A context-sensitive collectivism during the COVID-19 pandemic: Effect on the adoption of containment measures in China and the US.

This study investigates individuals' adoption of containment measures (e.g., wearing masks) from the perspectives of cultural values and trust in two countries-China and the US. Distinguished from previous definitions that characterise cultural values as rigid and fixed concepts, this study reconceptualizes collectivism to be a context-sensitive construct. With survey data from a collectivism-prevalent culture (China, n = 1578) and an individualism-prevalent culture (the US, n = 1510), it unfolds the underlying mechanism by which collectivism influences people's adoption of containment measures in both countries. Results indicate that institutional trust serves as a significant mediator in this relationship. In both countries, individuals who hold a collectivistic value on the pandemic are more likely to endorse the adoption of containment measures. This endorsement is driven by their trust in public institutions, which stems from their collectivistic values. Additionally, slight distinctions emerge, revealing that collectivistic values directly predict the behaviours among Chinese individuals, whereas such a direct effect is not observed in the US. Practical implications will be offered.

High-income ZIP codes in New York City demonstrate higher case rates during off-peak COVID-19 waves.

Introduction: Our study explores how New York City (NYC) communities of various socioeconomic strata were uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: New York City ZIP codes were stratified into three bins by median income: high-income, middle-income, and low-income. Case, hospitalization, and death rates obtained from NYCHealth were compared for the period between March 2020 and April 2022. Results: COVID-19 transmission rates among high-income populations during off-peak waves were higher than transmission rates among low-income populations. Hospitalization rates among low-income populations were higher during off-peak waves despite a lower transmission rate. Death rates during both off-peak and peak waves were higher for low-income ZIP codes. Discussion: This study presents evidence that while high-income areas had higher transmission rates during off-peak periods, low-income areas suffered greater adverse outcomes in terms of hospitalization and death rates. The importance of this study is that it focuses on the social inequalities that were amplified by the pandemic.

Exploring the working life of people with multiple sclerosis during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic led to vast changes in working life and conditions in which we work. These changes may affect people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) differently. We aimed to describe the working situation of PwMS during the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic's impact on their working lives. METHODS: All individuals aged 20-50 listed in the Swedish Multiple Sclerosis Registry were invited to participate in an online survey in 2021. Closed and open-ended responses linked to individual-level register data were used in this exploratory mixed-methods study. Differences in the proportions reporting specific impacts were assessed with chi-square tests by sex, MS severity, education, and profession. The open-ended answers were analysed through content analysis. RESULTS: Over 8500 PwMS were invited (52% response rate). We included the 3887 respondents who answered questions about the impact of the pandemic on working life. Most (93.7%) reported being in paid work. An impact of the ongoing pandemic to one's daily occupation was reported by 26.2%, with different characteristics observed across the impacts. Four categories of type of answers were identified from the open-ended answers: Direct impact on one's occupation, Disclosing or concealing MS in the workplace, Worry and uncertainty, and Broader impact to life situation. CONCLUSIONS: PwMS navigated the pandemic by interrupting as well as continuing their working lives. Many PwMS reported that the pandemic did not affect their work situation. However, the reported impacts differed among the participants and a sense of uncertainty and worry was often underlying their statements. Lessons from the pandemic may support future work participation.

The spread in time and space of COVID-19 pandemic waves: the Italian experience from mortality data analyses.

Introduction: Italy was the first European country affected by COVID-19. Thanks to governmental containment measures (9 March 2020), the spread of COVID-19 was limited. However, in this context, accurate data assessment is crucial and mortality is a more reliable indicator of the virus spread compared to the count of positive cases. This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the impact of the pandemic in different areas of Italy using the time series analysis of official deaths and excess COVID-19 deaths. Methods: Mortality data (23 February-30 April 2022) by Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) were analyzed, including four waves of COVID-19. Previous mortality data (January 2015-November 2019) were used to estimate a Poisson regression model of the pre-pandemic mortality pattern and derive the excess COVID-19 deaths as the difference between the actual deaths number and the extrapolation of the previous mortality pattern to the pandemic period, separately for Northern, Central, and Southern Italy, to compare the impact of mortality across time periods and geographical areas. Results: Estimated excess compared with official COVID-19 mortality shows that, during the first wave, there was an underestimation of deaths. COVID-19 mortality rate almost doubled the official rate in the North (1.60‰ vs. 0.86‰) and nearly tripled it in the South (0.22‰ vs. 0.08‰). In late 2020-early 2021, official and estimated mortality curves are closer, displaying just a small gap at the start of the second wave. During the fourth wave (end of 2021-early 2022), Northern and Central Italy show reasonable agreement; the South presents a large relative underestimation of deaths (+90% increase), with a large increase in its excess deaths national quota, 9% in the first wave to 42% in the fourth. Discussion: The results provide a measure of the COVID-19 excess deaths and an unbiased estimate of Italian mortality rates. In the first wave, the gap between official COVID-19 and excess mortality was particularly high and lockdown measures may have reduced the spread of the infection. In the fourth wave, the gap for the South increases again, probably because the healthcare system may not have coped with the prolonged pressure of the pandemic, or for a decreased compliance with the official paper-based mortality surveillance system that could be overcome in the future by digitalizing the process.

