A space-time analysis of Puerto Madryn arrivals during COVID-19

The aim of this work is to characterize and analyze the flow of arrivals to the city of Puerto Madryn (Patagonia - Argentina), during the first six month of social isolation while the pandemic for Covid-19 was occurring. Results remarked how simple traffic data collection based on provenance, local destination, age and gender is more important to understand the spread of the virus and for the design of health policies than reinforcing traffic restrictions. The intention is to expose the potentialities of a more comprehensive analogous analysis of this kind of mobility for local public health policy and urban planning in a post-pandemic context. ©2021 IEEE

Challenging the discourse around the impacts of airbnb through suburbs not cities: Lessons from australia and covid-19

Supporters of short-term rental (STR) platforms state that STRs represent a small fraction of the housing market of major cities and therefore have little impact on rents. However, there is emerging evidence that suggests that STRs have highly localised impacts. In this article, we use the natural experiment of the pause in tourism caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the impact of a decrease in STR listings on rental markets in the case study city of Hobart, Australia. We find that rental affordability has improved in Hobart’s STR-dense suburbs with the increased vacancies from the underutilised STR properties. These results provide evidence of the impact of STRs on local housing markets when analysed on a finer scale than the whole-of-city approach. The focus on local housing markets helps local communities and city governments build an argument for the impact of STRs on tight housing markets. © 2021, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Sociology. All rights reserved.

The effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on the epidemiology of hip fractures in the elderly: a multicentre cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic presented extraordinary challenges to the UK healthcare system. This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the epidemiology, treatment pathways and 30-day mortality rates of hip fractures. Outcomes of COVID-19 positive patients were compared against those who tested negative. METHODS: An observational, retrospective, multicentre study was conducted across six hospitals in the South East of England. Data were retrieved from the National Hip Fracture Database and electronic medical records. Data was collected for the strictest UK lockdown period (period B=23 March 2020-11 May 2020), and the corresponding period in 2019 (period A). RESULTS: A total of 386 patients were admitted during period A, whereas 381 were admitted during period B. Despite the suspension of the 'Best Practice Tariff' during period B, time to surgery, time to orthogeriatric assessment, and 30-day mortality were similar between period A and B. The length of inpatient stay was significantly shorter during period B (11.5 days vs 17.0 days, p<0.001). Comparison of COVID-19 positive and negative patients during period B demonstrated that a positive test was associated with a significantly higher rate of 30-day mortality (53.6% vs 6.7%), surgical delay >36h (46.4% vs 30.8%, p=0.049), and increased length of inpatient stay (15.8 vs 11.7 days, p=0.015). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 lockdown did not alter the epidemiology of hip fractures. A substantially higher mortality rate was observed among patients with a COVID-19 positive test. These findings should be taken into consideration by the healthcare policymakers while formulating contingency plans for a potential 'second wave'.

Marginal housing during COVID-19

Key points • Overcrowded, marginal housing and informal housing tenures may increase health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, because of the difficulties of physical distancing and potential for the virus to spread. • Reflecting the chronic shortage of affordable rental supply in Sydney, demand for, and supply of, share and informal accommodation has continued during the pandemic. There were 402 advertisements for rooms or granny flats via ‘Gumtree.com.au’ in May 2020 and 4,731 share accommodation listings on the platform ‘Flatmates.com.au’ in April 2020. A further 2,923 people placed advertisements seeking accommodation via the Flatmates platform. • People living in these informal tenures may face additional risks of contracting the virus because of the inability to social distance. They experience additional precarity because negotiated rental arrangements leave people more vulnerable to eviction and displacement, despite wider government efforts to protect tenants in the private rental market. • Of people renting in share households during the 2016 Census, 8,476 were healthcare workers, and 12,743 included occupants working in food or accommodation sectors. There were 1,514 workers in healthcare or social assistance sectors living in crowded or severely overcrowded accommodation needing three or more additional bedrooms. • There is evidence of a link between falling demand for Airbnb style short-term rental accommodation during the pandemic, and an increase in long-term private rental housing availability in case study housing markets of Sydney and Hobart. This suggests that the loss of residential units to Airbnb-style platforms affected private rental housing supply and affordability pre-pandemic. • Some lower income earners have reportedly been able to use additional income support during the pandemic period to move out of marginal or substandard rental accommodation. © 2020 Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. All rights reserved.