Regulation of biomedical waste management in Kazakhstan during the pandemic in the context of best practices.

The COVID-19 pandemic actualized questions about the proper management of biomedical waste while creating several regulatory challenges and requiring countries to look for an appropriate response. These issues have become particularly relevant for Kazakhstan, where waste management issues traditionally face inefficient legal regulation and are particularly acute. This study aims to answer the question of what regulatory problems Kazakhstan currently face in the area of proper biomedical waste management, and how existing foreign experience can help solve them. The present study highlights several pertinent challenges within the context of medical waste management. These include issues concerning the licencing activities associated with waste management, the absence of well-defined regional plans for the management of medical waste and the lack of effective strategies to address the proper handling and disposal of this specific category of waste. At the same time, there are reasons to say that the country requires additional technical and expert support in the field of medical waste management.

COVID- 19 and human right to food: lived experiences of the urban poor in Kenya with the impacts of government's response measures, a participatory qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Globally, governments put in place measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Information on the effects of these measures on the urban poor is limited. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of the urban poor in Kenya in the context of government's COVID-19 response measures and its impact on the human right to food. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted in two informal settlements in Nairobi between January and March 2021. Analysis draws on eight focus group discussions, eight in-depth interviews, 12 key informant interviews, two photovoice sessions and three digital storytelling sessions. Phenomenology was applied to understand an individual's lived experiences with the human right to food during COVID - 19. Thematic analysis was performed using NVIVO software. RESULTS: The human right to food was affected in various ways. Many people lost their livelihoods, affecting affordability of food, due to response measures such as social distancing, curfew, and lockdown. The food supply chain was disrupted causing limited availability and access to affordable, safe, adequate, and nutritious food. Consequently, hunger and an increased consumption of low-quality food was reported. Social protection measures were instituted. However, these were inadequate and marred by irregularities. Some households resorted to scavenging food from dumpsites, skipping meals, sex-work, urban-rural migration and depending on food donations to survive. On the positive side, some households resorted to progressive measures such as urban farming and food sharing in the community. Generally, the response measures could have been more sensitive to the human rights of the urban poor. CONCLUSIONS: The government's COVID-19 restrictive measures exacerbated the already existing vulnerability of the urban poor to food insecurity and violated their human right to food. Future response measures should be executed in ways that respect the human right to food and protect marginalized people from resultant vulnerabilities.

Non-pharmaceutical interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 30 European countries: the ECDC-JRC Response Measures Database.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries implemented a wide set of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), sometimes with limited knowledge on their effect and impact on population. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) developed a Response Measures Database (ECDC-JRC RMD) to archive NPIs in 30 EU/EEA countries from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2022. We aimed to introduce a tool for the wider scientific community to assess COVID-19 NPIs effect and impact in the EU/EEA. We give an overview of the ECDC-JRC RMD rationale and structure, including a brief analysis of the main NPIs applied in 2020, before the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. The ECDC-JRC RMD organises NPIs through a three-level hierarchical structure and uses four additional parameters ('status', 'implementation', 'target group' and 'geographical representation') to provide further information on the implementation of each measure. Features including the ready-for-analysis, downloadable format and its agile taxonomy and structure highlight the potential of the ECDC-JRC RMD to facilitate further NPI analysis and optimise decision making on public health response policies.

One year of COVID-19: Impacts on safe driving behavior and policy recommendations.

INTRODUCTION: In the unprecedented year of 2020, the rapid spread of COVID-19 disrupted everyday activities worldwide, leading the majority of countries to impose lockdowns and confine citizens in order to minimize the exponential increase in cases and casualties. To date, very few studies have been concerned with the effect of the pandemic on driving behavior and road safety, and usually explore data from a limited time span. METHOD: This study presents a descriptive overview of several driving behavior indicators as well as road crash data in correlation with the strictness of response measures in Greece and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A k-means clustering approach was also employed to detect meaningful patterns. RESULTS: Results indicated that during the lockdown periods, speeds were increased by up to 6%, while harsh events were increased by about 35% in the two countries, compared to the period after the confinement. However, the imposition of another lockdown did not cause radical changes in Greek driving behavior during the late months of 2020. Finally, the clustering algorithm identified a "baseline," a "restrictions," and a "lockdown" driving behavior cluster, and it was shown that harsh braking frequency was the most distinctive factor. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS: Based on these findings, policymakers should focus on the reduction and enforcement of speed limits, especially within urban areas, as well as the incorporation of active travelers in the current transport infrastructure.

Random forest regression on joint role of meteorological variables, demographic factors, and policy response measures in COVID-19 daily cases: global analysis in different climate zones.

