Risk compensation after COVID-19 vaccination: Evidence from vaccine rollout by exact birth date in South Korea.

We utilize the phased rollout of COVID-19 vaccines by exact birth date in South Korea as a natural experiment for testing risk compensation. People may resume face-to-face social activities following vaccination because they perceive lower risk of infection. Applying a regression discontinuity design based on birth date cutoffs for vaccine eligibility, we find no evidence of risk-compensating behaviors, as measured by large, high-frequency data from credit card and airline companies as well as survey data. We find some evidence of self-selection into vaccine take-up based on perception toward vaccine effectiveness and side effects, but the treatment effects do not differ between compliers and never-takers.

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day: do climate variations enhance the spread of COVID-19?

The spread of infectious diseases was further promoted due to busy cities, increased travel, and climate change, which led to outbreaks, epidemics, and even pandemics. The world experienced the severity of the 125 nm virus called the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a pandemic declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019. Many investigations revealed a strong correlation between humidity and temperature relative to the kinetics of the virus's spread into the hosts. This study aimed to solve the riddle of the correlation between environmental factors and COVID-19 by applying RepOrting standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses (ROSES) with the designed research question. Five temperature and humidity-related themes were deduced via the review processes, namely 1) The link between solar activity and pandemic outbreaks, 2) Regional area, 3) Climate and weather, 4) Relationship between temperature and humidity, and 5) the Governmental disinfection actions and guidelines. A significant relationship between solar activities and pandemic outbreaks was reported throughout the review of past studies. The grand solar minima (1450-1830) and solar minima (1975-2020) coincided with the global pandemic. Meanwhile, the cooler, lower humidity, and low wind movement environment reported higher severity of cases. Moreover, COVID-19 confirmed cases and death cases were higher in countries located within the Northern Hemisphere. The Blackbox of COVID-19 was revealed through the work conducted in this paper that the virus thrives in cooler and low-humidity environments, with emphasis on potential treatments and government measures relative to temperature and humidity. HIGHLIGHTS: • The coronavirus disease 2019 (COIVD-19) is spreading faster in low temperatures and humid area. • Weather and climate serve as environmental drivers in propagating COVID-19. • Solar radiation influences the spreading of COVID-19. • The correlation between weather and population as the factor in spreading of COVID-19.

A virtually supervised exercise program improved fitness and mental wellness in healthy and comorbidity older adult individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic affected older adults worldwide. Sedentary older adults experienced more severe adverse health effects due to their shelter-in-place. Physical activity was strongly recommended during periods of social distancing. The present study evaluated the impact of a virtually supervised exercise program on the physical fitness and mental health of Mexican older adults during the pandemic's lockdown. Methods: Participants were 44 older adults who were assigned to one of four physical fitness groups: a healthy control group (Ctrl-H, n = 15), a comorbidity control group (Ctrl-COM, n = 9), an exercise group without comorbidities (Exe-H, n = 11), and an exercise group with comorbidities (Exe-COM, n = 9). The participants engaged in a 60-min, virtually-supervised concurrent exercise session three times/week for 12 weeks. Fitness was measured using the online Senior Fitness Tests and the 4-m Gait Speed Test. Mental health was evaluated through virtual interviews using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Within-subject pre vs. post-intervention comparisons tested for significant differences, between-groups and over time. Results: Significant interactions were found in the scores of the Geriatric Depression Scale (p ≤ 0.0001; ηp2 = 0.35), the Hamilton Depression Scale (p ≤ 0.0001; ηp2 = 0.35), resilience scores (p ≤ 0.0001; ηp2 = 0.46), lower-body strength (p ≤ 0.0001; ηp2 = 0.32), timed up-and-go test (p = 0.018; ηp2 = 0.18), the 6MWT distance scores (p ≤ 0.0001; ηp2 = 0.39), and the 4-m gait speed test scores (p = 0.011; ηp2 = 0.20). Conclusion: A long-term virtually-supervised exercise program conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown period led to marked improvements in both the fitness and mental health of older Mexican adults. Comorbidities did not diminish these benefits. These findings provide empirical support for online exercise programs in the daily routines of older adults to make clinically meaningful improvements in both physical and mental well-being.

Factors Influencing Compliance With Social Distancing as a Nonpharmaceutical Intervention Before Vaccine Availability During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in South Korea.

