Effect of meteorological factors on the COVID-19 cases: a case study related to three major cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the world through its ability to cause widespread infection. The Middle East including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has also been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic like the rest of the world. This study aims to examine the relationships between meteorological factors and COVID-19 case counts in three cities of the KSA. The distribution of the COVID-19 case counts was observed for all three cities followed by cross-correlation analysis which was carried out to estimate the lag effects of meteorological factors on COVID-19 case counts. Moreover, the Poisson model and negative binomial (NB) model with their zero-inflated versions (i.e., ZIP and ZINB) were fitted to estimate city-specific impacts of weather variables on confirmed case counts, and the best model is evaluated by comparative analysis for each city. We found significant associations between meteorological factors and COVID-19 case counts in three cities of KSA. We also perceived that the ZINB model was the best fitted for COVID-19 case counts. In this case study, temperature, humidity, and wind speed were the factors that affected COVID-19 case counts. The results can be used to make policies to overcome this pandemic situation in the future such as deploying more resources through testing and tracking in such areas where we observe significantly higher wind speed or higher humidity. Moreover, the selected models can be used for predicting the probability of COVID-19 incidence across various regions.

Pain and satisfaction: the case of isolated COVID-19 patients of Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Over 3 million people lost their lives across the globe due to the COVID-19 related pandemic. The unprecedented restrictions on mobility have imposed in the form of isolation, quarantines, and lockdowns to curb the profound effects of the pandemic and retain physical health. This study examined the relationship between various pain levels, demographic variables and patient satisfaction with COVID-19 during isolation. METHODS: The primary data in this study were collected from isolated patients during their isolation and treatment in a public hospital. We obtained information from patients with COVID-19 (N = 100) about their demographic characteristics, varying levels of pain, and satisfaction with the services provided during the isolation period. We computed the descriptive statistics to explain the profile of participants, ANOVA was used to find out the difference between various groups on patient satisfaction, and structural equation modeling was performed to examine the link between pain levels, demographic factors, and patient satisfaction. This analysis was performed with STATA and SmartPLS-3. RESULTS: The findings of this study ascertained that respondent's education (Beta, ß = 2.961, p = 0.003), assets such as possession of a house (ß = 4.563, p = 0.000), perception of income adequacy during the lockdown (=2.299, p = 0.022), and negligence in prevention (ß = 1.975, p = 0.049) significantly affects patient satisfaction during the isolation period. Moreover, satisfaction with life, physicians and medicine, income adequacy, and fear of the participants was significantly linked to the pain level (Model F-stat = 86.323, p = 0.0001). Patients who were satisfied with their treatment had significantly lower odds of having pain (OR 0.023, 95% CI [0.001-0.0452]). Patients who had enough income to meet their basic necessities were found to have significantly lower odds of having pain (OR 0.155, 95% CI [0.032-0.740]. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We conclude that a higher level of education, low income, and living in a rented house contributes significantly to the feeling of more satisfaction with the provided services. This implies that people with more affluent backgrounds are less likely to be satisfied with the provided services as low-income and living in rented house groups are more satisfied during isolation than others. The pain level is also affected by subjective factors such as fear and satisfaction which need to be considered while doing patient management. This study can be helpful in improving the delivery of public services of isolation centers by considering various characteristics and demographic factors of patients.

Experience of physicians during COVID-19 in a developing country: a qualitative study of Pakistan.

COVID-19 spread rapidly and jeopardised the physicians with not only treatment but also with limited resources and new working style. This study aimed to investigate the experience of physicians in Pakistan as frontline workers for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The study employed a qualitative design and used Haas's adaptation of Colaizzi method for analysis. The respondents for the interview were selected based on purposive sampling and only those physicians were contacted who were treating COVID-19 patients in Lahore, Pakistan. The results of the study revealed many challenges faced by Pakistani physicians which included physical and psychological stress due to the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Moreover, infrastructural flaws have added in the vulnerabilities of the physicians. In developing countries, the fight is much harder for physicians as evidenced by their first-hand experience. The policymakers in developing countries especially in Pakistan can direct policies facilitating physicians to reduce their physical and psychological stress as well as increasing resources for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

COVID-19: A Psychosocial Perspective.

