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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. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

The newly recognised coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, causative agent of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has caused a pandemic with huge ramifications for human interactions around the globe. As expected, research efforts to understand the virus and curtail the disease are moving at a frantic pace alongside the spread of rumours, speculations and falsehoods. In this article, we aim to clarify the current scientific view behind several claims or controversies related to COVID-19. Starting with the origin of the virus, we then discuss the effect of ibuprofen and nicotine on the severity of the disease. We highlight the knowledge on fomites and SARS-CoV-2 and discuss the evidence and explications for a disproportionately stronger impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minorities, including a potential protective role for vitamin D. We further review what is known about the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, including their role in transmission of the disease, and conclude with the science on different mortality rates between different countries and whether this hints at the existence of more pathogenic cohorts of SARS-CoV-2., (© 2020 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.)

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 has been identified as the pathogen causing the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) that started in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. SARS-CoV-2 has human-to-human transmission ability and universally contagious to all populations. The main transmission patterns are respiratory droplets transmission and contact transmission. The purpose of this study is to propose a protocol that may be used as a guide to reduce the incidence of COVID-19 infections among otolaryngology care teams., Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted to show the efficacy of our protocol to prevent transmission to health-care providers from March 11, 2020 through April 14, 2020. The protocol consisted of a series of protective measures that we applied to all health-care providers, then testing of our providers for COVID-19 using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction along with immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) testing at the end of the study period to ensure effectiveness., Results: Our protocol resulted in zero transmissions to our health-care providers during the duration of the initial study. We were involved in greater than 150 sinonasal, skull base, open airway, and endoscopy procedures during this study. At the conclusion of the initial 5 weeks, we had no health-care providers test positive for SARS-CoV-2., Conclusion: According to our proposed protocol, we were able to provide care for all patients in clinic, hospital, emergent, intensive, and surgical settings with no transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by symptomatology and post evaluation testing.

Introduction: Among surgeons worldwide, a concern with the use of minimally invasive techniques has been raised due to a proposed risk of viral transmission of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) with the creation of pneumoperitoneum. Due to this proposed concern, we sought to collect the available data and evaluate the use of laparoscopy and the risk of COVID-19 transmission., Methods: A literature review of viral transmission in surgery and of the available literature regarding the transmission of the COVID-19 virus was performed. We additionally reviewed surgical society guidelines and recommendations regarding surgery during this pandemic., Results: Few studies have been performed on viral transmission during surgery, but to date there is no study that demonstrates or can suggest the ability for a virus to be transmitted during surgical treatment whether open or laparoscopic. There is no societal consensus on limiting or restricting laparoscopic or robotic surgery; however, there is expert consensus on the modification of standard practices to minimize any risk of transmission., Conclusions: Despite very little evidence to support viral transmission through laparoscopic or open approaches, we recommend making modifications to surgical practice such as the use of smoke evacuation and minimizing energy device use among other measures to minimize operative staff exposure to aerosolized particles.

An unprecedented outbreak of pneumonia of unknown aetiology in Wuhan City, Hubei province in China emerged in December 2019. A novel coronavirus was identified as the causative agent and was subsequently termed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Considered a relative of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), COVID-19 is caused by a betacoronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 that affects the lower respiratory tract and manifests as pneumonia in humans. Despite rigorous global containment and quarantine efforts, the incidence of COVID-19 continues to rise, with 90,870 laboratory-confirmed cases and over 3,000 deaths worldwide. In response to this global outbreak, we summarise the current state of knowledge surrounding COVID-19., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2020 IJS Publishing Group Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In March 2020, the 'contact line' between the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics and the rest of Ukraine was sealed off. Crossing this de facto border was a precondition and an obstacle for residents of the non-government-controlled territories to access their citizenship entitlements. This article explores how movement across the 'contact line' was restricted and reconfigured during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and how this affected state–citizen relations in the region. The study reveals how the policy to contain and mitigate the spread of the virus became a tool in establishing and maintaining authority along the state margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on everyday life, where people feel affected both economically and health-wise by the spread of the novel virus, regardless of whether they have contracted it or not. At the same time, we know that populist attitudes influence how people perceive their individual situation, the political environment, and available policy solutions. Are these two factors interrelated? This article examines the role that populist attitudes play (a) in subjective feelings of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and (b) in choosing policies to counteract its spread. Populist attitudes may lead people to reject the policy-making process during the COVID-19 pandemic, shaped primarily by experts. The article argues that this should increase the sense of concern among people with populist orientations and lead to a rejection of commonly discussed policies to contain the virus. To test this connection empirically, we conducted a representative survey in Austria in September 2020. Our analysis shows a significant and substantive correlation between populist attitudes and the subjective feeling of being affected by the crisis in the areas of health and the economy. Similarly, we find evidence that populist attitudes affect the acceptability of policies to combat the spread of COVID-19. These findings indicate