Different sources of factors in environment can affect the spread of COVID-19 by influencing the diffusion of the virus transmission, but the collective influence of which has hardly been considered. This study aimed to utilize a machine learning algorithm to assess the joint effects of meteorological variables, demographic factors, and government response measures on COVID-19 daily cases globally at city level. Random forest regression models showed that population density was the most crucial determinant for COVID-19 transmission, followed by meteorological variables and response measures. Ultraviolet radiation and temperature dominated meteorological factors, but the associations with daily cases varied across different climate zones. Policy response measures have lag effect in containing the epidemic development, and the pandemic was more effectively contained with stricter response measures implemented, but the generalized measures might not be applicable to all climate conditions. This study explored the roles of demographic factors, meteorological variables, and policy response measures in the transmission of COVID-19, and provided evidence for policymakers that the design of appropriate policies for prevention and preparedness of future pandemics should be based on local climate conditions, population characteristics, and social activity characteristics. Future work should focus on discerning the interactions between numerous factors affecting COVID-19 transmission.

The Impact of Urbanization on the Relationship between Carbon Storage Supply and Demand in Mega-Urban Agglomerations and Response Measures: A Case of Yangtze River Delta Region, China.

Rapid urbanization in mega-urban agglomerations disturbs the balance of carbon storage supply and demand (CSD) and constrains the achievement of sustainable development goals. Here, we developed a socio-ecological system (SES) framework coupled with ecosystem services (ES) cascade and DPSIR model to systematically analyze the impacts and responses of urbanization affecting CSD. We quantified urbanization and CSD using multi-source remote sensing data, such as land use and night lighting, together with related socio-economic data, such as total energy consumption, population and GDP. We found that from 2000 to 2020, the urbanization of Yangtze River Delta region (YRD) led to a decrease of 2.75% in carbon storage supply and an increase of 226.45% in carbon storage demand. However, carbon storage supply was still larger than carbon storage demand, and the spatial mismatch of CSD is the most important problem at present. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the response measures from the comprehensive perspective of SES. We identified key ecological conservation areas using a Marxan model to protect the carbon storage capacity in ecological subsystems, and promoted a carbon compensation scheme based on both the grandfather principle and the carbon efficiency principle, reconciling the contradiction between ecological conservation and socio-economic development in the social subsystem. Finally, this study quantified the threshold of urbanization based on the carbon neutrality target at which CSD reaches an equilibrium state. This study proposed a SES framework, and a set of methodologies to quantify the relationship between urbanization and CSD, which will help mega-urban agglomerations to promote harmonious development of urbanization and ecological conservation and to achieve the carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets proposed by the Chinese government.

Differential impacts of COVID-19 and associated responses on the health, social well-being and food security of users of supportive social and health programs during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.

The effects of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of underserved populations are underexplored. This study aimed to identify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health responses on the health and social well-being, and food security of users of Housing First (HF) services in Toronto (Canada) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative descriptive study was conducted from July to October 2020 in a subsample of 20 adults with a history of homelessness and serious mental disorders who were receiving HF services in Toronto. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect narrative data regarding health and social well-being, food security and access to health, social and preventive services. A thematic analysis framework guided analyses and interpretation of the data. The COVID-19 pandemic and response measures had a variable impact on the health, social well-being and food security of participants. Around 40% of participants were minimally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conversely, among the remaining participants (impacted group), some experienced onset of new mental health problems (anxiety, stress, paranoia) or exacerbation of pre-existing mental disorders (depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder). They also struggled with isolation and loneliness and had limited leisure activities and access to food goods. The pandemic also contributed to disparities in accessing and receiving healthcare services and treatment continuity for non-COVID-19 health issues for the negatively impacted participants. Overall, most participants were able to adhere to COVID-19 public health measures and get reliable information on COVID-19 preventive measures facilitated by having access to the phone, internet and media devices and services. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated response measures impacted the health, social well-being, leisure and food security of people with experiences of homelessness and mental disorders who use supportive social and housing services in diverse ways.

Evaluation on the psychological adjustment and countermeasures of civil servants in public emergencies.

Public health emergencies are inevitable major development crises, and there are almost no omens of any emergency. The current social development would inevitably affect the psychological situation of civil servants. Grass roots civil servants have a wider range of tasks, more difficult working conditions and a more difficult environment. Under the strong social pressure, civil servants would also have negative factors such as fear and negative attitude. The mental health of grass-roots civil servants depends not only on the image and efficiency of the government, but also on creating a harmonious atmosphere and the quality of economic development. Therefore, people must pay attention to the psychological health of civil servants. It is mainly through psychological intervention and psychological adjustment to improve mental health. By analyzing the psychological characteristics of civil servants under emergencies and under pressure, and according to the importance of their coping ability under emergencies, this paper conducted corresponding psychological adjustment and psychological intervention to ensure the psychological health of civil servants, improve their ability to deal with public emergencies, and enable them to use correct and positive psychology to deal with public emergencies. It can be seen from the firefly algorithm that the prediction error value of the comprehensive quality of civil servants was declining, while the evaluation effect of the comprehensive quality was rising. The average value of the prediction error value of the comprehensive quality was about 0.49, and the average value of the evaluation effect of the comprehensive quality was about 0.73. In the whole process, the prediction error value of comprehensive quality decreased by 0.37, and the evaluation effect of comprehensive quality increased by 0.33. The comprehensive psychological quality and psychological adjustment ability of civil servants after psychological intervention were better than those before psychological intervention. The comprehensive psychological quality of civil servants after psychological intervention was 8.56% higher than that before psychological intervention, and the psychological adjustment ability was 8.47% higher than that before psychological intervention.

