Long-Term Care Homes: Carceral Spaces in Times of Crisis or Perpetually?

This article explores whether isolation and control observed during COVID-19 are a pandemic effect or a perpetual socio-spatial feature of long-term care (LTC) culture. We use narrative analysis to foreground the experiences of two women with dementia trying to leave LTC: one before and the other during the pandemic. Using the lens of affective citizenship, we argue that the spatial experiences of confinement for people living in LTC are routinely overlooked in popular discourse. We reflect upon how the segregation of older people with dementia in LTC contributes to discriminatory practices beyond these institutions and advocate for a policy of deinstitutionalization. © The Author(s) 2023.

Small business survival capabilities and fiscal programs: Evidence from oakland

Using City of Oakland data during COVID-19, we document that small business components of survival capabilities-revenue resiliency, labor flexibility, and committed costs-vary by firm size. Nonemployer businesses rely on low cost structures to survive. Microbusinesses (1-to-5 employees) depend on 14% greater revenue resiliency. Enterprises (6-to-50 employees) use labor flexibility to survive, but face 10%- to-20% higher residual closure risk from committed costs. The evidence argues for size-targeting of financial support programs, including committed costs and revenue-based lending programs. Supporting the capabilities mapping, we find that the PPP increased medium-run survival probability by 20.5% specifically for microbusinesses. © 2021 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

Factors associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation: An international cohort study from 139 intensive care unit across 6 continents

Rationale: Patients with COVID-19 commonly develop severe hypoxemic respiratory failure and require invasive mechanical ventilation (MV). The disease burden and predictors of mortality in this population remain uncertain. Methods: Prospective observational cohort study from 139 intensive care units of the international COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium. Patients enrolled from January 14th through November 31st 2020 were included in the analysis. Patient's characteristics and clinical data were assessed. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis was conducted to identify indipendent predictors of mortality within 28 days from commencement of MV. Results: 1578 patients on MV were included into the analysis. Mean±SD age was 59 years±13 and patients were predominantly males (66%). 542 Patients (34.4%) died within 28 days from commencement of MV. Nonsurvivors were slightly older (mean age±SD 62±13 vs. 59±13) and presented more frequently hypertension, chronic cardiac disease and diabetes. Median (IQR) PaO2/FiO2 upon commencement of MV was 96 (68-135) and 111 (81-173) in patients who did not survive vs. survivors, respectively (p=0.04). ECMO (13% vs 25%, p<0.01), inhaled nitric oxide (11% vs 15%, p=0.02) and recruitment manoeauvres (26% vs 31%, p<0.01) were used less frequently in patients who did not survive. Independent risk factors associated with 28-day mortality included age older than 70 years (hazard ratio [HR], 2.83;95% CI, 1.32-6.07), higher creatinine levels upon ICU admission (HR, 1.20;95% CI, 1.03-1.40), and lower pH within 24h from commencement of MV (HR, 0.12;95% CI, 0.02-0.62), while a shorter period (day) from early symptoms to hospitalisation reduced mortality risks (HR, 0.96;95% CI, 0.93-0.99). Conclusions: Our findings from a large international cohort of critically-ill COVID-19 patients on mechanical ventilation emphasises that elderly patients, not promptly admitted to the hospital, and who present higher creatinine levels and acidosis are at higher risk of mortality.