The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis on rural entrepreneurs

Rural entrepreneurs are significant business groups, being the contributors to the nation's economy. They are the creators of job opportunities, but they are facing great challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The objective of this research is to explore the impact of the pandemic on rural entrepreneurs. The current research was carried out at the Rural Community Centre (RCC) of Kg. Jelintoh, Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia. Being the most active RCC in conducting entrepreneurship programmes in 2019, that centre was chosen for this study. This exploration research utilised qualitative approach which involved an in-depth interview by using a semi-structured interview format with seven rural entrepreneurs. They were selected through a purposive sampling from the list of rural entrepreneurs. The data were analysed using a thematic analysis method. The results revealed two main themes of the impacts. The first theme was business operation which includes operation disruption, decrease in demand, shortage of logistic supply, and operation closure. The second theme involves business finance that consists of cash flow problems, unexpected increase in production cost, and access to economic stimulus package. The findings from this research provide good inputs to relevant agencies in assisting the rural entrepreneurs to resume their businesses. It is recommended that all types of rural businesses to be allowed to run their normal operations, ensure the smoothness of logistics supply, being offered with financial aids, reduce the production cost, and create an easy-access entry to economic stimulus package.

Environmental Architectural Design during the Pandemic Era: Office Buildings as a Case Study

Environmental Architecture immortalizes buildings and realizes their ability to cope with sudden changes for several decades, Infectious diseases played a huge role in shaping the built environment. Throughout history, The function of those areas has changed and the interior is redesigned as well as the city, planning, and infrastructure, as occurred in the 14th century at the time of the plague's spread(1). Pandemics come from spreading by humans while they use the spaces as a medium in their daily activities. Therefore, spaces should play as an antiviral medium to ensure well being and health today. The world is panicking at the discovery of a new pandemic that will lead to the closure of most of the outdoor activities in the inhabitant life, and the built environment has always shown the ability to develop after a predicament. One of the most common questions by users is what will happen in buildings that host roaming, mixed exploration, and spontaneous social interaction, such as office buildings? This research aims to adapt the design of the office buildings that host mixed uses to be an anti-pandemic environment to decrease the case of a pandemic;by integrating the science of medicine, architecture, urbanization, knowledge of modern materials, methods, and theories. As well as looking forward to advanced technology using analytical methodologies by adapting the analysis of already existing buildings altered architecturally to reduce the spread of pandemics through which a proposal can be developed to enhance the performance of office buildings in the time of a pandemic. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

Embracing Healthcare Delivery Challenges during a Pandemic. Review from a nodal designated COVID-19 center in Qatar

Hospitals and healthcare systems are instrumental in the formulation and delivery of a coordinated response to disaster management especially epidemics. In healthcare policy and strategy formation, there are only trade-offs, which with uncertainty are akin to gambles. National organizations play a key role in pandemics through the expression of physician motivation. Effective strategies can facilitate physician action through economies of scale that lower the costs for physicians to meet both community and patients' needs. Moreover, no matter how well clinicians are motivated and positioned to act, their collective actions are likely to fall short without complementary systems for populationbased care that require the operational support of an organization. This review of institutional policy implementation and frameworks intends to highlight how a nodal-designated COVID-19 center in Qatar managed to control the menace by altering its procedural sets and work arrangements to augment an integrated, intrinsic response to a briskly emerging, conceivably complex situation. This outcome was achieved under the guidance of a national leadership team, effectively adapted to its specific challenges by building on current medical evidence, management routines, proficiencies, and health system capacity. This ambitious drive started with the cohesion of services and implementation of evidence-based protocols by assigning a physician-led team to research, strategize and organize improved patient flow and information by arranging analytical compliance and preparedness. Through these service approaches and ongoing efforts, HMGH has realized significant outcome improvements, such as increasing capacity building, reducing healthcare waste, and increasing patient satisfaction rates whilst successfully achieving significantly lower COVID-19 mortality both in terms of absolute numbers and as percent population compared to many developed countries in the world. The strategies outlined in this article might not be all-inclusive or fit other healthcare system models, but they generate a veritable interest to pursue and be subjected to further rigorous study.