Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood services operations: Korean experience

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic had a profound impact on blood services operations in Korea. Blood collection was affected due to decrease in donor availability caused by avoidance of public places, social distancing policies, and cancellation of blood drives. The negative impact on blood collection was more pronounced with the COVID-19 pandemic than with other outbreaks experienced previously such as the influenza (H1N1) outbreak or the Middle East respiratory virus (MERS) pandemic. To cope with the blood shortage, campaigns to appeal for blood donation, raise public awareness on the importance of blood donation and gain donor's confidence in safe blood donation were implemented using mass communication media such as TV and radio broadcasting as well as postings on various social media platforms. Upon Korean Red Cross Blood Services's (KRCBS) request, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MoHW) approved the relaxation of the geographical restrictions regarding indigenous malaria thus enabling collection of more than 23,000 units of whole blood. To mitigate even a theoretical risk of transfusion-transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via blood donation from pre-symptomatic COVID-19 donors, the KRCBS received the data on COVID-19 identified cases from the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) from the early get-go of the pandemic for cross referencing to donors for further recipient investigation and recall of blood products not transfused. Communication with donors, staff members, national health authorities, hospital customers and other stakeholders was and remains of utmost importance to respond to this unprecedented situation which is still ongoing.Copyright © Annals of Blood. All rights reserved.

From Stuck in a Dark Tunnel to Shining New Light: The Stories of Early Childhood Practitioners During the Pandemic

South Korea was one of the few countries in the world to face a major outbreak in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study portrays the lived experiences of Korean early childhood practitioners striving to thrive between 2020 and 2021. Their stories offer their reflections on their challenges, struggles, and lessons learned throughout the pandemic. Findings reveal that, as time passed, there were longstanding struggles and newly emerging challenges. This study sheds light on early childhood practitioners' experiences of teaching during the unique and uncertain time of the pandemic, which can offer in-depth understanding for the betterment of future teaching © Copyright 2023 by THE PACIFIC

Collection and Analysis of Electricity Consumption Data: The Case of POSTECH Campus

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is an integrated system of smart meters, communication networks, and data management systems. The AMI allows the automatic and remote measurement and monitoring of energy consumption. It also provides important information for the management of peak demand and energy consumption and costs. Pohang University of Science Technology (POSTECH) has developed its own AMI and an IT platform called Open Innovation Big Data Center (OIBC) to store and share various data collected in the campus. In this work, we describe the AMI and the OIBC platform equipped with various sensors and systems for measuring, storing, calling, and monitoring data. Data are collected from seven buildings with different characteristics. We installed 266 sensors at the buildings, including 188 EnerTalk and Biz, 18 plugin, and 60 high-sampling sensors. The sensors collect electricity consumption data in real time, and users can visualize and download the data through the OIBC platform. In this work, we present analysis results of the collected data. The results show that the amounts of electricity consumed by campus buildings are different depending on various factors, including building size, occupant type and their behaviors, and building use. We also compare the amounts of electricity consumed before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. The information extracted can be used to improve the satisfaction of students and faculty as well as the efficiency of electricity management. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Impaired metabolic health rather than obesity is associated with coronavirus disease 2019 severity in the Korean population

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the relative and independent contributions of impaired metabolic health and obesity to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes. METHODS: We analyzed 4,069 COVID-19 patients between January and June 2020 in South Korea, classified into four groups according to metabolic health status and body mass index (BMI): metabolically healthy normal weight (MHNW), metabolically unhealthy normal weight (MUNW), metabolically healthy obese (MHO), and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO). The primary outcome was a composite of intensive care unit (ICU) admission, invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and death. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for the outcome. RESULTS: The incidence rate (per 100 person-months) of severe COVID-19 outcomes was the lowest in the MHNW group (0.90), followed by the MHO (1.64), MUNW (3.37), and MUO (3.37) groups. Compared with MHNW, a significantly increased risk of severe COVID-19 was observed in MUNW (HR, 1.41;95% CI, 1.01-1.98) and MUO (HR, 1.77;95% CI, 1.39-2.44) but not in MHO (HR, 1.48;95% CI, 0.98-2.23). The risk of ICU admission or IMV/ECMO was increased only in MUO;however, the risk of death was significantly higher in MUNW and MUO. The risk of severe COVID-19 increased insignificantly by 2% per 1 kg/m2 BMI increase but significantly by 13% per 1 metabolically unhealthy component increase, even after mutually adjusting for BMI and metabolic health status. CONCLUSION: Metabolic health is more important to COVID-19 outcomes than obesity.