The World Health Organization declares coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic, and The World Economic Forum argues that the COVID-19-induced global lockdown is the biggest psychological experiment. This study is an attempt to empirically evaluate the possible adverse psychosocial effects caused by COVID-19-related lockdown, if any. To do so, a cross-sectional study is conducted based on a comprehensive online survey using snowball sampling to analyze the level of social and psychological impacts (i.e., stress, belief in stakeholders, fear of losing job, and life satisfaction) during the early stage of the outbreak in Pakistan. The questionnaire is filled out by the residents in Pakistan including working professionals and students (sample size is 428). We find that the development of stress due to COVID-19-induced lockdown is particularly because of mood swings. Additionally, a higher prevalence of stress in the children of highly educated mothers is evident (95% confidence). To assess the belief in stakeholders, we focus gender, demographics, and education. It is observed that parental education and age significantly affect the belief in several stakeholders (i.e., government, media, religious clerics, and family). The lockdown-induced fear of losing job is lower in female and male children whose fathers are graduates. Lastly, we observe that food storage and "no fear of losing job" significantly increases the odds of life satisfaction. These findings have important implications in the context of social insurance, parental education, and policy related to COVID-19 at various levels. This study further facilitates to understand the factors that might affect the mental health and life satisfaction of people during such pandemics.

The pandemic paradox: domestic violence and happiness of women.

BACKGROUND: Across the globe, lockdowns have been enforced as a pandemic response to COVID-19. Such lockdown coupled with school closures and stay-at-home orders made women more vulnerable in terms of higher responsibility and spending more time with an abusive partner, if any. METHODS: This study investigates the situation of women during COVID-19 induced lockdown by focusing on their happiness and inquiring about the incidence of violence. Using the zero-inflated negative binomial model, our findings ascertained that family settings, type of relationship with a spouse, and age significantly affects the positive count of violence during the lockdown. We further estimated the determinants of happiness and found that years of schooling, the role of women in household decision making, and feeling empowered is affecting their happiness. RESULTS: Women having higher education have more odds of zero violence. Unemployed women and women who are not working have higher odds of zero violence as compared to women who are working. During this lockdown after the COVID-19 pandemic, women living in urban areas, having higher education, having an adequate household income to meet the expenditures, having lesser anxiety, not facing violence, feeling empowered when their husband is around, and have higher decision-making power are happier. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The study is important in the context of happiness and violence inflicted on women during the lockdown and provides the basis to improve the pandemic response policy. The inclusion of women's safety and happiness in pandemic response policy is important to ensure the well-being of women and to devise better health and economic policy. Our estimates suggest higher education results in less incidence of violence which could be argued as desirable outcomes for building healthy, productive, and happy communities. In addition to this, as pandemic induced lock-down is likely to result in higher unemployment across the globe including Pakistan, therefore, in light of our estimates pertaining to the role of unemployment in the incidence of violence, policymakers should deploy more resources to enhance income and to combat the rising unemployment. As a counter-intuitive outcome of these policy interventions, incidence of violence will be dampened, educational attainment and women empowerment will be increased which will certainly increase happiness.

Missed takes towards a pandemic of COVID-19? A systematic literature review of Coronavirus related diseases in Pakistan.

Pakistan is also seeing the profound effect of the outbreak of COVID-19, which demands an urgent investigation of literature and further scientific investigation for cure and prevention. This study has employed the systematic approach for searching the literature from the recently compiled database of researches namely COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19) and related diseases. The literature on Pakistan has shown the evidence of human-to-human and animal-to-human transmission of viruses, the presence of antibodies of MERS-CoV in camels, and careless attitude towards preventive measures of such respiratory diseases. There is a lot of gap in the literature regarding coronaviruses and their antibodies creating herd immunity for another coronavirus and COVID-19. In particular to Pakistan, and in general, for other developing countries, a weak health-care system coupled with the trembling economy has many implications of COVID-19 which should be carefully thought-out to combat the spread.