that populist attitudes have such strong effects on individuals' perception of the world that they even influence the perception of the globally shared challenge of a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel virus begin to spread worldwide in 2020. Many studies have been conducted to better understand the outbreak that continues to affect the global population. The contribution of the present study is to provide an overview of the papers published in the first months since recognition of the first case of COVID-19. For this, a survey of scientific publications during the first 5 months of the outbreak was conducted. Semantic, coauthorship and citation networks were used to identify the most relevant themes and authors during the cited period. Coauthorship indicated that scientists from several countries had joined forces in the fight against the pandemic to produce many joint scientific publications on the newly discovered virus and the disease it caused. Coauthorship was spread across 1170 author groups. Regarding the semantic network of titles, we found that it was a hybrid network because it presented the small-world phenomenon and a power law in its degree distribution and was therefore scale invariant. Considering the citation network, we found that the distribution of indegrees followed a power law, and with it, we observed the most cited works due to their importance to the area and their cumulative advantage. The coauthorship, semantic, and citation networks clearly show some characteristics of complex systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak erupted, it swiftly spread globally and triggered a severe public health crisis in 2019. To contain the virus's spread, several countries implemented various lockdown measures. As the governments faced this unprecedented challenge, understanding the impact of lockdown policies became paramount. The goal of addressing the pandemic crisis is to devise prudent policies that strike a balance between safeguarding lives and maintaining economic stability. Traditional mathematical and statistical models for studying virus transmission only offer macro-level predictions of epidemic development and often overlook individual variations' impact, therefore failing to reflect the role of government decisions. To address this challenge, we propose an integrated framework that combines agent-based modeling (ABM) and deep Q-network (DQN) techniques. This framework enables a more comprehensive analysis and optimization of epidemic control strategies while considering real human behavior. We construct a pandemic simulator based on the ABM method, accurately simulating agents' daily activities, interactions, and the dynamic spread of the virus. Additionally, we employ a data-driven approach and adjust the model through real statistical data to enhance its effectiveness. Subsequently, we integrated ABM into a decision-making framework using reinforcement learning techniques to explore the most effective strategies. In experiments, we validated the model's effectiveness by simulating virus transmission across different countries globally. In this model, we obtained decision outcomes when governments focused on various factors. Our research findings indicate that our model serves as a valuable tool for decision-makers, enabling them to formulate prudent and rational policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During pandemics, health discourse cannot be separated from media discourse, which usually exercises its power to deliver particular ideological and political perspectives through the content it presents. This study aimed to investigate the coverage of the first case of COVID-19 in Jordan in local and nonlocal Arabic news outlets. It shed light on the potential ideologies reflected in the news headlines and articles. To achieve the objectives of the study, eight local and fourteen nonlocal news articles tackling the first case of COVID-19 in Jordan on the 2nd and 3rd of March 2020 were collected and analyzed in light of Van Dijk's critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach. The results showed that the nonlocal news headlines and articles included words with negative connotations that may create resentment and spread panic among citizens. On the other hand, in local news outlets, reassuring phrases were used by focusing on the government's procedures and distancing Jordan from the country where the virus widely spread, namely, Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: From the year 1 anno Domini until 1855, with the third plague, major pandemics occurred on average every 348 years. Since then, they have occurred on average every 33 years, with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) now underway. Even though current technologies have greatly improved the way of life of human beings, COVID-19, with more than 700,000,000 cases and 6,950,000 deaths worldwide by the end of 2023, reminds us that much remains to be done. This report looks back at 18 months of COVID-19, from March 2020 to August 2021, with the aim of highlighting potential solutions that could help mitigate the impact of future pandemics. Materials and Methods: COVID-19 data, including case and death reports, were extracted daily from the Worldometer platform to build a database for the macroscopic analysis of the spread of the virus around the world. Demographic data were integrated into the COVID-19 database for a better understanding of the spatial spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in cities/municipalities. Without loss of generality, only data from the top 30 (out of 200 and above) countries ranked by total number of COVID-19 cases were analyzed. Statistics (regression, t-test (p < 0.05), correlation, mean ± std, etc.) were carried out with Excel software (Microsoft® Excel® 2013 (15.0.5579.1001)). Spectral analysis, using Matlab software (license number: 227725), was also used to try to better understand the temporal spread of COVID-19. Results: This study showed that COVID-19 mainly affects G20 countries and that cities/municipalities with high population density are a powerful activator of the spread of the virus. In addition, spectral analysis highlighted that the very first months of the spread of COVID-19 were the most notable, with a strong expansion of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. On the other hand, the following six months showed a certain level of stability, mainly due to multiple preventive measures such as confinement, the closure of non-essential services, the wearing of masks, distancing of 2 m, etc. Conclusion: Given that densely populated cities and municipal areas have largely favored the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it is believed that such a demographic context is becoming a societal problem that developed countries must address in a manner that is adequate and urgent. COVID-19 has made us understand that it is time to act both preventatively and curatively. With phenomenological evidence suggesting that the next pandemic could occur in less than 50 years, it may be time to launch new societal projects aimed at relieving congestion in densely populated regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Zoonotic viruses cause substantial public health and socioeconomic problems worldwide. Understanding how viruses evolve and spread within and among wildlife species is a critical step when aiming for proactive identification of viral threats to prevent future pandemics. Despite