countries, we applied a stochastic meta-population model to estimate the global spread of COVID-19. Pearson's correlation, semi-variogram, and Moran's Index were used to examine the association and spatial autocorrelation between the number of COVID-19 cases and travel influx (and arrival time) from the source country., Results: We found significant negative association between disease arrival time and number of cases imported from Italy (r = -0.43, p = 0.004) and significant positive association between the number of COVID-19 cases and daily travel influx from Italy (r = 0.39, p = 0.011). Using bivariate Moran's Index analysis, we found evidence of spatial interaction between COVID-19 cases and travel influx (Moran's I = 0.340). Asia-Pacific region is at higher/extreme risk of disease importation from the Chinese epicentre, whereas the rest of Europe, South-America and Africa are more at risk from the Italian epicentre., Conclusion: We showed that as the epicentre changes, the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 spread change to reflect spatial proximities., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aimed to investigate the difference in people's perceived crowding and risk perception during leisure activities using the criteria of spatial proximity during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is a viral respiratory tract disease that poses an increasing risk of infection through person-to-person transmission in a confined space or close proximity to an infected person. It is thus crucial to maintain a sufficiently safe distance from others during leisure activities. In this study, measures concerning leisure activity spaces and the current status of leisure activities were investigated. Data were gathered from a total of 1078 participants via an online survey conducted from 26 to 29 October 2020. Frequency analysis was performed to investigate the sample characteristics and exploratory factor analysis was performed to analyze the validity of the measurement tools. Results revealed that people's perceived crowding of leisure activity spaces directly influenced their participation in leisure activities. Regarding age, those in their 20s were more aware of congestion and their risk perception was higher than those in their 40s and 50s. It was found that people perceived cultural and artistic activities to be dangerous as they often take place as part of tourism and leisure activities and amidst crowds. However, their high-risk perception indirectly influenced their participation patterns, making it difficult to enjoy leisure activities. To lower the risk perception of leisure activity spaces, it was necessary to secure more safe distancing than current regulations require. Future research must conduct a longitudinal investigation by objectively stratifying the degree of perceived crowding.

IntroductionNew conflict types have arisen in leisure sports activities due to social regulations designed to address COVID-19. We analyze the differences in conflict-inducing factors and coping strategies across various types of leisure sports and levels of spatial proximity.MethodsKorean adults aged between 20 and 60 years, who had participated in leisure sports activities since the COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020, were surveyed, and 508 responses were collected for analysis. The differences in leisure sports conflicts and coping strategies across the types of leisure sports participation and spatial proximity were tested.ResultsThe results show that conflict due to prejudice was higher in typical indoor sports activities, such as Pilates, yoga, and gym workouts, whereas conflict due to competition or not observing etiquette was higher in indoor golf. Second, conflict due to prior expectations and prejudice was high in outdoor sports activities, such as jogging and hiking. Finally, all participants showed avoidance behavior, but it was observed more frequently in outdoor sports than indoor sports.DiscussionThe study reveals how much leisure conflict is induced by various types of leisure sports participation, particularly during outdoor activities, which usually feature a relatively low density of participants. It underscores the necessity of developing structural approaches to resolving leisure conflicts in dangerous spaces or requiring intensive management and creating new leisure sports activities.

This paper yields current understandings about the impact of COVID-19 on overall Romanian' exports, focusing on the agricultural sector. Up to the latest data, the value of exports registers an overall downturn in 2020. Notwithstanding, the agriculture sector seems to maintain 2019 values or even register moderate growth. At the European Union (EU) level, several measures have been implemented to alleviate the pandemic's impact: seasonal workers were recognized as critical workers, there were created "green lanes" to allow the flow of food, the administration was simplified, and there was provided significant financial aid. Being a cluster member certainly involve benefits - gathering knowledge and multi-level competencies. As the qualitative research revealed, the European Cluster members received support and had access to virtual events specially organized for the agricultural producers to overcome the pandemic effects. There is no evidence of such measures at the Romanian level.

This paper yields current understandings about the impact of COVID-19 on overall Romanian' exports, focusing on the agricultural sector. Up to the latest data, the value of exports registers an overall downturn in 2020. Notwithstanding, the agriculture sector seems to maintain 2019 values or even register moderate growth. At the European Union (EU) level, several measures have been implemented to alleviate the pandemic's impact: seasonal workers were recognized as critical workers, there were created "green lanes" to allow the flow of food, the administration was simplified, and there was provided significant financial aid. Being a cluster member certainly involve benefits - gathering knowledge and multi-level competencies. As the qualitative research revealed, the European Cluster members received support and had access to virtual events specially organized for the agricultural producers to overcome the pandemic effects. There is no evidence of such measures at the Romanian level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid spread of a (re)emerging pandemic (e.g., COVID-19) is usually attributed to the invisible transmission caused by asymptomatic cases. Health authorities rely on large-scale voluntary screening to identify and isolate invisible spreaders as well as symptomatic people as early as possible to control disease spread. Raising public awareness is beneficial for improving the effectiveness of epidemic prevention because it could increase the usage and demand for testing kits. However, the effectiveness of testing could be influenced by the spatial demand for medical resources in different periods. Spatial demand could also be triggered by public awareness in areas with two geographical factors, including spatial proximity to resources and attractiveness of human mobility. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the spatial variations in raising public awareness on the effectiveness of COVID-19 screening. We implemented spatial simulation models to integrate various levels of public awareness and pandemic dynamics in time and space. Moreover, we also assessed the effects of the spatial proximity of testing kits and the ease of human mobility on COVID-19 testing at various levels of public awareness. Our results indicated that high public awareness promotes high willingness to be tested. This causes the demand to not be fully satisfied at the peak times during a pandemic, yet the shortage of tests does not significantly increase pandemic severity. We also found that when public awareness is low, concentrating on unattractive areas (such as residential or urban fringe areas) could promote a higher benefit of testing. On the other hand, when awareness is high, the factor of distances to testing stations is more important for promoting the benefit of testing; allocating additional testing resources in areas distant from stations could have a higher benefit of testing. This study aims to provide insights for health authorities into the allocation of testing resources against disease outbreaks with respect to various levels of public awareness. • Different strategies of testing resource allocation should be adopted to corresponding levels of public awareness. • Allocating testing resource in unattractive areas (such as residential or urban fringe areas) when public awareness is low. • Allocating testing resources in areas far from existing testing stations when public awareness is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]