This study aimed to identify factors influencing compliance with social distancing, a key nonpharmaceutical intervention during the early stages of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The study population comprised 182 758 Koreans who participated in the 2020 Community Health Survey. Personal characteristics were classified into sociodemographic, health behavioral, and psychosocial factors, and factors associated with social distancing compliance were identified. Health behaviors and psychosocial factors were highly related to compliance with social distancing. Approximately 13% of smokers were less likely to practice physical distancing and 50% of high-risk drinkers were less likely to limit going out or attending gatherings and events. Higher concern about COVID-19 and a more positive perception of the government's response policy were associated with a higher compliance with social distancing. Strategic public health policies considering the characteristics of the public are needed to enhance compliance with nonpharmaceutical interventions during disease outbreaks lacking effective treatments and vaccines.

Interrupting Effect of Social Distancing on Ischemic Heart Disease, Asthma, Stroke, and Suicide Attempt Patients by PM2.5 Exposure.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the interrupting effect of social distancing (SD) on emergency department (ED) patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, asthma, and suicide attempts by PM2.5 exposure in eight Korean megacities from 2017 to 2020. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study used National Emergency Department Information System and AirKorea data. A total of 469014 patients visited EDs from 2017 to 2020. Interrupted time series analysis was employed to examine changes in the level and slope of the time series, relative risk, and confidence intervals (CIs) by PM2.5 exposure. The SD level was added to the sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: The interrupted time series analysis demonstrated a significant increase in the ratio of relative risk (RRR) of IHD patients in Seoul (RRR=1.004, 95% CI: 1.001, 1.006) and Busan (RRR=1.007, 95% CI: 1.002, 1.012) post-SD. Regarding stroke, only patients in Seoul exhibited a significant decrease post-SD (RRR=0.995, 95% CI: 0.991, 0.999). No significant changes were observed for asthma in any of the cities. In the case of suicide attempts, Ulsan demonstrated substantial pre-SD (RR=0.827, 95% CI: 0.732, 0.935) and post-SD (RRR=1.200, 95% CI: 1.057, 1.362) differences. CONCLUSION: While the interrupting effect of SD was not as pronounced as anticipated, this study did validate the effectiveness of SD in modifying health behaviors and minimizing avoidable visits to EDs in addition to curtailing the occurrence of infectious diseases.

Factors associated with compliance with barrier gestures and social distancing measures in France.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic led many countries to drastically limit social activities. The objective of this study is to describe the factors associated with compliance with protective measures and social distancing in the general adult population in France, between March and December 2020 (first and second waves of the epidemic), before vaccination began at the end of December 2020. METHOD: The data come from the CoviPrev repeated cross-sectional descriptive survey, conducted between March 2020 and December 2022 in metropolitan France. The data collected from March to December 2020 (19 survey waves), from a panel representative of the general population, were used. Three periods were defined: the first epidemic wave (March-April), the inter-wave period (May-June) and the second epidemic wave (November-December). A compliance score was constructed to measure systematic compliance with the five main measures. The association between systematic compliance and different variables (sociodemographic, mental health, level of health literacy, perceived severity of COVID-19, confidence in government, perceived effectiveness of the measures) was described using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models, using the statistical software R. RESULTS: Systematic compliance with the preventive measures changed over time. Regardless of the period, being a woman, being over 50, perceiving COVID-19 as severe, having a high level of health literacy or anxiety were positively associated with compliance. Having a child under 16 years of age and perceiving the measures as effective were positively associated with compliance with the protective measures during the epidemic waves; conversely, having a high level of depression, living alone, not working were negatively associated in the first epidemic wave. Finally, during the inter-wave period, living in an area heavily affected during the first wave and having a high level of education were positively and negatively associated with systematic compliance with the preventive measures, respectively. CONCLUSION: The factors associated with compliance with the protective measures and social distancing evolved during the epidemic. Monitoring this evolution, in order to adapt communication and awareness strategies, is essential in the context of pandemic response.

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic non-pharmacologic interventions temporally associated with reduced pediatric infections due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae and co-infecting respiratory viruses in Arkansas.

