Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on business operations of Taiwan High Speed Rail and 7-Eleven stores.

Governmental non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and concerns regarding COVID-19 infection greatly affected population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyzed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business operations of Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) and 7-Eleven stores in Taiwan. We collected data from COVID-19 Mobility Reports published by Google, the Our World in Data website, and the monthly financial reports of THSR and 7-Eleven stores. The findings revealed that the mean population mobility at transit stations decreased by over 50% during the pandemic. Changes in population mobility were significantly associated with the reproduction rate (7-day rolling average) and with the daily number of new confirmed cases per million people (7-day rolling average). The operating income of THSR was significantly associated with the decrease in population mobility at transit stations. The monthly and annual operating income of THSR in 2020, 2021, and 2022 (during the pandemic) were significantly lower than those in 2019 (before the pandemic). THSR's monthly operating income was lowest compared with the 2019 value during the Alpha variant period (89.89% lower). No significant correlation was noted between the operating income of 7-Eleven stores and population mobility. Moreover, no significant differences were discovered between the monthly and annual operating incomes of 7-Eleven stores in 2019 and those in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Implementation of the policy of coexistence with the virus by the Taiwanese government began in May 2022, and from May 2022 to October 2022, the monthly income of 7-Eleven stores was higher than that in 2019 whereas the monthly income of THSR began lower than and then slowly increased to the level in 2019. In conclusion, the operating performance of THSR was closely related to population mobility and government NPIs, whereas the operating performance of 7-Eleven stores was less strongly affected by NPIs. These stores increased their operating income by providing e-commerce and delivery services; they thus remained popular in the community.

How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Population Mobility in Taiwan?

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) impairs the free movement of human beings. The study aims to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected population mobility. METHODS: The study obtained Google COVID-19 population mobility report and e Taiwan COVID-19 pandemic information from Our World in Data. RESULTS: During the Alpha wave, transit decreased the most, with an average difference of >50%, followed by parks, workplaces, groceries, and pharmacies. During the Omicron wave, the average population flow in parks and transit decreased by about 20%. During the pre-existing wave, the average population visits of transit decreased by 10% at the most, followed by parks and workplaces. The peak of daily new confirmed cases per million (7-day rolling average) was 25.02, 6.39, and 0.81 for Alpha, Omicron, and the pre-existing wave, respectively. Daily new confirmed cases per million people correlated with the change in population visits of various places (all p < 0.001). The reproduction rate (7-day rolling average) correlated with the change of population visits of most places, except retail and recreation. We conclude the Alpha variant affected more individuals than Omicron and pre-existing type. Furthermore, changes in population visits in transit were most impacted. This change was consistent with daily new confirmed cases per million people and reproduction rate (7-day rolling average). CONCLUSION: The Alpha variant affected more individuals than the Omicron and pre-existing types. Furthermore, changes in population visits in transit locations were most impacted. This change was consistent with the daily new number of confirmed cases per million people and the 7-day rolling average reproduction rate.

Comparison of Laboratory Data between Children with Kawasaki Disease and COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been an emerging, rapidly evolving situation in China since late 2019 and has even become a worldwide pandemic. The first case of severe childhood novel coronavirus pneumonia in China was reported in March 2020 in Wuhan. The severity differs between adults and children, with lower death rates and decreased severity for individuals under the age of 20 years. Increased cases of Kawasaki disease (KD) have been reported from New York City and some areas of Italy and the U.K., with almost a 6-10 times increase when compared to previous years. We conducted this study to compare characteristics and laboratory data between KD and COVID-19 in children. METHODS: We obtained a total of 24 children with COVID-19 from a literature review and 268 KD cases from our hospital via retrospective chart review. RESULTS: We found that patients with KD have higher levels of white blood cells (WBCs), platelets, neutrophil percentage, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and a higher body temperature, while patients with COVID-19 have a higher age, hemoglobin levels, and lymphocyte percentage. After performing multiple logistic regression analysis, we found that age, WBCs, platelets, procalcitonin, and AST are identical markers for distinguishing COVID-19 from KD in children. CONCLUSION: In this COVID-19 pandemic period, clinicians should pay attention to children with COVID-19 infection when high WBC, platelet, procalcitonin, and AST values are present in order to provide early diagnosis for KD or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).

