COVID-19 Pandemic & Financial Market Volatility, Evidence from GARCH Models

Across the globe, COVID-19 has disrupted the financial markets, making them more volatile. Thus, this paper examines the market volatility and asymmetric behavior of Bitcoin, EUR, S&P 500 index, Gold, Crude Oil, and Sugar during the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied the GARCH (1, 1), GJR-GARCH (1, 1), and EGARCH (1, 1) econometric models on the daily time series returns data ranging from 27 November 2018 to 15 June 2021. The empirical findings show a high level of volatility persistence in all the financial markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the Crude Oil and S&P 500 index shows significant positive asymmetric behavior during the pandemic. Apart from this, the results also reveal that EGARCH is the most appropriate model to capture the volatilities of the financial markets before the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas during the COVID-19 period and for the whole period, each GARCH family evenly models the volatile behavior of the six financial markets. This study provides financial investors and policymakers with useful insight into adopting effective strategies for constructing portfolios during crises in the future.

Structure and evaluation of preventive medicine residency programs' websites: A cross sectional analysis.

The goal of this study was to analyze the content availability and accessibility of preventive medicine residency program websites. In COVID-related travel restrictions, the information provided on program websites has become increasingly crucial for residency applicants. A cross-sectional study was conducted by extracting the list of preventive medicine residency programs on the Fellowship and Residency Electronic and Interactive Database (FRIEDA). A 40-point criterion was used for the quality evaluation of residency programs. The study was conducted and analyzed in 2021. 82 preventive medicine residency programs were identified, and listed on FRIEDA, out of which 65 program websites were accessible. The median number of 40-point criteria met by the preventive medicine residency website was 25. The criteria fulfilled by the greatest number of program websites was research opportunity/facilities (94%). The majority of the preventive medicine residency program websites were not up to the mark regarding accessibility and quality. An updated preventive medicine residency program website is essential for the applicants. Programs with relevant and precise information on their websites have higher chances of attracting potential candidates and better chances of finding the match between applicants and programs.

Intensivist and COVID-19 in the United States of America: a narrative review of clinical roles, current workforce, and future direction.

COVID-19 continues to spread across borders and has proven to be a challenge for the existing healthcare system. The demand for intensivists has dramatically increased in the United States, in the backdrop of an expected lack of intensivists in many States even before the pandemic. One proposal has been to organize multidisciplinary teams functioning under one intensivist, as this approach would make use of the existing healthcare force and lessen the burden on intensivists. Another recommendation is the adaptation of Tele-ICUs, which have demonstrated constructive outcomes in the past. Moreover, ensuring the provision of all types of personal protective equipment, adequate testing and, other provisions such as mental health support, financial incentives for intensivists should be prioritized. More intensivists should be trained for the future, for which better institutional policies are essential.

Primary care placements in the post-COVID era: A qualitative evaluation of a final year undergraduate clerkship.

INTRODUCTION: In March 2020, UK primary care changed dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It now has a much greater reliance on triaging, e-consultations, remote consultations, online meetings and less home visits. Re-evaluating the nature and value of learning medicine in primary care has therefore become a priority. METHOD: 70 final-year medical students placed in 38 GP practices (primary care centres) across the East of England undertook a 5-week clerkship during November 2020. A sample of 10 students and 11 supervising general practitioners from 16 different GP practices were interviewed following the placement. Qualitative analysis was conducted to determine their perceptions regarding the nature and value of learning medicine in primary care now compared with prior to the pandemic. RESULTS: A variety of models of implementing supervised student consultations were identified. Although contact with patients was felt to be less than pre-pandemic placements, triaging systems appeared to have increased the educational value of each individual student-patient contact. Remote consultations were essential to achieving adequate case-mix and they conferred specific educational benefits. However, depending on how they were supervised, they could have the potential to decrease students' level of responsibility for patient care. CONCLUSIONS: Undergraduate primary care placements in the post-COVID era can still possess the educationally valuable attributes documented in the pre-pandemic literature. However, this is dependent on specific factors regarding their delivery.

