Understanding Student Perceptions Around Mandatory Use of Smartphone Apps for COVID-19

In this short paper, we present our findings from a survey (n=178) conducted on a college campus to understand student perceptions of the deployment of CoVerified app to regulate COVID-19 spread on campus by limiting access to on-campus locations and events to only those with a "cleared"status. We expect our recommendations could help with future deployments of smartphone apps for managing spread of COVID-19, should there be new variants. Additionally, we also highlight our innovative pedagogy of bringing research into the classroom by incorporating the study data into a class project. © 2022 Owner/Author.

OPTIMISING HEALTH BENEFIT PACKAGES IN THE ERA OF COVID-19: A CASE STUDY FROM PAKISTAN

Objective The health systems costs of COVID-19 are high in many countries, including Pakistan. Without increases in fiscal space, COVID-19 interventions are likely to displace other activities within the health system. We reflect on the inclusion of COVID-19 interventions in Pakistan's Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) and, from a financial optimisation perspective, propose which interventions should be displaced to ensure the highest possible overall health utility within budgetary constraints. Methods We estimated the costs of all 88 interventions currently included in the EPHS and collected published data on their cost-effectiveness. We also estimated total costs and costeffectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in Pakistan. We ranked all EPHS interventions and COVID-19 vaccination by costeffectiveness, determining which interventions are comparatively least cost-effective and, in the absence of additional funding, no longer affordable. Results The EPHS assumes a spending per capita of US $12.96, averting 40.36 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). From a financial optimisation perspective, and assuming no additional funds, the introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine (US$3 per dose) should displace 8 interventions out of the EPHS, making the EPHS more cost-effective by averting 40.62 million DALYs. A US$6 dose should displace a further intervention and avert 40.56 million DALYs. A US$10 dose would partially fall out of the package, displacing four additional interventions. If health spending per capita decreased to US$8, a US$3 dose would still be affordable, but not US$6 or US$10 doses. Discussion Cost-effectiveness is only one criterion considered when deciding which interventions are included in (or removed from) a health benefits package. While displacing certain interventions to create fiscal space for the COVID-19 vaccine may lead to a financially optimal scenario, doing so may be politically unfeasible or socially undesirable. We highlight the difficult trade-offs that health systems face in the era of COVID-19.

Educational Experiences of a Mechanical Engineering Technology Program During COVID-19

This work in progress describes the study of a Mechanical Engineering Technology Program's faculty experiences in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19. The effects of COVID-19 upon various institutions are likely to be longstanding, as returning to what once was considered normal will never completely happen. As part of the engineering technology community, it is important to contribute to the knowledge base regarding the collective experience. Just as novel observations may serve to identify opportunities for advancement or disparities between populations, recurring observations can add to literature validating pedagogical phenomena. This study utilized explorative qualitative methods to gain preliminary insight into the experiences at a particular institution. Findings can be used to inform practice as we try to move forward in the new normalcies of engineering education. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Remembering is a form of honouring: preserving the COVID-19 archival record

COVID-19 presents an opportunity to preserve a rich and diverse historical record-one intended to honour all experiences and voices and in recognition of ongoing systemic inequalities shaping the pandemic. But policy changes are necessary in three key areas: how memory institutions are funded and supported, the gaps in our capacity to preserve the digital records that reflect how we communicate with one another today, and how to preserve and make accessible valuable scholarly research into the societal impact of COVID-19. Our goal is to begin a conversation about priorities for archival preservation, the need for greater equity and justice in our preservation practices, and ways to safeguard the existence of historical records that will allow us in future to bear witness, with fairness and truth and in a spirit of reconciliation, to our society's response to COVID-19.

Do or die? The UK, the EU, and internal/external security cooperation after Brexit

The European Union (EU) integration project is under attack from a reassertion of national sovereignty following Brexit and the Covid-19 crisis. Our analysis examines the impact that traditional forms of sovereignty and national interests will have on the conduct of EU foreign and security policy post-Brexit. We focus on the Brexit challenge to the EU mode of regulation and diplomacy in internal/external policies in Common Foreign and Security Policy, Common Security and Defence Policy, and Justice and Home Affairs. The article also considers key scenarios for future UK-EU security cooperation to inform analysis of likely policy outcomes for the UK and the EU. The article concludes that the EU will have a greater impact through its laws and regulations on the post-Brexit UK than vice versa and that Brexit is not an immediate threat to the EU's regulatory mode of security governance. The new realities of internal/external security governance in Europe post-Brexit will mean weakened EU–UK security arrangements, which will impact the scope and quality of European security cooperation beyond traditional defence. This is both undesirable and potentially dangerous for European security cooperation and for Europe's position in the wider world. © 2021, European Consortium for Political Research.