the many proposed factors influencing viral diversity, the genomic diversity and structure of viral communities in East Africa are largely unknown. Results: Using 38.3 Tb of metatranscriptomic data obtained via ultradeep sequencing, we screened vertebrate-associated viromes from 844 bats and 250 rodents from Kenya and Uganda collected from the wild. The 251 vertebrate-associated viral genomes of bats (212) and rodents (39) revealed the vast diversity, host-related variability, and high geographic specificity of viruses in East Africa. Among the surveyed viral families, Coronaviridae and Circoviridae showed low host specificity, high conservation of replication-associated proteins, high divergence among viral entry proteins, and frequent recombination. Despite major dispersal limitations, recurrent mutations, cocirculation, and occasional gene flow contribute to the high local diversity of viral genomes. Conclusions: The present study not only shows the landscape of bat and rodent viromes in this zoonotic hotspot but also reveals genomic signatures driven by the evolution and dispersal of the viral community, laying solid groundwork for future proactive surveillance of emerging zoonotic pathogens in wildlife. F1ZzYbc5Jf4XpNJGrZx-82 Video Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic flustered dimensions of public and private life in varied ways. In Nigeria, as in several parts of the world, faith-based groups variously tried to make sense of the event as they also try to cope with government 'lockdown' measures introduced to contain and limit the spread of the virus. This study focuses on the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), one of the largest megachurches within global religious landscapes. The study compares the narratives birthed within the RCCG to what obtained among other Pentecostal denominational leaders to make sense of the pandemic as everyone confronted a befuddling global event. Both science and religion became instruments of discerning the meaning of the pandemic, sometimes as competing and sometimes reconciled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When humanity faces a potentially contagious disease, most processes of society are affected, the workforce capable of performing tasks decreases, and healthcare systems become overwhelmed by sudden disease outbreaks. In 2020, the world fell victim to Covid-19. Its spread had devastating consequences in many countries, changing the lives of all individuals. The poor management of the pandemic on a global scale highlighted the lack of preparedness for this type of catastrophe, leading to efforts and research being conducted to facilitate the management of this disease. One of the most important endeavors undertaken to control the spread of the infectious virus was to attempt to predict its behavior and take measures to mitigate the damage caused. Pandemic control models, such as the SEIR model, were employed to create predictions, but the results proved to be imprecise due to the lack of infection data. Furthermore, a highly contagious virus that is transmitted by people behaves in a very erratic manner, making it more challenging to develop rigid prediction methods. It was determined that geographic and demographic characteristics greatly influenced the virus's behavior. Agent-Based Simulation was used to model processes and environments with unique characteristics while allowing for individual interaction. In this work, Agent-Based Simulation is employed to model the spread of a virus that affects individuals in a city in Cuba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main purpose of this article is to analyze and understand trends in COVID-19 cases in Poland during what is considered the end of the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The article uses data visualization methods to assess trends and identify key factors influencing the dynamics of the pandemic. The analysis included data on the pandemic in the period from 1 January, 2023 to 30 June, 2023. On 1 July, 2023, the state of epidemic threat in Poland was canceled. Findings: Analysis of epidemiological data showed that the number of new COVID-19 cases in Poland showed a gradual decline during the period considered to be the end of the pandemic. This reduction in case numbers has been consistent across regions of the country, although some areas have seen periodic increases. The data clearly demonstrate the significant impact of vaccinations in reducing the number of new infections and severe disease outcomes. Regions with higher vaccination rates saw lower COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths. Research limitations/implications: The surveys discussed in this article may contribute to further empirical studies, including but not limited to initiating works to improve the pandemic analysis. Practical implications: The study provides important information that can be used by public health decision-makers to shape effective pandemic response strategies. The results highlight the importance of maintaining and adapting intervention measures, such as vaccination, to control the spread of the virus and reduce the number of severe cases. Originality/value: This study stands out from other works on the COVID-19 pandemic by its unique focus on the final stage of the pandemic in Poland. While most studies focus on the early stages of the pandemic or its global impact, our study offers detailed insight into local aspects of pandemic management and its evolution in a specific country. We present a comprehensive analysis that combines epidemiological data, the impact of health policy, social behavior and vaccination effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of evidence-based policy-making in the field of epidemiology, focusing on the role of scientific evidence in shaping healthcare systems. The author, who has experience in clinical epidemiology and health economics, shares their insights as a government advisor and member of parliament involved in policy-making. The article identifies three major challenges that require evidence-based policy-making: ageing, climate change, and environmental protection. It discusses the impact of ageing on healthcare and retirement sectors, as well as socio-economic inequalities in longevity and the changing burden of disease. The text also emphasizes the importance of evidence-based policies in areas such as cancer treatment, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, viral spread, zoonotic diseases, land use, plant-based diets, and environmental health. It provides examples of international and national efforts to implement evidence-based policies, including the creation of a pandemic fund and the establishment of expert councils. The author highlights the interconnectedness of environmental health, human health, and animal health, and underscores the need for evidence-based policies to address these complex issues. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (ZIB) is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The COVID-19 pandemic struck societies directly and indirectly, not just challenging population health but disrupting many aspects of life. Different effects of the spreading virus--and the measures to fight it--are reported and discussed in different scientific fora, with hard-to-compare methods and metrics from different traditions. While the pandemic struck some groups more than others, it is difficult to assess the comprehensive impact on social inequalities. This paper gauges social inequalities using individual-level administrative data for Sweden's entire population. We describe and analyze the relative risks for different social groups in four dimensions--gender, education, income, and world region of birth--to experience three types of COVID-19 incidence, as well as six additional negative life outcomes that reflect general health, access to medical care, and economic strain. During the pandemic, the overall population faced severe morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 and saw higher all-cause mortality, income losses and unemployment risks, as well as reduced access to medical care. These burdens fell more heavily on individuals with low income or education and on immigrants. Although these vulnerable groups experienced larger absolute risks of suffering the direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic, the relative risks in pandemic years (2020 and 2021) were conspicuously similar to those in prepandemic years (2016 to 2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The dramatic global impact of the coronavirus pandemic has increased consideration on epidemiological progressions of pandemics. Measures implemented to reduce viral transmission have been largely historical, comparable in nature with the 1918 and 2009 influenza pandemics, demonstrating the importance of clinicians' awareness on historical pandemics. Despite this, literature suggests medical students' knowledge on previous pandemics is poor. Objectives: This study aims to gather stakeholder information from UK medical students on the importance of including the history of pandemics in the medical school curriculum. Methods: A cross-sectional cohort study conducted via a mixed question type online survey was distributed to all UK medical schools to explore stakeholder views. Grounded theory emergent coding was used to generate themes to free-text answers and SPSS and Excel were used to analyse quantitative data using pivot tables and Fishers exact tests. Results: Two hundred and forty-one students consented to take part from eight medical schools in the UK with 98% of these students completing the questionnaire. 34% of students reported having teaching on pandemics with 78% of students stating it would be beneficial. Knowledge was poor with 5.7% of students achieving 100% on knowledge-based questions. 72% of students believed that learning about the history of medicine would be beneficial with 87% of these students referring to 'benefiting (the) future' in their answers. Additionally, 79% of students thought it would be beneficial to learn about historical pandemics with reference to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: To date, this is the only UK based study assessing stakeholders' views on including the history of pandemics in the medical school curriculum. Our findings demonstrate that medical students wish to have more historical content included in their degree to better prepare tomorrow's doctors for situations that may occur when history repeats itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global pandemics are most likely initiated via zoonotic transmission to humans in which respiratory viruses infect airways with relevance to mucosal systems. Out of the known pandemics, five were initiated by respiratory viruses including current ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Striking progress in vaccine development and therapeutics has helped ameliorate the mortality and morbidity by infectious agents. Yet, organism replication and virus spread through mucosal tissues cannot be directly controlled by parenteral vaccines. A novel mitigation strategy is needed to elicit robust mucosal protection and broadly neutralizing activities to hamper virus entry mechanisms and inhibit transmission. This review focuses on the oral mucosa, which is a critical site of viral transmission and promising target to elicit sterile immunity. In addition to reviewing historic pandemics initiated by the zoonotic respiratory RNA viruses and the oral mucosal tissues, we discuss unique features of the oral immune responses. We address barriers and new prospects related to developing novel therapeutics to elicit protective immunity at the mucosal level to ultimately control transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 has induced economic and financial disruptions to global economies, consistent with those experienced during previous episodes of economic or financial crises. This article offers a global perspective into the spread of the virus by investigating the convergence patterns of COVID-19 across 242 regions NUTS 2 in European Union, in period 2019 - 2022. The analysis presents regional imbalances evaluated by statistical techniques and methods that can reflect the evolution concerning the main economic aspects. Using the Gini coefficient for the last four years we demonstrated there was a slow convergence process in the NUTS 2 regions interrupted by the pandemic global crisis. Also, the evolution of the GDP per capita in PPS at regional level in the case of all the Member States for the 1997-2021 was analyzed in order to show the intensity between the crises. The pandemic crisis was also compared to the economic crisis (2008-2009) which demonstrated that the COVID-19 didn't have the same impact as the financial one, pandemic had the lower intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic impeded social interaction, negatively affecting well‐being worldwide. To slow virus spread, practices were enacted to minimize face‐to‐face contact, leading to increased social disconnection. As people turned increasingly to online environments (e.g., social media) to fulfill needs for inclusion and belonging, misinformation regarding COVID‐19 simultaneously ran rampant. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether impeded social inclusion may have contributed to the spread of misinformation. We recruited a sample of adult social media users in the United States (N = 431) and randomly assigned them to be either included, ostracized (i.e., ignored), or rejected (i.e., to receive explicitly negative attention). Participants subsequently rated their willingness to share COVID‐19 claims via social media (in fact, all claims were false). Participants learned that sharing some claims would likely lead to high expected engagement from others on social media (e.g., "likes"), whereas some claims would likely lead to little expected engagement. While information sharing was low in our sample, participants were more willing to share claims that they believed would lead to higher levels of engagement—consistent with the idea that sharing information is motivated not only by the desire to educate others but also to elicit social connection. However, this behavioral intention was no more common among participants who had been momentarily ostracized or rejected online than among participants who had been included. Future research should continue to explore the link between social exclusion and the motivation to disseminate (mis)information beyond a pandemic‐related context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, there is a need to better understand the factors that affected COVID-19 health outcomes using a more appropriate dataset and comprehensive variables. This paper constructs a novel daily provincial panel dataset (N = 14,507) during the nascent and important period of the pandemic (April-September 2020) to analyze both the socioeconomic (lockdowns or ECQ, mobility of individuals, health care capacity, and trends in transmission) and environmental factors (rainfall shocks, temperature in Celsius, average relative humidity, and wind speed) that affect COVID-19 health outcomes. A panel dataset is more apt than the other types of datasets since it addresses both spatial and time variations, as well as the time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity that, if ignored, would have resulted in biased estimates and findings. In addition, using a more complete list of explanatory variables could address omitted variable bias, which leads to proper identification and a more reliable set of findings that could aid the government in formulating optimal, multi-faceted, and timely policies for future health crises. Using fixed effects on panel data, our results, which are robust across the different lag structures and time periods used, are consistent with the existing literature with caveats. First, while ECQ is effective in stemming COVID-19 cases, it is ineffective in reducing COVID-19 deaths. Second, exogenous weather variables have heterogenous effects on COVID-19 health outcomes contingent on the period of analysis and the type of health outcome analyzed. Third, public behavior, which is only partially correlated with public policy (ECQ), matters in curtailing viral transmission. We conjecture that individuals voluntarily avoid infection for their own well-being, resulting in positive externalities, or they stay at home due to weather shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an investigative summary of U.S. Twitter user sentiment on the availability of COVID-19 vaccines during the period of February 03-10, 2021. The sentiments were captured from 2,000 Twitter Tweet data observations collected during a seven-day period. This period of time was when the COVID-19 pandemic had reached one-year maturity, and the spread of the virus was showing a gradual decline of daily cases since peaking at over 300,000 on January 8, 2021 (CDC, 2021). Additionally, during this time, a pandemic milestone had been reached in which 34 million vaccinations (10% of the U.S. population) had been administered. The intent of this paper is to depict the tone of conversation about the COVID-19 vaccine through sentiment analysis, and to determine if sentiment scores were highly impacted by the location that the Tweet was authored. This is an exploratory study to provide baseline information in a subject area that is still in its infancy relative to other subject areas in the sentiment analysis discipline. The 2,000 Twitter Tweet data observations were captured from a sample representing every state in the U.S. and provides a broad-spectrum representation of sentiment from people of many diverse geopolitical, socioeconomic, scientific, medical backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We exploit daily information on flight traffic between 37 European countries from 2019 to 2022 to identify the drivers of air travel demand during and after the pandemic. By applying two-way fixed-effects regressions on daily data at the route-level, we find that the strict lockdown orders reduced bilateral flights by about 17% on average. Our results suggest that the fall in flight traffic from the first and second lockdowns was about 10% and 12%, respectively, while the third lockdown led to a massive reduction corresponding to 22%. The results also reveal that a one-unit change in the aggregate stringency index led to 0.2% decrease in flight frequency, while reducing the number of passengers by 0.7%. The empirical evidence suggests that a substantial change in travel patterns was explained by the spread of the virus itself, as well as voluntary actions based on individual preferences and fear of infection. The main findings of this paper have important policy implications for a more coherent response to any future virus outbreak as it affects airlines and the general economy. • We assess the drivers of bilateral flights and passenger demand during COVID-19. • European flight data observed from 2019 to June 2022 are used. • Lockdowns and stringent measures explained less than 50% of flight reductions. • Individual preferences and voluntary actions also matter. • Incentives for vaccination uptake and for reducing the fear of infection are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the globe implemented severe restrictions of civic freedoms to contain the spread of the virus. The global health emergency posed the risk of governments seizing the pandemic as a window of opportunity to curb (potential) challenges to their power, thereby reinforcing the ongoing, worldwide trend of shrinking civic spaces. In this article, we investigate whether and how governments used the pandemic as a justification to impose restrictions of freedom of expression. Drawing on the scholarship on the causes of civic space restrictions, we argue that governments responded to COVID-19 by curtailing the freedom of expression when they had faced significant contentious political challenges before the pandemic. Our results from a quantitative analysis indeed show that countries who experienced high levels of pro-democracy mobilization before the onset of the pandemic were more likely to see restrictions of the freedom of expression relative to countries with no or low levels of mobilization. Additional three brief case studies (Algeria, Bolivia and India) illustrate the process of how pre-pandemic mass protests fostered the im-position of restrictions on the freedom of expression during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sigmae is the property of Universidade Federal de Alfenas (UNIFAL-MG) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Containing a pandemic is first and foremost a management problem: one has to find ways to reduce mobility and physical contacts in order to slow down the spread of the virus. We discuss and construct a novel database of internal and external lockdown measures around the world and analyze whether they helped reduce the spread of infections and the number of deaths. We address the endogeneity of lockdowns by modeling anticipation effects. Our data cover 178 countries in the period from December 2019 to November 2020 and identify lockdown and release periods along with confirmed cases of infections and deaths resulting from COVID-19. Overall, we find that lockdowns were effective, reduced mobility, and saved about 3.6 million lives in developed countries within 100 days after they were implemented. Measures taken within countries (rather than border closure) and partial lockdowns (instead of more constraining measures) were the most effective. However, in developing countries, where the opportunity cost of staying home might be too high for people to comply, lockdowns were ineffective. Additionally, the release of lockdown measures, which started in mid-May 2020 in most countries, did not lead to a strong resurgence of the virus except for border closure releases. This paper was accepted by Stefan Scholtes, healthcare management. Supplemental Material: The data is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4652. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the global spread and evolution of influenza viruses. Topics include the role of nonpharmaceutical interventions in reducing influenza transmission, the effect of disrupted human movement on viral evolution, and the identification of key geographic regions as sources of influenza viral strains.

