ABSTRACT
The WHO declared Covid 19 as a pandemic on the eleventh of March, 2020. This led to individuals, governments, institutions and businesses asking what impact this pandemic would have on the future. What imprint would this outbreak leave on human civilisation? Pandemics can alter the course of history. Pandemics impact people, governments, policies and economies. The pandemic has broken out at a time of significant demographic transition. 2020 was the first year in documented human history where the global population of people over the age of 60 is more than the population of children younger than 5 years of age. The richer countries have high concentrations of aging populations. Historically, pandemics have had significant impacts on cities and urban areas. Public health institutions, garbage collection, sanitation, scientific drainage and hospitals all developed to varying extents in urban responses to epidemics. The covid 19 pandemic has also brought about changes. In 2019, the United Nations reported that there had been a 33 percent increase in the population of migrants across the world. The international migrant population was put at 270 million. The previous forecast was for this population level to be attained in 2050. But the pandemic has slowed the growth of migration. The impact of the pandemic on energy markets was immediate and cataclysmic. Large parts of the global economy were forced to close down. The demand for petroleum fell by 25 percent in the United States. The demand for public transport fell by 70 percent in San Francisco, 60 percent in London and 80 percent in Italy and France between March and May 2020. Pandemics and changes in climate are inextricably linked. As humans encroach further into the wild, the United Nations expects more animal viruses to infect and affect humans. 75 percent of all emerging infectious diseases originate in animals. 60 percent of viruses infecting humans come from wildlife and livestock. Zoonotic epidemics are triggered by flooding, climate variability and other extreme weather events linked to climate change. Climate change has also expanded the span of geographies susceptible to zoonoses. Even though this pandemic has brought to the fore these dangers, steps to effectively tackle climate change and to implement practices in agriculture that are more sustainable have halted. The global food system is responsible for fulfilling the nutrition requirements of 80 percent of the world's population. This system has been greatly disturbed by the pandemic. 4 shocks account for this great disturbance: 1. The movement of agricultural goods has been disturbed by restrictions on transport. 2. Supply chains have been seriously damaged by borders being sealed and bans on exports. 3. Overall production has been reduced because of major disruptions in the supply of agricultural raw material, labor and services. 4. Food purchasing power has reduced dramatically because of job losses, especially among the socioeconomically disadvantaged sections of society.Copyright © 2020 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The majority of the covid 19 infected cohort recover from mild and uncomplicated infection. 14 % of the cohort develop severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) that might require admission to hospitals and oxygen support. 5 % of the cohort will require ICU admission. Median ICU stay is 8 days.Rehabilitation is an important variable that has a positive effect on the health outcomes of severe cases of Covid 19. It helps the health system by:a. Improving health outcomes: High quality rehabilitation has the potential to reduce ICU associated conditions such as Post intensive care syndrome (PICS). Patient recovery is optimised and there is a significant reduction in the probability of disability. Severe covid 19 has the potential to cause swallow impairments, physical impairments and cognitive impairments. High quality rehabilitation has the potential to address these consequences adequately. Rehabilitation also includes psychosocial support. Rehabilitation assumes heightened significance in the context of older patients and patients with pre existing health conditions. These cohorts have a higher vulnerability to severe covid illness and rehabilitation can be expected to play an especially important role in facilitating the recovery of these patients to their pre illness independence levels.b. Optimal utilisation of hospital beds: A common feature of the pandemic has been a wide spread shortage of hospitals beds, especially ICU beds. Rehabilitation can play a vital role in decreasing the average length of stay of covid patients by getting patients ready for discharge earlier than usual. Rehabilitation is also key in ensuring continuity of care. Rehabilitation can facilitate the smooth discharge of complicated cases as well.c. Reduction in Covid 19 hospital readmission rates: High quality rehabilitation can significantlyreduce hospital readmission rates. It achieves this by ensuring that the clinical condition of patients does not worsen after discharge, thereby not necessitating readmission. This has a salutary effect on bed count.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we do an assessment of the global impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on Technology and Information. Technology is assessed through the indicators of Robotics, 3 D printing, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial intelligence (AI) and Biotechnology. Information is assessed through the indicators of Access/Privacy, Data growth, False news and social media and Knowledge and learning. There has been a heightened interest in Robotics due to public health and labour shortages. In the long term, this could translate into increased replacement of human labour across sectors like agriculture, food and healthcare. The pandemic has stimulated rapid manufacture of medical components through the accelerated adoption of 3D printing technology. Going forward, there is a high probability of an accelerated replacement of traditional manufacturing processes with 3D printing technologies. This is more so in healthcare. IoT usage remains high in the pandemic. Certain sectors have witnessed dramatic increments in quantums of data flows. Going forward, there will be an increased dependence on IoT in everyday use. This will be particularly true for health monitoring and surveillance. The pandemic has seen a massive uptick in the adoption of AI chatbots and other AI applications.In the long term, AI will see increased spending on Research and Development. Adoption timelines will shorten. In hot pursuit of the development of Covid 19 related vaccines and therapeutics, the synthetic biology industry has seen a surge in investment. In the long run, the global competition for leadership in biotechnology will only become more fierce. The pandemic has broadened the use of digital surveillance. Going forward, companies and countries will likely expand digital surveillance. Social and commercial activities have seen digitalisation on a large scale. The future is likely to see a significant shift to an online first culture and an increase in the rate of growth of data volume. The pandemic has facilitated the creation of a fertile environment for fake news. Going ahead, there are heightened prospects of an intensification of the existing geopolitical competition in misinformation. The pandemic has widened the adoption of online learning. Moving ahead, this could have the unfortunate consequence of widening the existing digital divide in society, which in turn could perpetuate inequity. © 2021 Universitatea de Vest Vasile Goldis din Arad. All rights reserved.