Biological Containment for African Swine Fever (ASF) Laboratories and Animal Facilities: The Italian Challenge in Bridging the Present Regulatory Gap and Enhancing Biosafety and Biosecurity Measures.

The African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is a DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family, Asfivirus genus. It is responsible for massive losses in pig populations and drastic direct and indirect economic impacts. The ever-growing handling of ASFV pathological material in laboratories, necessary for either diagnostic or research activities, requires particular attention to avoid accidental virus release from laboratories and its detrimental economic and environmental effects. Recently, the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689 of 17 December 2019 repealed the Commission Decision of 26 May 2003 reporting an ASF diagnostic manual (2003/422/EC) with the minimum and supplementary requirements for ASF laboratories. This decision generated a regulatory gap that has not been addressed yet. This paper aims to describe the Italian National Reference Laboratory (NRL) efforts to develop an effective and reliable biological containment tool for ASF laboratories and animal facilities. The tool consists of comprehensive and harmonized structural and procedural requirements for ASF laboratories and animal facilities that have been developed based on both current and repealed legislation, further entailing a risk assessment and internal audit as indispensable tools to design, adjust, and improve biological containment measures.

SARS-CoV-2 genome incidence on the inanimate surface of the material used in the flow of biological samples from the collection point to the testing unit.

Despite the undeniable effect of vaccination against COVID-19 in reducing disease severity, there is still a need to monitor and limit SARS-CoV-2 circulation and transmission. Thus, this study evaluated the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 genome on the surfaces of highly touched objects manipulated in the biological sample collection point and at the reception unit of the diagnostic laboratory. Surfaces were sampled once a week, for 6 weeks, between September 18th and October 23rd, 2020. RT-qPCR was used for SARS-CoV-2 detection. The coolers for biological sample transportation and the envelope containing the patient form were the objects with the highest occurrence of viral genome detection, although it was detected in each object in only two of the 6 evaluations. And the SARS-CoV-2 genome was detected just once on the vehicle steering wheel, computer keyboard, bathroom door handle and disinfection bench. The virus genome was not detected in any object on three of the six evaluations. And eight was the largest number of surfaces contaminated by the virus genome on one occasion. The reduced incidence of object contamination by the SARS-CoV-2 genome can be explained by the exposure of the objects to environmental conditions and the adoption of virus-spread containment measures. It can also reflect the low incidence of SARS-CoV-2 during the study's development period. Despite the low frequency of SARS-CoV-2 genome detection, our findings show that the virus was present in the environment at some point. This highlights the importance of adopting personal preventive measures to reduce respiratory virus spread, especially during epidemics and outbreaks.

Consequences of the Lockdown: Domestic Violence During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The global pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has presented many unique challenges to health systems. The hidden impact of COVID-19 and its associated lockdown have been an increased prevalence of domestic violence. OBJECTIVE: To increase our understanding of the connection between COVID-19 containment measures, domestic violence, and mental health in Germany, we conducted an online self-assessment survey of 98 domestic violence victims and 276 controls. All participants answered questions concerning domestic violence, emotional regulation skills, limitations due to and acceptance of containment measures, and quality of their contact experiences. RESULTS: There was no significant effect of "gender" x "domestic violence." Among victims of domestic violence, the number of women was considerably higher than the number of men. In addition, the factors "negative contact quality," "emotional regulation," and "resilience" differed significantly between the victims of domestic violence and the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 outbreak and associated containment and quarantine measures resulted in a "hidden pandemic" of domestic violence for which prevention programs and early victim assistance through the expansion of digital technologies are urgently needed. Prospective studies should expand empirical data to focus on the long-term psychological effects of domestic violence and biomarkers that can serve as warning signs of stress-related disorders.