Non-pharmacologic interventions (NPIs), such as universal masking, implemented during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have reduced respiratory infections among children. This study evaluated the impact of NPIs on Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in children, analyzing data from two hospitals in Arkansas and examining age-related differences and co-infections with other respiratory viruses. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board and included patients (≤18 years) with upper respiratory tract symptoms. Data generated from the FilmArray Respiratory Panel were divided into pre-NPI, NPI, and post-NPI periods for analysis. Overall test positivity rate and positivity rate interval changes were evaluated. Statistical differences were determined by Chi-square (χ2 independence) analysis. A total of 100,077 tests were performed, with a statistical increase in testing volume during the NPI and post-NPI periods. The number of positive M. pneumoniae tests decreased by 77% (77 to 18) during the NPI period, then increased by 50% (18 to 27) during the post-NPI period. Preschool and elementary school age groups had the highest number of positive tests during the study at 59 (48%) and 40 (33%), respectively. Reduced M. pneumoniae infections were consistent across age groups. Co-infections with other respiratory viruses, particularly human rhinovirus/enterovirus, were observed at much lower levels. Pediatric M. pneumoniae infections in Arkansas were temporally associated with implementation and discontinuation of NPIs. Specific viral co-infections still occurred, albeit at lower levels during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Because of the slower growth of this bacterium, we expect M. pneumoniae infections to return to pre-pandemic levels within approximately 2 years. IMPORTANCE: Non-pharmacologic interventions (NPIs) effectively curtailed the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and, fortuitously, many other aerosol-transmitted respiratory pathogens. This study included the largest data set of symptomatic, pediatric patients from within the United States spanning a period from November 2017 through December 2023, and encompassed individuals residing in both rural and urban settings. We observed a strong correlation between the implementation and cessation of NPIs with the rate of respiratory infections due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae and viral co-infections. These infections are returning to baseline levels approximately 2 years following NPI cessation. This observation was not unexpected since the replication time for viruses is exponentially faster than that of bacteria. The resurgence of M. pneumoniae and likely other atypical bacterial pathogens is currently in process. Healthcare providers should strongly consider these pathogens in individuals presenting with respiratory tract illnesses.

Changes in social mixing and attitudes and practices to precautionary measures in a maturing COVID-19 pandemic in six communities in Sudan: a qualitative study.

INTRODUCTION: With low COVID-19 vaccination coverage, non-pharmaceutical interventions were critical to mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic in Sudan. We explored changes in social contact patterns, risk perception, attitudes, and practices toward protective measures during an evolving COVID-19 outbreak in six illustrative communities in Sudan. METHODS: This qualitative study took place in six communities in five Sudanese states using focus group discussions with community members and non-participant structured observations in public spaces between March 2021 and April 2021. A total of 117 participants joined 24 group discussions. We used a two-stage thematic analysis. RESULTS: The perceived importance of compliance with individual preventative measures among those who believe in COVID-19 was higher than observed compliance with behaviors in most study sites. Adherence was consistently low and mainly driven by enforced movement restrictions. As restrictions were lifted, social contacts outside the household resumed pre-COVID-19 levels, and risk perception and individual and institutional adherence to protective measures diminished. We identified an environment that is socially and economically unsupportive of preventive practices, compounded by widespread rumours, misinformation, and mistrust in the government-led response. However, we identified new social habits that can contribute to reducing COVID-19 transmission. CONCLUSION: The unfavourable social and economic environment, coupled with the low visibility of the pandemic and pandemic response, has likely modulated the influence of higher risk perception on adopting precautionary behaviours by individuals. Governments and non-governmental actors should increase the visibility of the pandemic and pandemic response, enforce and incentivise infection control measures in public areas, promote emerging preventive social habits, and actively track and address rumours and misinformation related to COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines.

Cardiac Rehabilitation During the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Potential for Digital Technology to Support Physical Activity Maintenance: Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Social distancing from the COVID-19 pandemic may have decreased engagement in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and may have had possible consequences on post-CR exercise maintenance. The increased use of technology as an adaptation may benefit post-CR participants via wearables and social media. Thus, we sought to explore the possible relationships of both the pandemic and technology on post-CR exercise maintenance. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to (1) understand CR participation during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) identify perceived barriers and facilitators to physical activity after CR completion, and (3) assess willingness to use technology and social media to support physical activity needs among older adults with cardiovascular disease. METHODS: We recruited participants aged 55 years and older in 3 different CR programs offered at both public and private hospitals in Northern California. We conducted individual interviews on CR experiences, physical activity, and potential for using technology. We used thematic analysis to synthesize the data. RESULTS: In total, 22 participants (n=9, 41% female participants; mean age 73, SD 8 years) completed in-depth interviews. Themes from participants' feedback included the following: (1) anxiety and frustration about the wait for CR caused by COVID-19 conditions, (2) positive and safe participant experience once in CR during the pandemic, (3) greater attention needed to patients after completion of CR, (4) notable demand for technology during the pandemic and after completion of CR, and (5) social media networking during the CR program considered valuable if training is provided. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals who completed CR identified shared concerns about continuing physical activity despite having positive experiences during the CR program. There were significant challenges during the pandemic and heightened concerns for safety and health. The idea of providing support by leveraging digital technology (wearable devices and social media for social support) resonated as a potential solution to help bridge the gap from CR to more independent physical activity. More attention is needed to help individuals experience a tailored and safe transition to home to maintain physical activity among those who complete CR.

