The experiences of older Chinese migrants with chronic diseases during COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

The aim of the study was to understand older Chinese migrants' perceptions of social cohesion and access to health to manage chronic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. This study employed a qualitative descriptive study design. Participants were recruited from a Chinese community organisation in an Australian state. Data were collected via online interviews with participants using Zoom and WeChat Apps. A semistructured interview guide informed by the social determinants of health framework was used in the interview. The data collection period was between August and October, 2020. Thematic analysis was used in data analysis. In total, 24 participants including 17 older Chinese migrants with noncommunicable chronic diseases and seven family carers participated in the study. Of the 17 older Chinese migrants, 10 were male and seven were female. Their mean age was 76 years (ranging from 65 to 86) and they spoke little English. All seven carers were females with a mean age of 61 years (ranging from 35 to 76). Three main themes were identified in the study and described as: increased loneliness, anxiety, and depression;increased difficulties in accessing healthcare services;and various experiences in telehealth. In conclusion, older Chinese-Australians who spoke little English and lived with chronic diseases experienced the loss of their only social capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. They faced language barriers for accessing and utilising primary care to manage their chronic diseases when these care services were changed into telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings provide a clear direction for stakeholders to take actions to address the lack of social cohesion and health inequalities for the most vulnerable populations in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Green recovery or pollution rebound? Evidence from air pollution of China in the post-COVID-19 era.

Under the strict control measures, China has achieved phased victory in combating with the COVID-19, production activities have gradually returned to normal. This paper examined whether air pollution was rebounded or realized green recovery in the post-COVID-19 era with a dataset of weather normalized pollutant concentrations using difference-in-differences models. Results showed that air pollution experienced a significant decline due to the wide range of control measures. With entering the post-epidemic period, air pollution raised due to the orderly production resumption. Specifically, production resumption increased the PM2.5 concentrations of lockdown cities and non-lockdown cities by 43.2% (22.3 µg/m3) and 35.9% (17.3 µg/m3) compared with that in the period of COVID-19 breakout. Although the economic activities of China have been gradually recovered, PM2.5 concentrations were 8.8-11.2 µg/m3 lower than the level of pre-epidemic period. In addition, the environmental effects varied across cities. With the process of production resumption, the PM2.5 concentrations of cities with higher GDP, higher secondary industry output, more private cars and higher export volume rebounded less. Most developed cities realized green recovery by economy growth and air quality improvement, such as Beijing and Shanghai. While cities with heavy industry reflected pollution rebound with slow economy recovery, such as Shenyang and Harbin. Understanding the environmental effects of control measure and production resumption can provide crucial information for developing epidemic recovery policies and dealing with pollution issues for both China and other countries.

Data-driven quality improvement program to prevent hospitalisation and improve care of people living with coronary heart disease: Protocol for a process evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Practice-level quality improvement initiatives using rapidly advancing technology offers a multidimensional approach to reduce cardiovascular disease burden. For the "QUality improvement in primary care to prevent hospitalisations and improve Effectiveness and efficiency of care for people Living with heart disease" (QUEL) cluster randomised controlled trial, a 12-month quality improvement intervention was designed for primary care practices to use data and implement progressive changes using "Plan, Do, Study, Act" cycles within their practices with training in a series of interactive workshops. This protocol aims to describe the systematic methods to conduct a process evaluation of the data-driven intervention within the QUEL study. METHODS: A mixed-method approach will be used to conduct the evaluation. Quantitative data collected throughout the intervention period, via surveys and intervention materials, will be used to (1) identify the key elements of the intervention and how, for whom and in what context it was effective; (2) determine if the intervention is delivered as intended; and (3) describe practice engagement, commitment and capacity associated with various intervention components. Qualitative data, collected via semi-structured interviews and open-ended questions, will be used to gather in-depth understanding of the (1) satisfaction, utility, barriers and enablers; (2) acceptability, uptake and feasibility, and (3) effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of the intervention. CONCLUSION: Findings from the evaluation will provide new knowledge on the implementation of a complex, multi-component intervention at practice-level using their own electronic patient data to enhance secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) number ACTRN12619001790134.

Using green finance to counteract the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic on renewable energy investment-The case of offshore wind power in China.

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has increased the production costs of renewable energy facilities and undermines the profitability of renewable energy investment. Green finance polices, e.g. carbon pricing, tradable green certificate (TGC) and green credit, can provide low-cost finances and counteract the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic. In this work, the generation costs of offshore wind power before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in China are analyzed using the data of 97 offshore wind power projects implemented in the period of 2014-2020, and the effect of green finance policy on the generation cost and the project profitability are evaluated. The results show that the average levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of offshore wind power decreased from 0.86 CNY/kWh in 2014 to 0.72 CNY/kWh in 2019, while it increased to 0.79 CNY/kWh in 2020, i.e. 10.85% increase relative to that in 2019. With the average carbon price of 50 CNY/t CO2, the average TGC price of 170 CNY and the green-credit policy being introduced, the average LCOE decreases to 0.76 CNY/kWh, 0.67 CNY/kWh and 0.74 CNY/kWh respectively. The green finance policy mix is still necessary to support the offshore wind power investment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The preventive effect of Xuebijing injection against cytokine storm for severe patients with COVID-19: A prospective randomized controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 is severely affecting countries globally and mortality is high. Xuebijing (XBJ) injection is widely used in the treatment of severe pneumonia and sepsis in China due to its anti-inflammatory effect and immunoregulation. This study investigated whether Xuebijing injection can prevent the cytokine storm and reduce the mortality from severe COVID-19. METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blinded trial in which 60 eligible patients were recruited from the First people's Hospital of Jingzhou from February 16 to March 25 in 2020. A total of 57 completed the trial, 3 dropped out. The treatment group received routine medication plus Xuebijing injection while the control group received routine medication plus saline. RESULTS: The secretion of interleukin-6(IL-6), interleukin-8(IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) was suppressed significantly (P < 0.05) by Xuebijing. After 14 days treatment, lymphocyte levels in Xuebijing group was substantially higher than control, C-reactive protein (CRP) level in Xuebijing group was remarkably lower. The 28-day mortality was not significantly different between the two group. After 14 days of treatment, there were significant differences in the rate of mechanical ventilation, rate of septic shock, the proportion of patients severely affected who became critically ill, the duration of improvement of main clinical symptoms (P < 0.05) and the length of ICU hospitalization stay (P < 0.01) for the Xuebijing group compared with controls. No serious adverse reactions were identified in either group. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that Xuebijing injection may suppress the cytokine storm in severe COVID-19 patients by regulating the secretion of pro- inflammatory cytokine IL-6, IL-8 and TNF -α. However, Xuebijing did not significantly reduce the 28-day mortality.