ABSTRACT
Introduction and objectives: The Interventional Cardiology Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (ACI-SEC) and the Spanish Society of Pediatric Cardiology Working Group on Interventional Cardiology (GTH-SECPCC) introduce their annual activity report for 2020, the starting year of the pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Methods: All Spanish centers with cath labs and interventional activity in congenital heart diseases were invited to participate. Data were collected online, and analyzed by an external company together with members from the ACI-SEC and the GTH-SECPCC. Results: A total of 16 centers participated (all of them public) including 30 cath labs experienced in the management of congenital heart diseases, 7 of them (23.3%) dedicated exclusively to pediatric patients. A total of 1046 diagnostic studies, and 1468 interventional cardiac catheterizations were registered. The interventional procedures were considered successful in 93.4% of the cases with rates of major procedural complications and mortality of 2%, and 0.1%, respectively. The most frequent procedures were atrial septal defect closure (377 cases), pulmonary angioplasty (244 cases), and the percutaneous closure of the patent ductus arteriosus (199 cases). Conclusions: This report is the first publication from the Spanish Cardiac Catheterization in Congenital Heart Diseases Registry. The data recorded are conditioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Diagnostic cardiac catheterization still plays a key role in this field. Most interventional techniques have reported excellent security and efficacy rates.
ABSTRACT
The sustainability of the food supply seems to be a never-ending concern of many households in the Philippines. This concern is most especially felt in this time of pandemic wherein many Filipinos are struggling on where to get their food to feed their families. The adoption of edible landscaping has become more in demand because of the current situation caused by the pandemic. As such, having a sustainable edible garden is very much recommended because it can provide the household a "garden to table" food which can help in making the household food self-sufficient. There is a current need to promote edible landscaping technology primarily through trainings and seminars and it should be intensified to inform and educate the people on food self-sufficiency amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Edible landscaping (EL) as an approach that merges the science of crop production and the art of landscaping, is continuously being promoted using different strategies and one of which is the conduct of trainings and seminars all over the Philippines. This study assessed the different ways by which the Edible Landscaping Team of the University of the Philippines Los Banos delivered promotional activities such as webinars and e-training amidst the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research was conducted using the qualitative approach, specific case studies, and the data gathered were analyzed using thematic analysis. More than 39,000 individuals in the Philippines have already been reached and educated on the technology through the conduct of e-trainings and webinars. The presentations and lectures on edible landscaping were modified based on the needs of the requesting institution and were discussed using a combination of English and Filipino languages. The duration of the eight webinars ranged from a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of almost 5 hours (in discussion is written 'almost 4 hours). Based on the comments, most of the online viewers gave affirmative responses.
ABSTRACT
The objective of the study was to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean. An observational, descriptive, retrospective, retrospective and cross-sectional research was deployed. The study relied primarily on the Covid19Tourism Index to analyze the depression of tourism activity in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on the degree of recovery with respect to the "normal time" without COVID-19. The results showed that the least affected countries were Mexico and the Dominican Republic, while Argentina and Peru were the most affected in relation to the overall drop-in tourism activity. Peru, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Mexico were the most affected in terms of the number of COVID-19 deaths per million inhabitants. The loss of passenger revenues in Latin American and Caribbean countries between January and September 2020, amounting to 21 billion USD, was evidenced, forecasting a reduction in international passenger traffic capacity of between 60% and 63% by the year 2020. In conclusion, a significant drop in tourism in Latin American and Caribbean countries was evidenced, mainly due to COVID-19, which has a significant economic impact on this region, with results very similar to those of other regions of the world.