Longitudinal association between frequency of Internet use and incident disability among community-dwelling older people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence of a protective effect of Internet use for incident disability (ID) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the association between frequency of Internet use (FIU) and ID among community-dwelling older people. METHODS: We used longitudinal data from the 2019 and 2022 surveys, including 7,913 residents aged ≥65 without disability at baseline. ID was defined as a new public long-term care insurance certification. FIU at baseline was categorized into daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and non-users. Changes in FIU before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were categorized into continuing frequent (i.e., daily or weekly), continuing moderate (i.e., monthly or yearly), increase in frequency, from non-users to users, decrease in frequency, from users to non-users, and continuing non-users. Covariates included age, gender, education, perceived economic situation, family structure, body mass index, chronic medical conditions, dietary variety, working status, walking time, and cognitive functioning. Multivariable Poisson regression models were used to estimate adjusted cumulative incidence ratio (aCIR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for ID. RESULTS: During the 3-year follow-up, 132 of 4,453 people aged 65-74, 595 of 3,460 people aged ≥75, 287 of 3,660 men, and 440 of 4,253 women developed ID. For FIU at baseline, among people aged ≥75 or men, there was a dose-response relationship between more frequent Internet use at baseline and a lower risk of ID (P-trend was 0.005 in people aged ≥75, and <0.001 in men). Compared to non-users, daily users had a significantly lower risk of ID [aCIR (95% CI) = 0.69 (0.53-0.90) in people aged ≥75, and 0.49 (0.34-0.70) in men]. For changes in FIU, "continuing frequent" and "from non-users to users" had a lower risk of ID than continuing non-users. After stratified analyses, "continuing frequent" remained a significant association in people aged ≥75 or in men, while "from non-users to users" had a significant association in those with daily walking time <30 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: Although FIU may act as a marker of disability, or indicate individual adaptability, our findings suggest that Internet use may be a potential preventive measure against ID in community-dwelling older people when social distancing is required.

Systematic review of empiric studies on lockdowns, workplace closures, and other non-pharmaceutical interventions in non-healthcare workplaces during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic: benefits and selected unintended consequences.

