How Government Response to COVID-19 in Bangladesh? An Overview

In this 21st century, in front of the whole world it was a very unlikely occurrence of a new pandemic named as Covid-19. First China and after other countries it advanced its black claw on Bangladesh. Bangladeshs government was aware of the pandemics predicament and took steps to protect the population, as well as the economy and numerous industrial sectors. Though the government of Bangladesh did its hardest to provide all forms of assistance to the countrys economy, the government was unable to successfully control the pandemic due to the countrys large population and peoples irresponsibility. Due to the significant impact of Covid-19 during this epidemic, various economic and financial sectors were severely harmed, particularly the garment industry sector. Covid-19 also has an impact on financial institutions such as banks and other financial institutions. Small businesses, start-ups, and other commercial concerns were also severely harmed. The impact of the epidemic on these industries has had a huge impact on all sectors. This research aims to give a comprehensive and useful overview of the observed and potential consequences in the near future. The study relied on secondary data. Information was gathered from numerous media sources, articles, newspapers, policy experts, and other publications in order to better comprehend it. The goal of this research is to describe Bangladeshs pandemic challenges and government response to the worldwide issue.

Exploring Teaching and Learning Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic in Engineering Education

The education system is continuously modernizing by accommodating the need due to the industrial revolution. Various teaching modes are also introduced including a diverse range of students, particularly in engineering education. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted normal education worldwide, forced to shut down campus activity for an extended period which forced Universities to adopt alternative approaches to continue student's academic year. Engineering education faced significant challenges to find a realistic substitution for lab-based hands-on activity as well as group or team-based learning experiences. It is therefore very important to know the challenges and ways to address them. This paper evaluates the teaching and learning experiences observed in engineering education in Australia and abroad during the COVID-19 period compared to the pre-COVID period. The key motivation of this study is to identify key challenges arises due to COVID-19, develop Teaching & Learning (T & L) approaches to address these challenges and evaluate the effectiveness of the applied changes in the T & L approach, identify shortcomings, and find ways to improve them. The student feedback on selected engineering units have been collected from Deakin and Murdoch university in Australia to evaluate the performances of the applied changes. This data is considered as an authentic source of information to compare and identify the key challenges and effectiveness for students' learning in pre-COVID and during COVID condition. This study later explored various literatures to gather experiences from other universities across the globe and by analysing all findings including academic experiences finally developed constructive recommendations for improvement. It is found that the current form of online mode of teaching has room to improve further as one segment of students finds it challenging and some others like a few approaches. It is also found that the online infrastructure, staff skills to innovate new unit designs, and motivating students are the other challenging areas. Therefore, a new teaching and learning framework is required to overcome all the challenges for future learning.

Pre-exposure Prophylaxis With Various Doses of Hydroxychloroquine Among Healthcare Personnel With High-Risk Exposure to COVID-19: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective This trial aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with various hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) doses against a placebo among healthcare personnel (HCP) with high-risk exposure to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19). Methods A phase II, randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted including 200 subjects with no active or past severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (antibody testing and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were taken at the time of enrollment). Subjects of experimental groups one to three received HCQ in various doses and the control group received a placebo. The study outcomes in terms of safety and efficacy were monitored. Participants exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms were tested for SARS-CoV-2 during the study and by the end of week 12 with RT-PCR or serology testing (COVID-19 IgM/IgG antibody testing). Results Out of the total participants, 146 reported exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case in the first month, and 192 were exposed by week 12 of the study. Moreover, the precautionary use of personal protective equipment (PPE) significantly varied; initially more than 80% of the exposed HCPs were not ensuring PPE being used by the patients treated by them, which gradually developed over time. Mild treatment-related side effects were observed among the interventional and placebo arm patients. There was no significant clinical benefit of PrEP with HCQ as compared to placebo (p>0.05). Conclusion It is concluded that the PrEP HCQ does not significantly prevent COVID-19 among high-risk HCPs.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Development Goals and effective approaches to maneuver them in the post-pandemic environment.