Academic surgery has changed along with the rest of the world in response to the COVID pandemic. With increasing rates of vaccination against COVID over the past 2 y, we have slowly but steadily made progress toward controlling the spread of the virus. Surgeons, academic surgery departments, health systems, and trainees are all attempting to establish a new normal in various domains—clinical, research, teaching, and in their personal lives. How has the pandemic changed these areas? At the 2022 Academic Surgical Congress Hot Topics session, we attempted to address these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) is a first-line diagnostic tool for patients with cardiac symptoms. As observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ECG is essential to the initial patient evaluation. The novel KardioPal three-lead-based ECG reconstructive technology provides a potential alternative to a standard ECG, reducing the response time and cost of treatment and improving patient comfort. Our study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a reconstructed 12-lead ECG obtained by the KardioPal technology, comparing it with the standard 12-lead ECG, and to assess the feasibility and time required to obtain a reconstructed ECG in a real-life scenario. A prospective, nonrandomized, single-center, adjudicator-blinded trial was conducted on 102 patients during the COVID-19 pandemic at the Dedinje Cardiovascular Institute in Belgrade. The KardioPal system demonstrated a high feasibility rate (99%), with high specificity (96.3%), sensitivity (95.8%), and diagnostic accuracy (96.1%) for obtaining clinically relevant matching of reconstructed 12-lead compared to the standard 12-lead ECG recording. This novel technology provided a significant reduction in ECG acquisition time and the need for personnel and space for obtaining ECG recordings, thereby reducing the risk of viral transmission and the burden on an already overwhelmed healthcare system such as the one experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When an influenza pandemic emerges, temporary school closures and antiviral treat- ment may slow virus spread, reduce the overall disease burden, and provide time for vaccine development, distribution, and administration while keeping a larger portion of the general population infection free. The impact of such measures will depend on the transmissibility and severity of the virus and the timing and extent of their imple- mentation. To provide robust assessments of layered pandemic intervention strategies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded a network of academic groups to build a framework for the development and comparison of multiple pandemic influenza models. Research teams from Columbia University, Imperial College London/ Princeton University, Northeastern University, the University of Texas at Austin/Yale University, and the University of Virginia independently modeled three prescribed sets of pandemic influenza scenarios developed collaboratively by the CDC and network members. Results provided by the groups were aggregated into a mean-based ensemble. The ensemble and most component models agreed on the ranking of the most and least effective intervention strategies by impact but not on the magnitude of those impacts. In the scenarios evaluated, vaccination alone, due to the time needed for development, approval, and deployment, would not be expected to substantially reduce the numbers of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths that would occur. Only strategies that included early implementation of school closure were found to substantially mitigate early spread and allow time for vaccines to be developed and administered, especially under a highly transmissible pandemic scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to develop a multidimensional integrated efficiency analysis (MDIEA) model to be implemented when a pandemic breaks out. The first phase of the model involved the determination of input and output criteria that might affect the course of combat against the pandemic. Two methods were employed in the second phase: the CRITIC method, which uses objective values to determine criteria weights; and, the Fuzzy SWARA method, which is based on subjective values and decision-makers opinions due to the assumption that the criteria might not be determined precisely and completely. The subjective and objective criteria weights obtained from these two methods were combined using the SOWIA method so that integrated criteria weights could be determined. In the third phase, three separate efficiency rankings were obtained using EATWOS, OCRA, and FDEA methods depending on the criteria weights. In the fourth phase, these efficiency rankings were combined by employing the TPOP method to obtain one single precise ranking. The previous studies mostly analyzed the efficiency of countries by using one single efficiency method, where, the model proposed in this study determines countries' efficiency by employing three different efficiency analysis methods together; it makes use of different points of view and different calculation procedures of different methods. As another aspect, rural population ratio, diabetes prevalence rate, proportion of the population over 65 years old, number of intensive care beds and number of vaccine doses are study-specific criteria, unlike other studies. The present study is expected to contribute to the literature since it is the first study that proposes a model to evaluate the performances of countries during pandemics. The proposed model was implemented to assess OECD countries' efficiency in their fight against COVID-19, which was a prevailing crisis worldwide. When all the obtained results are considered, it is difficult to claim that one single criterion is effective in combating the pandemic. For an effective fight against the pandemic, it is of great importance to keep the rate of infection and therefore the number of infected people under control. It is also possible for countries to change their policies or adopt stricter policies to contain the spread of the virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of RSBO: Revista Sul-Brasileira de Odontologia is the property of UNIVILLE