Acoustic environments of intensive care units during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aims to investigate the typical noise levels and noise sources in an intensive care unit (ICU) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Acoustic experiments were conducted over 24 hrs in patient wards and at nurse stations in four Chinese hospitals. From the measurements, noise levels and sources were analysed in terms of the A-weighted equivalent sound pressure levels (L Aeq) and A-weighted maximum Fast time-weighted sound pressure levels (L AFmax) over three different time periods during the day (i.e. day, evening and night). Overall, noise levels (L Aeq) for 24 hrs in all hospitals exceeded the World Health Organisation's (WHO) guide levels, varying from 51.1 to 60.3 dBA. The highest maximum noise level reached 104.2 dBA. The single-bedded wards (side rooms) were quieter than multi-bedded wards, and night time noise levels were quieter than daytime and evening across all hospitals. It was observed that the most dominant noise sources were talking/voices, door-closing, footsteps, and general activities (e.g. noise from cleaning equipment and cutlery sound). Footsteps became an unexpected dominant noise source during the pandemic because of the staff's disposable shoe covers which made footsteps noisier. Patient alarms and coughing varied significantly between patients. Talking/voices produced the highest maximum median values of the sound exposure level (SEL) and the maximum noise level at all sites. Noise levels in all the patient rooms were more than the WHO guidelines. The pandemic control guidelines had little impact on the noise levels in the ICUs.

Attitudes towards outdoor and neighbour noise during the COVID-19 lockdown: A case study in London.

To stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission, the UK put a first lockdown on the entire country during the months of March and May 2020, which strictly curtailed personal mobility and economic activities. The present study is aimed to understand attitude of people towards noise inside their homes in London during the lockdown. Tweets from the social media platform were collected during the lockdown and the same periods in 2019. Additionally, subjective responses to outdoor and neighbour noises were collected through a questionnaire survey. Tweets about noise complaints during the lockdown were more than twice of those before introduction of lockdown. A substantial increase in talking/shouting, and TV/music activities were observed among the neighbour noise sources. Similar findings were obtained from the survey. The respondents answered that the perceived outdoor noise level decreased but perceived neighbour noise level increased during the lockdown. The outdoor noise annoyance ratings were revealed to be significantly lower than those before the lockdown. In contrast, neighbour noises were more frequently heard and annoyance ratings increased compared to the pre-lockdown period. In particular, talking/shouting and TV/music were most annoying. Furthermore, neighbour noise was more annoying than outdoor noise during the lockdown. This suggests that neighbour noise is more problematic than outdoor noise during lockdown. The findings of this study would be useful in designing the future strategy to enhance the acoustic comfort and city sustainability.