In the pursuit of constructing a sustainable world for all through the instrumental seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and affected the efforts concentrated on these goals. Therefore, there is a pressing need to analyze the extent of the impact that unfolded from the pandemic on each Sustainable Development Goal and further to direct the post-pandemic situation to accelerate the progress in every goal. Besides, there exists a knowledge gap in understanding the Sustainable Development Goals and its interaction with each goal through synergic and trade-off effects. To address the aforementioned imperative problems, this study is formulated to perform an impact assessment as well as to provide direction in the post-pandemic environment to effectively progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals by using a hybrid qualitative and quantitative framework. A detailed investigation is carried out to examine the pandemic impacts in every goal, and a quantified impact analysis is performed in terms of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals with the aid of ranking methodology. The results indicate that SDG 1 and SDG 8 are the most impacted goal. To provide deeper perspectives into the Sustainable Development Goals, a critical analysis of the targets and indicators is performed to characterize the goals from their elemental point of view, such as nature of goals, depending factors, locus of the goal, and Sustainable Development Goal interactions. Further, a novel parameter, the degree of randomness, is proposed whose application in environmental research is immense. The impact on each goal and impact interaction between all the SDGs are also mapped, through which the dynamics of Sustainable Development Goal interactions is elaborated. In context with the post-pandemic scenario, the strategies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals with environmental focus are presented with prioritization factor that supports quick recovery. The introduced prioritization factor is formulated by employing a multi-criteria analysis methodology. In addition, the fundamental elements of SDGs are built upon one another to frame an optimized and effective approach to achieving the SDGs in the post-pandemic environment. Despite the strategies, a conceptual framework to align the business practices with the SDGs is propounded. This study deep down would provide a unique perspective to the research community and would impart deeper knowledge in connection with sustainability, while the solutions framed would steer the policy and decision-makers.

The establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

Background Telemedicine involves the innovative application of technology to provide remote patient healthcare services especially those relating to emergency care and contagious disease spread. Telemedicine is less developed in low-and-middle-income countries like Pakistan and there is little published literature on its function and efficiency. Our institution was established to triage patients with COVID-19 symptoms to ease the load on emergency departments. Objective To conduct an analysis of the first month of function of a telemedicine/tele-triage center in Pakistan. To determine in which ways it was beneficial to hospital management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This study was carried out at the newly established telemedicine/tele-triage center at the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) in Islamabad Pakistan between the 26th March and the 25th April 2020. Data were collected over telephone interview using a proforma to provide each caller with a C-Score (a C-score of <3 indicated observe at home 3-5- indicated home isolation with confirmatory testing and >5 indicated testing and transfer to hospital) representing their COVID-19 risk and informing the nature of the advice given to them. Data were presented using descriptive statistics. Results The center received total of 857 calls. Fever cough dyspnea and flu were present in 327(38.2%) 268(31.3%) 107(12.5%) and 124(14.5%) callers respectively. Based on the completion of the proforma 774(90.3%) callers had a C-Score of <3 75(8.8%) callers had a C-Score of 3-5 and 8 (0.9%) callers had a C-Score of >5. We recommended COVID-19 testing in 83 patients (9.68%) based on C-score. Out of these 83 patients 64 underwent testing and only 1 tested positive for COVID-19. Conclusion In a one-month period the center was able to support patients by providing a triage service thereby preventing numerous unnecessary hospital visits and helping to protect healthcare professionals during a global pandemic. Telemedicine has great potential to help patient populations in low-and-middle-income countries.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of temperature and precipitation with reference to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: perspective from Indian subcontinent.

ABSTRACT: This study exclusively focuses on spatial and temporal change of temperature and precipitation before and after COVID-19 lockdown and also examines the extent of their variation and the spatial relationship between them. Our main objective is to analyze the spatiotemporal changes of two climatic variables in Indian subcontinent for the period of 2015-2020. Monthly precipitation and temperature data are collected from NOAA and NASA for January to May month across the four zones (northeast, northwest, central, and peninsular zone) of India. To conduct a zone-wise statistical analysis, we have adopted statistical process control (SPC) methods like exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control charts, individual charts (I- Chart) to detect the shift in temperature and precipitation over the study period and Pearson correlation coefficient applied to measure the spatial association between the two variables. The findings revealed that temperature parameter has experienced a lot of positive and negative trends in the span of 6 years and detected a weak to moderate negative correlation in many parts of the country in April 2020 after 2016. This study also identified a weak negative correlation mainly in NE zone in 2020 after 2017. This research provides vital scientific contribution to the effects of monthly temperature and precipitation before and after COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Nexus between population density and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the south Indian states: A geo-statistical approach.

The unprecedented growth of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) as a severe acute respiratory syndrome escalated to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It has created an unanticipated global public health crisis that is spreading rapidly in India as well, posing a serious threat to 1350 million persons. Among the factors, population density is foremost in posing a challenge in controlling the COVID-19 contagion. In such extraordinary times, evidence-based knowledge is the prime requisite for pacifying the effect. In this piece, we have studied the district wise transmissions of the novel coronavirus in five south Indian states until 20th July 2020 and its relationship with their respective population density. The five states are purposefully selected for their records in better healthcare infrastructure vis-à-vis other states in India. The study uses Pearson's correlation coefficient to account for the direct impact of population density on COVID-19 transmission rate. Response surface methodology approach is used to validate the correlation between density and transmission rate and spatiotemporal dynamics is highlighted using Thiessen polygon method. The analysis has found that COVID-19 transmission in four states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana) strongly hinges upon the spatial distribution of population density. In addition, the results indicate that the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis are likely to differ with demographic density. In conclusion, those at the helm of affairs must take cognizance of the vulnerability clusters together across districts.