Economic Activity, Fiscal Space and Types of COVID-19 Containment Measures.

This paper argues that the type of COVID-19 containment measures affects the trade-offs between infection cases, economic activity and sovereign risk. Using local projection methods and a year and a half of high-frequency daily data covering 44 advanced and emerging economies, we find that smart (e.g. testing) as opposed to physical (e.g. lockdown) measures appear to be best placed to tackle these trade-offs. Initial conditions also matter whereby containment measures can be less disruptive when public health response time is fast and public debt is low. We also construct a database of daily fiscal announcements for Euro area countries, and find that sovereign risk is improved under a combination of large support packages and smart measures.

Resilience, endogenous policy responses to COVID-19, and their impacts on farm performance.

Policy measures aimed at containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic had unintended consequences on economic activities globally. In this study, we isolate and investigate the short-term partial impacts of six such measures on the farm and nonfarm incomes of agricultural households and examine the related resilience factors. Using Nigeria as a case study, we find that the COVID containment measures had mixed effects on farm and non-farm incomes in the short run. These varying effects are due to households' resilience and vulnerability factors, including land size, wealth, income diversification, involvement in processing activities, and reliance on hired labor. Our findings highlight the need for more targeted health crisis containment measures which consider the uniqueness, diversity, and regional heterogeneity of agriculture, especially the potential implications for farm viability.

The impact of containment measures and monetary and fiscal responses on US financial markets during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper analyses the effects of containment measures and monetary and fiscal responses on US financial markets during the Covid-19 pandemic. More specifically, it applies fractional integration methods to analyse their impact on the daily S&P500, the US Treasury Bond Index (USTB), the S&P Green Bond Index (GREEN) and the Dow Jones (DJ) Islamic World Market Index (ISLAM) over the period 1/01/2020-10/03/2021. The results suggest that all four indices are highly persistent and exhibit orders of integration close to 1. A small degree of mean reversion is observed only for the S&P500 under the assumption of white noise errors and USTB with autocorrelated errors; therefore, market efficiency appears to hold in most cases. The mortality rate, surprisingly, seems to have affected stock and bond prices positively with autocorrelated errors. As for the policy responses, both the containment and fiscal measures had a rather limited impact, whilst there were significant announcement effects which lifted markets, especially in the case of monetary announcements. There is also evidence of a significant, positive response to changes in the effective Federal funds rate, which suggests that the financial industry, mainly benefiting from interest rises, plays a dominant role.

Assessing the impact of local context and priorities regarding domestic disease outbreaks and imported risk on early pandemic response: Cross-continental comparisons.

Introduction: Containment and closure policies are effective measures used in the early stages of a highly transmissible global pandemic such as COVID-19 to mitigate the spread and reduce transmissions. However, these policies can have negative impacts on the economy and personal freedom. Governments must carefully consider the necessity of increasing their stringency. Local contexts and priorities regarding domestic disease outbreaks and the risk of imported cases from other countries may vary among different countries, and could influence the decision to increase containment measures. Thus, this study aimed to differentiate the impacts of these affecting factors on the stringency of governmental containment measures through cross-continental comparisons. Methods: This study utilized a zero/one inflated beta (ZOIB) regression model to investigate how domestic epidemic, imported risk, and local context affect government responses to a pandemic. We used a country's weekly confirmed case and death numbers as a measure of its domestic threat. The imported risk was measured using a combination of weekly new cases in each country and the air passenger traffic between countries. Results: The findings indicate that domestic case numbers are a primary concern for governments when deciding to increase policy stringency. Countries with higher development levels tend to implement stricter policies as they can better handle the negative impacts. Additionally, there is an interaction between case numbers and development level, with countries at the second or third highest development level focusing more on domestic outbreaks than imported risks, while those at the highest level have similar concerns for both. Conclusions: We concluded that most countries adjust policies' stringency majorly based on the variation of domestic case number rather than the other pandemic factors and the countries with a high development level tend to implement strict policies since their socio-economical condition could afford such policies. These insights can aid policymakers in improving containment and closure policies for future pandemics.