and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Understanding the risk factors associated with COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers is crucial for infection prevention and control. The aim of this study was to examine the risk of testing positive for COVID-19 among a multicenter cohort of workers, taking into account their occupational roles (medical professionals, staff in operational and administrative roles, or laboratory personnel) in healthcare settings. The data analyzed in this study included 2163 individuals with suggestive COVID-19 symptoms who underwent laboratory testing. The incidence rate in the study sample was calculated to be 15.3 cases per 10,000 person-days. The results from the multiple regression model indicated that job roles were not significantly associated with the risk of testing positive. However, age and the duration of the pandemic were identified as significant risk factors, with increasing age and longer pandemic duration being associated with a higher risk of testing positive. Additionally, vaccination was found to reduce the risk of testing positive. These findings provide valuable insights into COVID-19 transmission among indoor healthcare workers, highlighting the influence of age, pandemic duration, and vaccination on infection risk. Further research is needed to develop evidence-based strategies aimed at protecting healthcare workers and preventing virus spread in healthcare settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the 2023 World Press Freedom Index rankings by the RSF, India ranks 161 out of 180 countries. One of the important indicators that the index bases the ranking on is the level of violence against the journalists and their overall safety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian government cracked down on the press by reprimanding any form of dissent regarding their policies. This has resulted in journalists from various parts of the country being arrested, detained, and harassed. The much-debated Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and Disaster Management Act, 2005 were implemented to invoke curbs to contain the spread of coronavirus in India. The paper examines the consequences of the infodemic on the safety of journalists in the context of declining press freedom in the country in the context of the aforementioned acts. The analysis of cases focuses on highlighting how the laws introduced to "contain" the spread of the virus has been used as a tool to gatekeep the truth regarding the implementation of coronavirus policies by way of stifling the voice of journalists. The analysis reveals how various legal, political, and economic factors contribute to the lack of safety of journalists in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Social Policy Studies / Sosyal Politika Çalismalari Dergisi is the property of Journal of Social Policy Studies / Sosyal Politika Calismalari Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Most countries in the world closed their educational centers and maintained classes online to prevent the spread of the virus SARSV-Cov-2. Latin America is not an exception. Estimates of the transmission dynamics of the pandemic indicate the application of actions that will affect educational contexts for years. This piece reflects on necessary changes in educational policies to take account of the current setting of COVID-19. We focus this reflection from a Latino American perspective, but it is not exclusive. The discussion can be useful to other countries with similar characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a discussion concerning the role of police rationale(s) in Spain within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, where exceptionalist strategies aimed at curtailing the spread of the virus came to dramatically strengthen existing social divisions. In line with some authors who have already approached this phenomenon from different disciplines, our premise is that most serious emergencies boosted by Covid-19 were not a mere matter of public health, but rather a particularly harmful expression of accumulation by dispossession. Thus, rather than a flaw in the system produced by an exceptional friction between public security and public health, securitarian performances deployed by neoliberal states can be read as symbiotic strategies, from both law and order and business as usual approaches, to manage the social "externalities" of capitalist predatory strategies. As we will argue, phenomena such as the reinforcement of the policing consensus, police production of law, or the authoritarian turn favored by the Covid-19 health crisis must all be analyzed in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency in children. With the rise of the Coronavirus-19 pandemic, quarantine measures have been enforced to limit the viral transmission of this disease. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in the clinical presentation and outcomes of pediatric acute appendicitis during the Coronavirus-19 pandemic. Methods: A single-institution retrospective assessment of all pediatric patients (<18 years old) with acute appendicitis from December 2019 to June 2020 was performed at a tertiary care children's hospital. Patients were divided into two groups: (1) the Pre-COVID group presented on or before March 15, 2020, and (2) the COVID group presented after March 15, 2020. Demographic, preoperative, and clinical outcomes data were analyzed. Results: 45 patients were included with a median age of 13 years [IQR 9.9 - 16.2] and 35 males (78%). 