Extreme Value Theory and COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from India

The COVID-19 pandemic has become major problem for financial markets and world economy. In this paper we investigated the extreme tail behavior of NIFTY 50 index during the COVID-19 pandemic. The extreme behavior of the stock market is examined through GPD model by suing high frequency data (5-min interval) of log returns ranging from 11th March 2020 to 30th Sept 2020 which provide more precise description of NIFTY 50 tail distribution in the pandemic period. The result indicates GPD give a real picture of uncertainties associated with COVID-19. The finding of study will assist in decision making to monitor COVID-19 impact on financial markets.

Insights into patient preferences for elective surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIMS: To investigate factors that contribute to patient decisions regarding attendance for arthroplasty during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A postal questionnaire was distributed to patients on the waiting list for hip or knee arthroplasty in a single tertiary centre within the UK. Patient factors that may have influenced the decision to attend for arthroplasty, global quality of life (QoL) (EuroQol five-dimension three-level (EQ-5D-3L)), and joint-specific QoL (Oxford Hip or Knee Score) were assessed. Patients were asked at which 'COVID-alert' level they would be willing to attend an NHS and a "COVID-light" hospital for arthroplasty. Independent predictors were assessed using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 540 distributed questionnaires, 400 (74.1%; 236 awaiting hip arthroplasty, 164 awaiting knee arthroplasty) complete responses were received and included. Less than half (48.2%) were willing to attend for hip or knee arthroplasty while a UK COVID-19 epidemic was in circulation (COVID-alert levels 3 to 5). Patients with worse joint-specific QoL had a preference to proceed with surgery at COVID-alert levels 3 to 5 compared to levels 1 and 2 (hip arthroplasty odds ratio (OR) 1.54 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.45 to 1.63); knee arthroplasty OR 1.16 (1.07 to 1.26)). The odds of patients with worse joint-specific QoL being willing to attend for surgery at COVID-alert levels 3 to 5 increased further if surgery in a private, "COVID-light" hospital was available (hip arthroplasty OR 3.50 (95% CI 3.26 to 3.71); knee arthroplasty OR 1.41 (95% CI 1.29 to 1.53). CONCLUSION: Patient decisions surrounding elective surgery have been influenced by the global COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the importance of patient involvement in ensuring optimized provision of elective surgery during these challenging times. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(4):261-270.

Network Analysis of Global Stock Markets at the beginning of the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) Outbreak

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has become one of the biggest threats to the global economy and financial markets. This study aims to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on 56 global stock indices from October 15, 2019 to August 7, 2020 by using a complex network method. Furthermore, the change of the network structure is analyzed in depth by dividing the stock markets into developed, emerging and frontier markets. The findings reveal a structural change in the form of node changes, reduced connectivity and significant differences in the topological characteristics of the network, due to COVID-19. A contagion effect is also identified in the network structure of emerging markets, with the nodes behaving synchronously. The findings also reveal substantial clustering and homogeneity in the world stock market network, based on geographic positioning. Besides, the number of positive correlations in the global stock indices increased during the outbreak. The stock markets of France and Germany seem to be the most relevant developed markets, while Taiwan and Slovenia have this relevance in emerging and frontier markets. The findings of this study help regulators and practitioners to design important strategies in the light of varying stock market dynamics during COVID-19.

On the efficiency of foreign exchange markets in times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We employ multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) to provide a first look at the efficiency of forex markets during the initial period of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has disrupted the global financial markets. We use high-frequency (5-min interval) data of six major currencies traded in forex markets during the period October 1, 2019 to 31 March 31, 2020. Before applying MF-DFA, we examine the inner dynamics of multifractality through seasonal and trend decompositions using loess. Overall, the results confirm the presence of multifractality in forex markets, which demonstrates, in particular, (i) a decline in the efficiency of forex markets during the COVID-19 outbreak and (ii) heterogeneous effects on the strength of multifractality of exchange rate returns under investigation. The largest effect is observed for the Australian dollar, which shows the highest (lowest) efficiency before (during) the COVID-19 pandemic, assessed in terms of low (high) multifractality. The Canadian dollar and the Swiss Franc exhibit the highest efficiency during the COVID-19 outbreak. Our findings may help policymakers shape a comprehensive response to improve forex market efficiency during such a black swan event.