Predictors of changing patterns of adherence to containment measures during the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic: an international longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Identifying common factors that affect public adherence to COVID-19 containment measures can directly inform the development of official public health communication strategies. The present international longitudinal study aimed to examine whether prosociality, together with other theoretically derived motivating factors (self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility and severity of COVID-19, perceived social support) predict the change in adherence to COVID-19 containment strategies. METHOD: In wave 1 of data collection, adults from eight geographical regions completed online surveys beginning in April 2020, and wave 2 began in June and ended in September 2020. Hypothesized predictors included prosociality, self-efficacy in following COVID-19 containment measures, perceived susceptibility to COVID-19, perceived severity of COVID-19 and perceived social support. Baseline covariates included age, sex, history of COVID-19 infection and geographical regions. Participants who reported adhering to specific containment measures, including physical distancing, avoidance of non-essential travel and hand hygiene, were classified as adherence. The dependent variable was the category of adherence, which was constructed based on changes in adherence across the survey period and included four categories: non-adherence, less adherence, greater adherence and sustained adherence (which was designated as the reference category). RESULTS: In total, 2189 adult participants (82% female, 57.2% aged 31-59 years) from East Asia (217 [9.7%]), West Asia (246 [11.2%]), North and South America (131 [6.0%]), Northern Europe (600 [27.4%]), Western Europe (322 [14.7%]), Southern Europe (433 [19.8%]), Eastern Europe (148 [6.8%]) and other regions (96 [4.4%]) were analyzed. Adjusted multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that prosociality, self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 were significant factors affecting adherence. Participants with greater self-efficacy at wave 1 were less likely to become non-adherence at wave 2 by 26% (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.74; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.77; P < .001), while those with greater prosociality at wave 1 were less likely to become less adherence at wave 2 by 23% (aOR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.75 to 0.79; P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that in addition to emphasizing the potential severity of COVID-19 and the potential susceptibility to contact with the virus, fostering self-efficacy in following containment strategies and prosociality appears to be a viable public health education or communication strategy to combat COVID-19.

The role of civic capital on vaccination.

Can civic-minded individuals fight against a pandemic? In this paper, we show that civic capital plays an important role when assessing the level of compliance with COVID-19 vaccination recommendations. Analyzing data on a large sample of municipalities from the Italian region of Lombardy, we show that the share of vaccinated individuals is significantly higher in municipalities with higher pre-determined levels of civic capital. These findings are robust to the possibility of spatial spillovers across neighboring municipalities. Our findings contribute to the existing evidence highlighting the importance of individual contributions and civic capital as important behavioral determinants affecting the containment of infectious diseases.

General infection prevention, mitigation, and control procedures implemented in the university education during the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve classroom attendance: a successful community case study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic entailed confinement and elimination of face-to-face university classes in Spain. The Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid (UFV by its Spanish acronym) implemented risk management systems to enable on-campus university activity to avoid a negative impact on students, teachers, and faculties. Methods: A tracking/registry system was implemented to collect data, identify COVID-19-related cases, implement containment measures, and do follow-up in the UFV community (administration/services personnel [ASP], teaching/research personnel [TRP], and students), from September 2020 to April 2022. In addition, a prevention plan was implemented on campus to avoid COVID-19 spreading. Satisfaction with these measures was assessed through an online questionnaire. Results: A total of 7,165 suspected COVID-19 cases (84.7% students, 7.7% ASP, 6.5% TRP) were tracked (62.5% female cases, mean age (±SD) 24.8 years (±9.2 years)), and 45% of them confirmed (82% symptomatic/16% asymptomatic), being the student group that with the highest percentage (38.3% total tracked cases). The source of infection was identified in 50.6% of the confirmed cases (90.2% located off-campus). Nineteen COVID-19 outbreaks were registered (inside-10/outside-9). COVID-19 incidence rates were similar or lower than those reported in the Community of Madrid, except in the last wave, corresponding to Omicron variant. The degree of satisfaction (scale 1-6) with the implemented measures was high (scores 4.48-5.44). Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, UFV control measures, periodic monitoring, and the effectiveness of the tracking system have contributed to maintaining classroom teaching, guaranteeing health and safety. UFV has adapted to a new reality as an example of good practice for future pandemics or emergency situations.

Statistical model for factors correlating with COVID-19 deaths.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruption in societies globally. Our aim is to understand, what factors were associated with the impact of the pandemic on death rates. This will help countries to better prepare for and respond in future pandemics. Methods: We modeled with a linear mixed effect model the impact of COVID-19 with the dependent variable "Daily mortality change" (DMC) with country features variables and intervention (containment measurement) data. We tested both country characteristics consisting of demographic, societal, health related, healthcare system specific, environmental and cultural feature as well as COVID-19 specific response in the form of social distancing interventions. Results: A statistically significant country feature was Geert Hofstede's masculinity, i.e., the extent to which the use of force is endorsed socially, correlating positively with a higher DMC. The effects of different interventions were stronger that those of country features, particularly cancelling public events, controlling international travel and closing workplaces. Conclusion: Social distancing interventions and the country feature: Geert Hofstede's masculinity dimension had a significant impact on COVID-19 mortality change. However other country features, such as development and population health did not show significance. Thus, the crises responders and scholars could revisit the concept and understanding of preparedness for and response to pandemics.