COVID-19 water, sanitation, and hygiene response: Review of measures and initiatives adopted by governments, regulators, utilities, and other stakeholders in 84 countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on handwashing as an inexpensive, widely applicable response measure. In consequence, most governments have taken action to promote access to water and sanitation services for all. This paper documents an overview of initiatives and interventions that countries have implemented during the first months of the COVID-19 response. Initiatives have been identified across 84 countries worldwide, and categorized into those that aimed at securing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) for all, and those that sought to provide technical and financial support to service providers. The pandemic has not hit countries in the same way. Accordingly, results show disparities in the response between and within regions, with the level of activity found in the countries varying largely in terms of ambition and scope. Hygiene promotion and infection prevention and control (IPC) has been widely adopted - at least one response measure found in 94% of mapped countries -, although not always matched in ambition with the assured availability of soap, water, and handwashing facilities. Support to vulnerable households to promote basic access to WASH services at scale was weak (38% of countries) or implemented locally (25%), and requiring additional focus, particularly in rural areas and small towns. In addition, parallel support needs to be extended to service providers or to households themselves in the form of cash transfers, in order to ensure the financial viability and the continuity of services. All lessons learned distilled from the pandemic should help strengthen the enabling environment for more resilient services in future emergencies. Areas for focus could include developing specific pandemic response strategies and plans; strengthening coordination; and establishing emergency financial support mechanisms for water operators, for example. Overall, findings presented herein contribute to enhance current and future pandemics prevention, mitigation, and recovery.

Infectious Disease Modeling and Epidemic Response Measures Analysis Considering Asymptomatic Infection.

Classical SIR dynamic model and its derivative improved model may not accurately describe the epidemic situation similar to COVID-19 with characteristics of relative long incubation period and a large number of asymptomatic infections. Based on the existing epidemic compartment model, a novel compartment dynamic model considering actual transmission path of the symptomatic and asymptomatic infected is presented. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation are employed to conduct prediction of development of the epidemic. According to different epidemic response measures, i.e., mitigation measures, suppression measures, medical treatment, evolutionary trend of epidemic situation under the initial population distribution structure are discussed. Results show that the control effects of different response measures on the number of deaths depend on the timing of the implementation of the measures. For mitigation response measures, the timing of the implementation of the measures has no obvious effect on the final epidemic, while for suppression response measures, the effect of suppression response measures in the early stage of the epidemic is significantly better than that in the middle and late stage of the epidemic development. Furthermore, no matter which stage the epidemic is in, the improvement of medical treatment level will play an important role in effectively reducing mortality. This study provides useful enlightenment and decision-making reference for policy makers to choose appropriate epidemic prevention and response measures in practice.

Investigation of the Importance of Climatic Factors in COVID-19 Worldwide Intensity.

The transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the severity of the related disease (COVID-19) are influenced by a large number of factors. This study aimed to investigate the correlation of COVID-19 case and death rates with possible causal climatological and sociodemographic factors for the March to May 2020 (first wave) period in a worldwide scale by statistically processing data for over one hundred countries. The weather parameters considered herein were air temperature, relative humidity, cumulative precipitation, and cloud cover, while sociodemographic factors included population density, median age, and government measures in response to the pandemic. The results of this study indicate that there is a statistically significant correlation between average atmospheric temperature and the COVID-19 case and death rates, with chi-square test p-values in the 0.001-0.02 range. Regarding sociodemographic factors, there is an even stronger dependence of the case and death rates on the population median age (p = 0.0006-0.0012). Multivariate linear regression analysis using Lasso and the forward stepwise approach revealed that the median age ranks first in importance among the examined variables, followed by the temperature and the delays in taking first governmental measures or issuing stay-at-home orders.

Discrimination of chirp vocalizations in the cotton-top tamarin.

Natural exemplars of two types of chirp vocalizations were presented to eight groups of cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus o. oedipus) in a playback paradigm. The two chirps share many acoustic features in common but are used in entirely different circumstances. The tamarins gave different vocal and behavioral responses to the playbacks of each chirp type, indicating that a discrimination was made. The results suggest that tamarins can discriminate subtle acoustic cues which have communicative significance. In the absence of the nonvocal cues and social contexts that normally co-occur with these vocalizations the tamarins responded with the same vocal responses they would have given in normal social contexts. Significant differences in post-stimulus behavior to the two types of stimuli appeared in the first two blocks of trials, indicating that the playback paradigm can be an efficient means of testing discrimination between different call types.