BACKGROUND: We conducted a systematic review aimed to evaluate the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions within non-healthcare workplaces and community-level workplace closures and lockdowns on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, selected mental disorders, and employment outcomes in workers or the general population. METHODS: The inclusion criteria included randomized controlled trials and non-randomized studies of interventions. The exclusion criteria included modeling studies. Electronic searches were conducted using MEDLINE, Embase, and other databases from January 1, 2020, through May 11, 2021. Risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. Meta-analysis and sign tests were performed. RESULTS: A total of 60 observational studies met the inclusion criteria. There were 40 studies on COVID-19 outcomes, 15 on anxiety and depression symptoms, and five on unemployment and labor force participation. There was a paucity of studies on physical distancing, physical barriers, and symptom and temperature screening within workplaces. The sign test indicated that lockdown reduced COVID-19 incidence or case growth rate (23 studies, p < 0.001), reproduction number (11 studies, p < 0.001), and COVID-19 mortality or death growth rate (seven studies, p < 0.05) in the general population. Lockdown did not have any effect on anxiety symptoms (pooled standardized mean difference = -0.02, 95% CI: -0.06, 0.02). Lockdown had a small effect on increasing depression symptoms (pooled standardized mean difference = 0.16, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.21), but publication bias could account for the observed effect. Lockdown increased unemployment (pooled mean difference = 4.48 percentage points, 95% CI: 1.79, 7.17) and decreased labor force participation (pooled mean difference = -2.46 percentage points, 95% CI: -3.16, -1.77). The risk of bias for most of the studies on COVID-19 or employment outcomes was moderate or serious. The risk of bias for the studies on anxiety or depression symptoms was serious or critical. CONCLUSIONS: Empiric studies indicated that lockdown reduced the impact of COVID-19, but that it had notable unwanted effects. There is a pronounced paucity of studies on the effect of interventions within still-open workplaces. It is important for countries that implement lockdown in future pandemics to consider strategies to mitigate these unintended consequences. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration # CRD42020182660.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Hand Hygiene, Mask Use, and Social Distancing among Public Hospital and Polyclinic Nurses in Barbados during the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are essential members of the healthcare workforce and were among the first-line carers for patients in community and hospital settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, they were at a heightened risk of infection, resulting in several reported deaths among nursing staff. Several preventive measures were adopted to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This study aims to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of nurses regarding hand hygiene, mask wearing, and social distancing measures in healthcare settings in Barbados during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: An online survey of nurses working in public hospitals and polyclinics (public primary care clinics) in Barbados from March 2021 to December 2021 was conducted. A nonsystematic convenience sampling method was employed to recruit nurses who were readily available and willing to participate. A questionnaire captured the sociodemographic information and knowledge and practices related to hand hygiene, the use of face masks, and social distancing. Each correct response received one mark. Overall knowledge scores were categorized as poor (<60%), average (60-80%), or good (>80-100%). RESULTS: Of the 192 participants, the majority were female (82.8%) and had >5 years of experience (82%). The findings revealed that 45.8% had poor knowledge of hand hygiene, and that the knowledge of 43.8% of respondents was average. Multivariable logistic regression showed that, after adjustment for age and gender, registered nurses had 2.1 times increased odds (95% confidence interval 1.0, 4.2) of having good knowledge compared to other nursing categories. Regarding mask wearing, 53.6% of nurses had average knowledge, and 27.1% had good knowledge. Multivariable logistic regression showed that, after adjustment for age and gender, registered nurses had 3.3 times increased odds (95% confidence interval 1.5, 7.4) of having good knowledge compared to nursing assistants. A total of 68.6% of respondents followed the correct steps of handwashing every time, and 98.3% wore a mask in public places. More than half of the nurses (51.2%) kept a safe distance from others to avoid spreading SARS-CoV-2; one-third were in a crowded place(s) in the past three months, and 55.8% usually followed guidelines for social isolation as recommended by the WHO. CONCLUSIONS: The study identified knowledge deficiencies related to hand hygiene and wearing masks among nurses. It is imperative to provide additional training on infection control measures.

The Impact of Wireless Emergency Alerts on a Floating Population in Seoul, South Korea: Panel Data Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Wireless emergency alerts (WEAs), which deliver disaster information directly to individuals' mobile phones, have been widely used to provide information related to COVID-19 and to encourage compliance with social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The floating population refers to the number of people temporarily staying in a specific area, and this demographic data can be a useful indicator to understand the level of social distancing people are complying with during the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to empirically analyze the impact of WEAs on the floating population where WEAs were transmitted in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. As most WEA messages focus on compliance with the government's social distancing guidelines, one of the goals of transmitting WEAs during the COVID-19 pandemic is to control the floating population at an appropriate level. METHODS: We investigated the empirical impact of WEAs on the floating population across 25 districts in Seoul by estimating a panel regression model at the district-hour level with a series of fixed effects. The main independent variables were the number of instant WEAs, the daily cumulative number of WEAs, the total cumulative number of WEAs, and information extracted from WEAs by natural language processing at the district-hour level. The data set provided a highly informative empirical setting as WEAs were sent by different local governments with various identifiable district-hour-level data. RESULTS: The estimates of the impact of WEAs on the floating population were significantly negative (-0.013, P=.02 to -0.014, P=.01) across all specifications, implying that an additional WEA issuance reduced the floating population by 1.3% (=100(1-e-0.013)) to 1.4% (=100(1-e-0.014)). Although the coefficients of DCN (the daily cumulative number of WEAs) were also negative (-0.0034, P=.34 to -0.0052, P=.15) across all models, they were not significant. The impact of WEAs on the floating population doubled (-0.025, P=.02 to -0.033, P=.005) when the first 82 days of observations were used as subsamples to reduce the possibility of people blocking WEAs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that issuing WEAs and distributing information related to COVID-19 to a specific district was associated with a decrease in the floating population of that district. Furthermore, among the various types of information in the WEAs, location information was the only significant type of information that was related to a decrease in the floating population. This study makes important contributions. First, this study measured the impact of WEAs in a highly informative empirical setting. Second, this study adds to the existing literature on the mechanisms by which WEAs can affect public response. Lastly, this study has important implications for making optimal WEAs and suggests that location information should be included.