Does trust in government improve Covid-19's crisis management?

Countries have adopted several measures to control the spread of Covid-19. However, substantial differences remain in terms of performance in controlling the virus, potentially due to heterogeneity in citizen engagement with government measures. Although the literature documents the effects of trust in government on compliance with health restrictions related to the health crisis, little is said about the direct effect of trust in government on managing the Covid-19 crisis, defined as the number of cases and deaths. Drawing on this observation, this paper seeks to analyze the effect of pre-crisis ties, particularly trust in government, on crisis management, proxied by the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths per million population. We examine this question based on a sample of 41 countries for which data are available and using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method. Results reveal that a high level of trust in government predicts better crisis management in terms of relatively low levels of cases and deaths. These results, which successfully pass a series of robustness tests, may vary according to level of contamination and increase with time. This paper, therefore, suggests that building trust between the public and the authorities, essentially governments and citizens, is essential for crisis management, taking the example of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A cross-country comparison of Covid-19 containment measures and their effects on the epidemic curves.

BACKGROUND: European countries are still searching to eliminate or contain the Covid-19 pandemic. A variety of approaches have achieved different levels of success in limiting the spread of the disease early and preventing avoidable deaths. Governmental policy responses may explain these differences and this study aims to describe evidence about the effectiveness of containment measures throughout the course of the pandemic in five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK). METHODS: The research approach adopted consisted of three steps: 1) Build a Containment Index (C.I.) that considers nine parameters to make an assessment on the strength of measures; 2) Develop dynamic epidemiological models for forecasting purposes; 3) Predict case numbers by assuming containment measures remain constant for a period of 30 days. RESULTS: Our analysis revealed that in the five European countries we compared, the use of different approaches definitively affected the effectiveness of containment measures for the Covid-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: The evidence found in our research can be useful to inform policy makers' decisions when deciding to introduce or relax containment measures and their timing, both during the current pandemic or in addressing possible future health crises.

Investigating the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Economy and the Corresponding Entrepreneurship Support Measures in Europe.

Covid-19 pandemic continues to cause great losses in human lives and adverse consequences in many sectors of the EU economy. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the effects of the pandemic in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in culture - entertainment industry and to investigate the effectiveness of the corresponding entrepreneurship support measures have been taken. This review was conducted based on related articles that were published during the years 2020-2021, using the online databases of Google Scholar, Science Direct, Elsevier, PubMed, OECD, IOBE. A total of 16 eligible studies were included in this literature review. EU authorities have launched measures, setting up policy and funding instruments to mobilize the economy. The impact of these measures is of great significance for many EU countries and sectors. However, measures taken for small and medium-sized enterprises, tourism and culture were not evaluated effectively to get the sectors back on track. Those measures were effective in short term and were insufficient to boost the recovery of the EU economy in long term. Since Covid-19 still exists, the fear of a recurrence is fed back. Long-term support measures need to be re-evaluated and new strategies must be established, that will set, sustainability criteria for companies, according to future investment and development policies.

The Relationship Between Community Adherence to COVID-19 Containment Measures and the Wellbeing of Older Adults in Rural Kenya.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives globally but disproportionately affected older adults due to their increased vulnerability to severe illness and higher mortality. To protect older adults from infection, community members in rural Kenya have ensured enhanced adherence to COVID-19 containment measures. However, while restricted social contact is highly recommended in the control of COVID-19 infection, limited research exists on its effect on the psychosocial wellbeing of older adults. This study therefore assessed the relationship between community adherence to COVID-19 containment measures and the overall wellbeing of older adults. Nyeri County in Central Kenya was selected for the study and all adults aged 70 years and above targeted. Snowball sampling was used to collect data from a sample of 360 respondents. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis. The study established a significant inverse relationship between the level of community adherence to COVID-19 protocols and the wellbeing of older adults. Furthermore, the wellbeing of most older adults had deteriorated during the pandemic, with older married women with higher incomes being less affected. The study concluded that although the COVID-19 pandemic had affected everyone, effective containment is a multi-dimensional issue that requires targeted interventions.