28 patients were in the Pre-COVID group (62%) and 17 in the COVID group (38%). There were no differences in demographics or use of diagnostic imaging. The COVID group did have a significantly delayed presentation from symptom onset (36 vs 24 hours, P <.05), higher Pediatric Appendicitis Scores (8 vs 6, P =.003), and longer hospital stays (2.2 vs 1.3 days, P =.04). There were no significant differences for rates of re-admission, re-operation, surgical site infection, perforation, or abscess formation. Conclusion: During the Coronavirus-19 pandemic, the incidence of pediatric acute appendicitis was approximately 40% lower. These children presented in a delayed fashion with longer hospital stays. No differences were noted for postoperative complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: coronavirus disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2), a global pandemic, popularised the term "lockdown" due to its rapid spread around the world. "Lockdown" was used as an emergency measure to temporarily prevent people from entering or leaving their communities in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus. The effects of the "lockdown" measures on the management of chronic medical conditions in African populations have been inconsistent. This study aimed to assess the effects of the lockdown on glycaemic control in patients with diabetes. Methods: retrospective study that examined metadata from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2021, to assess the impact of the national SARS-CoV-2 response on the quantity and average level of haemoglobin A1c and random glucose in patients with diabetes at Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital. The data was retrieved from the National Health Laboratory Services corporate data warehouse. Results: from 2019 to 2021, a total of 9,039 tests were performed, with females accounting for 63.21% (n = 5,714) and males for 36.08% (n = 3,261), while 0.7% (n = 70) did not have an assigned gender. Mean age was 49, with a standard deviation (SD) of 21.71. The testing rate (TR) in 2019 was 10.74 per day, 2020 had a TR of 6.07, and 2021 had a TR of 7.95. During the pandemic phase, all other age groups had TRs below 1.85, except the 50-59, 60-69, and 70+ year-old groups. Conclusion: the study revealed that SARS-CoV-2 lockdown measures were linked to poor diabetes control in patients. As a result, the consequences of managing SARS-CoV-2 had a direct influence on diabetes management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess different motives underlying mask-wearing behaviors and discuss novel strategies for segmenting customers based on the motives. In 2020, as the novel coronavirus spread globally, face masks were recommended in public settings to protect against and slow down viral transmission. People complied to varying extents, and their reactions may have been driven by a variety of psychological factors. Based on the literature on social influence and on mask-wearing, we define three customer segments: Fully-Compliant customers wear masks, and they seem motivated primarily by concerns about their own health risk. Partially-Compliant customers also wear masks, but with improper and ineffective coverage; our empirical analysis suggests that they are motivated primarily by a desire to comply with social norms. Finally, Unmasked customers do not wear masks. We examine changes in shopping behaviors with the onset of the pandemic to corroborate the conjectured mask-wearing motives. We find that the three groups made significantly different behavior changes: Fully-Compliant customers shopped significantly faster and practiced stricter social distancing with the onset of the pandemic, whereas the other two groups did not adjust their shopping duration or social distancing. History: K. Sudhir served as the senior editor for this article. This paper was accepted through the Marketing Science: Frontiers review process. Funding: Financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71622008 and 71832006] and National Social Science Foundation of China [No. 22VRC174] is gratefully acknowledged. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2022.1419. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was politicised in the United States (US) by Donald Trump in an effort to deflect blame as the virus spread. In this paper, we empirically investigate media coverage of the WHO in the US to better understand how negative evaluations of international organisations (IOs) spread. To do so, we perform quantitative text analysis on an original corpus of over 11,000 news articles on the WHO from the New York Times and the Washington Post between 1980 and 2020. Our text‐as‐data analyses yield several noteworthy findings. First, we show that media coverage of the WHO in the US has become more negative over time. Second, we show that negativity increases during global health crises. Third, we provide evidence that explicit criticisms also increase during crises. Fourth, we show that "blame‐shifting" by Trump and allies was clearly observable in the US news media. Finally, we show that negative stories about the WHO are shared more than positive ones on social media. Our results provide unique evidence, suggesting that the WHO has become more politicised in the US, which we argue creates opportunities for politicians seeking to blame IOs during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Poyang Lake is the property of Journal of Poyang Lake Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The human monkeypox virus (MPXV) was first identified in 1959. Since then, the incidence of the disease has been sporadic. The endemic regions were identified in Africa's central and western areas. However, the infection started to spread in 2017 to non-endemic regions such as North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Since May 2022, the non-endemic areas reported 62,635 till 20th September 2022. Although the monkeypox virus has a mortality of ≥ 10%, it showed only 82 mortalities worldwide in 2022. The common symptoms include chills, fever, fatigue, and skin lesions, and the complications include secondary respiratory tract infections, encephalitis, blindness, and severe diarrhea. The factors responsible for spreading the virus include improper handling and consumption of infected bushmeat, unprotected sexual intercourse, contact with an infected person, no smallpox vaccination, improper hygiene, lower diagnostic capacity, and strong travel history from the endemic regions. The therapeutic strategy is symptom-based treatment and supportive care. Antivirals and vaccines such as Tecovirimat, Brincidofovir, Cidofovir, Imvamune, and ACAM2000 have shown promising results. The primary purpose of the review is to perform an epidemiological study and investigate the pathobiology, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and some associated complications of the monkeypox virus in 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]