Trend in loneliness among Swiss university students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The need to maintain physical and social distance between people and the stay-at-home recommendation/order to contain the spread of COVID-19 have raised concerns about the possible increase in loneliness. However, few studies have analyzed trends or changes in loneliness in samples of young adults. The present study aimed to explore the prevalence of loneliness and its change during the COVID-19 pandemic. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: This is a repeated cross-sectional study analyzing data collected through six online surveys between April 2020 and March 2021 from 5,669 university students in Switzerland. Logistic regression models were used to examine trends in loneliness and associations between loneliness, well-being, life at home, COVID-19 symptoms and tests. RESULTS: Loneliness decreased between April 2020 and May-June 2020. In contrast, loneliness was higher in December 2020, January and March 2021 compared to April 2020. Loneliness was associated with younger age, studying architecture, design and civil engineering or engineering, enjoying time spent with family/partner, experiencing tensions and conflicts at home, boredom, feeling locked up and subjective well-being and current health. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight an increase in loneliness during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, although a seasonality effect cannot be excluded. Public health systems and educational institutions need to monitor the effects of social distancing measures and reduced social contact on students' loneliness and well-being.

Evaluating the dynamic interplay of social distancing policies regarding airborne pathogens through a temporal interaction-driven model that uses real-world and synthetic data.

OBJECTIVE: The recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has exhibited diverse patterns of spread across countries and communities, emphasizing the need to consider the underlying population dynamics in modeling its progression and the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical intervention strategies in combating viral transmission within human communities. Such an understanding requires accurate modeling of the interplay between the community dynamics and the disease propagation dynamics within the community. METHODS: We build on an interaction-driven model of an airborne disease over contact networks that we have defined. Using the model, we evaluate the effectiveness of temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal social distancing policies. Temporal social distancing involves a pure dilation of the timeline while preserving individual activity potential and thus prolonging the period of interaction; spatial distancing corresponds to social distancing pods; and spatiotemporal distancing pertains to the situation in which fixed subgroups of the overall group meet at alternate times. We evaluate these social distancing policies over real-world interactions' data and over history-preserving synthetic temporal random networks. Furthermore, we evaluate the policies for the disease's with different number of initial patients, corresponding to either the phase in the progression of the infection through a community or the number of patients infected together at the initial infection event. We expand our model to consider the exposure to viral load, which we correlate with the meetings' duration. RESULTS: Our results demonstrate the superiority of decreasing social interactions (i.e., time dilation) within the community over partial isolation strategies, such as the spatial distancing pods and the spatiotemporal distancing strategy. In addition, we found that slow-spreading pathogens (i.e., pathogens that require a longer exposure to infect) spread roughly at the same rate as fast-spreading ones in highly active communities. This result is surprising since the pathogens may follow different paths. However, we demonstrate that the dilation of the timeline considerably slows the spread of the slower pathogens. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the temporal dynamics of a community have a more significant effect on the spread of the disease than the characteristics of the spreading processes.

Social Distance Warriors Should Not Be Regarded as Moral Exemplars in a Pandemic Nor as Paragons of Politeness: A Response to Shaw.

In a recent article, Shaw contrasts his own supposed good behaviour, as that of a self-proclaimed "social distance warrior" with the alleged rude behaviour of one of his relatives, Jack, at social events in the former's house in Scotland in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. He does so to illustrate and support his claims that it was wrong and rude to fail to comply with the governmental advice regarding social distancing because we had a responsibility "to minimize risk" and not wrong nor rude to challenge and cajole those people who failed to do so. This article shows that his claims are contestable. It suggests that his own behaviour was no better than Jack's.

The paradox of pandemic mitigation? Moderating role of pandemic severity on the impact of social distancing policies: a cultural value perspective.