Number of Kawasaki Disease Admissions Is Associated with Number of Domestic COVID-19 and Severe Enterovirus Case Numbers in Taiwan.

Background: Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including mask-wearing and social distancing, have changed the prevalence of circulating viruses in the community. Since viral infections represent a potential triggering factor for the development of Kawasaki disease (KD), we examined the relationship between KD admission rates and the number of COVID-19, severe influenza, and severe enterovirus infections both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study using data obtained from the Chang Gung Research Database (including seven Taiwanese hospitals and more than 10,000 beds) and the Centers for Disease Control in Taiwan from January 2018 to December 2020. We recorded the number of KD admissions, as well as COVID-19, severe influenza, and severe enterovirus infections. Results: The numbers of KD admissions, severe enterovirus infections, and severe influenza infections were significantly lower from April to September 2020. The number of KD hospitalizations was positively correlated with the number of domestic COVID-19 cases (p = 0.001). A decrease in KD admission numbers was positively correlated with a decrease in severe enterovirus case numbers (p = 0.007). Conclusion: Our findings provide further evidence that viral infections may be an important trigger factor in the development of KD. Therefore, NPIs may not only prevent transmissible viral infections in children, but also decrease the risk of KD.

Three Taiwan's domestic family cluster infections of coronavirus disease 2019.

Since the first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was identified in Taiwan 2020.01.21. Several family cluster infections were found later. This study aimed to report family cluster infections and observe subsequent development. We collected domestic family cluster infections among COVID-19 confirmed cases from 21 January 2020 to 16 March 2020. There were three domestic family clusters infections in this period. The first cluster was cases 19 to 23. The infectious source was a Taiwanese passenger from Zhejiang. The second cluster was cases 24 to 26 and the third cluster was cases 27 to 32. The infectious sources of the latter clusters are currently uncertain. All contacts of three clusters have been isolated and no new confirmed cases have been identified to date. Some measures which have reduced the spread of these three clusters included: First, high suspicion of COVID-19 for unexplained pneumonia is very important for early detection. Second, immediate epidemic investigation is taken especially COVID-19 is infectious during the incubation period. Third, when the second and third clusters could not find infectious sources, CECC's press conference let the public know immediately the epidemic situation, so that people could raise their awareness and seek medical treatment or quarantine.

Comparison of the Characteristics and Outcomes of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Different Types of Family Infections in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: There were some family infections of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Taiwan to date. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of different types of family infections with COVID-19 and to share Taiwan's experience. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We collected cases of family infections of COVID-19 from 21 January 2020 to 16 March 2020. The data were collected from a series of press conference contents by Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). RESULTS: During this period, there were six family infections in Taiwan, including two couple infections, one imported family cluster infection, and three domestic family cluster infections. Compared to the former two, the starters (cases 19, 24, and 27) of domestic family cluster infections showed longer symptom-onset to diagnosis (p = 0.02); longer symptom-onset to quarantine or isolation (p = 0.01); higher first-generation reproduction number (p = 0.03); and more critical presentation (endotracheal tube insertion and intensive care unit (ICU) care) (p < 0.01). In addition, compared to the former two, the starters of the latter were older, had no history of travel, and had more underlying diseases and more mortality. There are more contacts of domestic family cluster infections, making epidemiological investigations more difficult and expensive. However, the second-generation reproduction number of the above three families was zero. CONCLUSION: Domestic family cluster infections of COVID-19 have different characteristics and outcomes from couple infection and imported family cluster infections in this study.