Policies Tackling the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Sociopolitical Perspective from Taiwan.

As people around the world anxiously watched the early development of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, they expected Taiwan be one of the hardest-hit countries. Yet, to the surprise of many onlookers, the country has managed to keep severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 at bay. Taiwan has taken decisive actions to prevent spread of the virus since the very beginning of the epidemic. While the fight is still ongoing, we provide an overview of major policies and strategies undertaken in Taiwan to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing them from a sociopolitical perspective. We found that the centralized and professional leadership, democratic and accountable political culture, and vibrant civil society and broad social participation are the key features of disease control in Taiwan.

Laughing it off: Coronavirus superspreaders, anxiety, and fear in Jordan and Australia.

This short piece is a reflection on some of the stark cultural, social, and official differences between Australian and Jordanian handling of the mental health crisis triggered by COVID-19 seen through the eyes of two researchers living in the 2 countries. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Experience from a Singapore tertiary hospital with restructuring of a vascular surgery practice in response to national and institutional policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Singapore was one of the first countries to be affected by COVID-19, with the index patient diagnosed on January 23, 2020. For 2 weeks in February, we had the highest number of COVID-19 cases behind China. In this article, we summarize the key national and institutional policies that were implemented in response to COVID-19. We also describe in detail, with relevant data, how our vascular surgery practice has changed because of these policies and COVID-19. We show that with a segregated team model, the vascular surgery unit can still function while reducing risk of cross-contamination. We explain the various strategies adopted to reduce outpatient and inpatient volume. We provide a detailed breakdown of the type of vascular surgical cases that were performed during the COVID-19 pandemic and compare it with preceding months. We discuss our operating room and personal protective equipment protocols in managing a COVID-19 patient and share how we continue surgical training amid the pandemic. We also discuss the challenges we might face in the future as COVID-19 regresses.

Patient rights and healthcare-associated infection.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in 1948, and since that time, human rights have become widely recognized and legally enforceable in many countries. Patient rights are now included in healthcare constitutions, such as that of the English National Health Service, and in professional codes of practice. Patient rights have a number of implications for the control of healthcare-associated infections (HCAI), including: (1) justification for infection control over and above economic benefit; (2) focus and emphasis on the individual patient experience; (3) identification of some of the actions taken to control infection as breaches of rights; (4) bridging professional, infection control and public health ethics; (5) a requirement to specify the conditions under which rights can be breached; and (6) grounds for those seeking compensation for HCAI. Assuring patient rights has the potential to improve the patient experience, and in so doing, improve public confidence in healthcare provision and providers.