BACKGROUND: Social distancing policies were of utmost importance during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. These policies aimed to mitigate the severity of local outbreaks by altering public behavior. However, if the severity of the pandemic reduces, the impact of these policies on actual behavior may decrease. This study aims to examine, from a global perspective, whether the impact of social distancing policies on actual mobility is moderated by local pandemic severity and whether this moderating effect varies across cultural value contexts. METHODS: We combined multiple publicly available global datasets for structural equation model analysis. 17,513 rows of data from 57 countries included in all databases were analyzed. Multilevel moderated moderation models were constructed to test the hypotheses. RESULTS: More stringent policies in a region mean less regional mobility (ß = -0.572, p < 0.001). However, the severity of local outbreaks negatively moderated this effect (ß = -0.114, p < 0.001). When the pandemic was not severe, the influence of policy intensity on mobility weakened. Furthermore, based on Schwartz's cultural values theory, cultural values of autonomy (ß = -0.109, p = 0.011), and egalitarianism (ß = -0.108, p = 0.019) reinforced the moderating effect of pandemic severity. On the other hand, cultural values of embeddedness (ß = 0.119, p = 0.006) and hierarchy (ß = 0.096, p = 0.029) attenuated the moderating effect. CONCLUSIONS: Social distancing policies aim to reduce the severity of local pandemics; however, the findings reveal that mitigating local pandemics may reduce their impact. Future policymakers should be alert to this phenomenon and introduce appropriate incentives to respond. The results also show that the moderating role of pandemic severity varies across cultures. When policies are promoted to deal with global crises, policymakers must seriously consider the resistance and potential incentives of cultural values.

Extending the theory of planned behavior to envisage social distancing behavior in containing the COVID-19 outbreak.

The study investigates the antecedents that influence social distancing behavior during the COVID-19 outbreak and develops a hypothetical model integrating additional pertinent variables into the classic theory of planned behavior (TPB) to grasp the social distancing behavior accurately. The extended model was investigated employing structural equation modeling using the data collected through Snowball Technology from 331 respondents. The results unearth significant influences of all the predictor variables on their outcome variables. Surprisingly, the supportive government strategy has no crucial impact on perceived behavioral control toward social distancing. Furthermore, the study reports no trivial difference between young and old and high-low income groups on the intention-actual social distancing. The study outlines policy interventions to prevent mass transmission of the COVID-19 catastrophe. Lastly, limitations are specified to open up novel insights for future researchers.

The COVID-19 pandemic and changes in social behavior: Protective face masks reduce deliberate social distancing preferences while leaving automatic avoidance behavior unaffected.

Protective face masks were one of the central measures to counteract viral transmission in the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior research indicates that face masks impact various aspects of social cognition, such as emotion recognition and social evaluation. Whether protective masks also influence social avoidance behavior is less clear. Our project assessed direct and indirect measures of social avoidance tendencies towards masked and unmasked faces in two experiments with 311 participants during the first half of 2021. Two interventions were used in half of the participants from each sample (Experiment 1: protective face masks; Experiment 2: a disease prime video) to decrease or increase the salience of the immediate contagion threat. In the direct social avoidance measure, which asked for the deliberate decision to approach or avoid a person in a hypothetical social encounter, participants showed an increased willingness to approach masked as opposed to unmasked faces across experiments. This effect was further related to interindividual differences in pandemic threat perception in both samples. In the indirect measure, which assessed automatic social approach and avoidance tendencies, we neither observed an approach advantage towards masked faces nor an avoidance advantage for unmasked faces. Thus, while the absence of protective face masks may have led to increased deliberate social avoidance during the pandemic, no such effect was observed on automatic regulation of behavior, thus indicating the relative robustness of this latter behavior against changes in superordinate social norms.

Assessing the Impact of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions on Consumer Mobility Patterns and COVID-19 Transmission in the US.

The initial outbreak of COVID-19 during late December 2019 and the subsequent global pandemic markedly changed consumer mobility patterns worldwide, largely in response to government-ordered non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). In this study, we investigate these changes as they relate to the initial spread of COVID-19 within two states-Massachusetts and Michigan. Specifically, we use linear and generalized linear mixed-effects models to quantify the relationship between four NPIs and individuals' point-of-sale (POS) credit card transactions, as well as the relationship between subsequent changes in POS transactions and county-level COVID-19 case growth rates. Our analysis reveals a significant negative association between NPIs and daily POS transactions, particularly a dose-response relationship, in which stringent workplace closures, stay-at-home requirements, and gathering restrictions were all associated with decreased POS transactions. We also uncover a significant positive association between 12-day lagged changes in POS transactions compared to pre-pandemic baselines and county-level COVID-19 case growth rates. Overall, our study supports previous findings that early NPIs reduced human mobility and COVID-19 transmission in the US, providing policymakers with quantitative evidence concerning the effectiveness of NPIs.