Comparative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on work and employment—Why industrial relations institutions matter

This introduction assesses the international impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on work and employment. It outlines conceptually why industrial relations institutions matter for shaping policy choices across different countries. This includes countries in the Global South that are not covered by conventional varieties of capitalism theories. An important focus is what IR institutions and policies played a protective role in the decommodification of labor during the pandemic, notably short-time working (furlough) schemes, tripartite cooperative pacts, works councils, collective bargaining, and active labor market policies. IR institutions continue to matter, and the contributions in this Special Issue can inform future research. © 2023 Regents of the University of California (RUC).

THE TIES THAT RECRUIT, RETAIN, AND BIND: ENGAGING HISPANIC IMMIGRANT FAMILIES IN THE TIME OF CRISIS

In 2008, we launched Project RAMA (Risk Assessments for Mexican Americans) in Houston, Texas, seeking to understand how multigenerational Mexican immigrant families communicate about familial risk for complex disease. Several lessons were learned. First, our community advisory committee endorsed research goals. Second, we listened to the community with regards to immigration concerns and structural racism. Finally, in the summer and fall of 2008, Hurricane Ike struck the region. Because our team provided support and resources to families in need, we had a higher participation rate post-disaster. Pausing recruitment and postponing assessments led us to unexpectedly discover a long-term intervention effect that was not originally hypothesized. These lessons guide a new initiative focused on Hispanic immigrant families affected by rheumatoid arthritis in Washington DC. We discuss how we address challenges in the on-going project during the Covid pandemic, including recruiting through embedded community clinics and integrating community needs into study design.

A Framework for Social Science in Epidemics

In epidemic preparedness and response, it is now commonly accepted that insights from social science disciplines are important in shaping action. Unfortunately, the role of social science is often confined to risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) efforts. In this article, we propose an analytical framework that would allow researchers and practitioners from different disciplines to employ social science insights to enrich their understanding of epidemics and formulate more effective and sustainable responses. The framework goes beyond simply unpacking social, political, economic and cultural dimensions of context;it situates disease itself - as it is shaped by the contexts in which it circulates - and views it in dynamic relation to response. It also explores how different individuals, social groups and institutions shift their knowledge and practices during an epidemic through power-laden processes of dialogue and learning, or even through silencing and side-lining. It is our hope that this framework will enable responders to engage more deeply and systematically with the contexts of emergencies, so as to ensure activities are more adaptive to local dynamics.

Restaurant employees' attitudinal reactions to social distancing difficulties: a multi-wave study

Purpose: Grounded in the job demands–resources (JD-R) theory, this study investigates how the difficulty in social distancing at work, resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, may lead to intention to quit and career regret and how and when these effects may be attenuated. Design/methodology/approach: Three-wave survey data were collected from 223 frontline service workers in a large restaurant company during the COVID-19 crisis. Findings: The results show that difficulty in social distancing reduced employees' work engagement, and consequently, increased their turnover intention and career regret. These relationships were moderated by external employability, such that the influence of difficulty in social distancing weakened as external employability increased. Originality/value: Social distancing measures have been applied across the globe to minimize transmission of COVID-19. However, such measures create a new job demand for service workers who find it difficult to practice social distancing due to the high contact intensity of service delivery. This study identified personal resources that help service workers cope with the demand triggered by COVID-19. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Progress towards polio eradication - worldwide, January 2019-June 2021

In 1988, when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) began, polio paralyzed >350,000 children across 125 countries. Today, only 1 of 3 wild poliovirus serotypes, type 1 (WPV1), remains in circulation in only 2 countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. This report summarizes progress towards global polio eradication during 1 January 2019-30 June, 2021 and updates previous reports. In 2020, 140 cases of WPV1 were reported including 56 in Afghanistan (a 93% increase from 29 cases in 2019) and 84 in Pakistan (a 43% decrease from 147 cases in 2019). As GPEI focuses on the last endemic WPV reservoirs, poliomyelitis outbreaks caused by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) have emerged as a result of attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) virus regaining neurovirulence after prolonged circulation in underimmunized populations. In 2020, 32 countries reported cVDPV outbreaks (4 type 1 [cVDPV1], 26 type 2 [cVDPV2] and 2 with outbreaks of both);13 of these countries reported new outbreaks. The updated GPEI Polio Eradication Strategy 2022-2026 includes expanded use of the type 2 novel oral poliovirus vaccine (nOPV2) to avoid new emergences of cVDPV2 during outbreak responses. The new strategy deploys other tactics, such as increased national accountability and focused investments for overcoming the remaining barriers to eradication, including the programme disruptions and setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pandemic preparedness and response in service hub cities: lessons from Northwestern Ontario

Purpose - Responding to the needs of homeless and marginally housed persons has been a major component of the Canadian federal and provincial responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, smaller, less-resourced cities and rural regions have been left competing for limited resources (Schiff et al., 2020). The purpose of this paper is to use a case study to examine and highlight information about the capacities and needs of service hub cities during pandemics. Design/methodology/approach - The authors draw on the experience of Thunder Bay - a small city in Northern Ontario, Canada which experienced a serious outbreak of COVID-19 amongst homeless persons and shelter staff in the community. The authors catalogued the series of events leading to this outbreak through information tracked by two of the authors who hold key funding and planning positions within the Thunder Bay homeless sector. Findings - Several lessons may be useful for other cities nationally and internationally of similar size, geography and socio-economic position. The authors suggest a need for increased supports to the homeless sector in small service-hub cities (and particularly those with large Indigenous populations) to aid in the creation of pandemic plans andmore broadly to ending chronic homelessness in those regions. Originality/value - Small hub cities such as Thunder Bay serve vast rural areas andmay have high rates of homelessness. This case study points to some important factors for consideration related to pandemic planning in these contexts.

Where in the world is Florence Nightingale's medicine chest?

BACKGROUND: In the 121st anniversary year of the birth of Florence Nightingale, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is both interesting and salient to be reminded of the foundational work of this famous woman who began modern nursing. Her work in nursing care and nursing, health and public policy has been a continuing strong foundation to practices in societies around the world. METHODS: In this short communication about historical research, various aspects of Florence's life and work are described, as well as the locations, memorials and museum significant to our remembrance of her. RESULTS: A particular focus of this paper is the description of a larger but little-known medicine chest located at the College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, SK, Canada, and attributed as belonging to Florence. CONCLUSION: Best known to this point in time is a smaller medicine chest at the Florence Nightingale Museum in London.

Local Covid-19 Syndemics and the Need for an Integrated Response

The Covid-19 pandemic is more than a health crisis. It has worse outcomes among individuals with co-morbidities, has exposed fault lines in our societies, and amplified existing inequalities. This article draws on emerging evidence from low- and middle-income contexts to highlight how Covid-19 becomes syndemic when it interacts with local vulnerabilities. A syndemic approach provides a frame for understanding how Covid-19 is amplified when clustered with other diseases and how this clustering is facilitated by contextual and social factors that create adverse conditions. Public health responses to Covid-19 have also exacerbated these adverse conditions as many face social and economic crises as a result of some policies. These multiple challenges generate major implications for both the public health response and for broader development action: first, one size does not fit all and we must attend to local vulnerabilities;second, short-term public health response and longer-term development approaches must be integrated for improved intersectoral coordination and synergy. A synergised public health and development response will allow us to better prepare for the next pandemic.

COVID-19 and pneumothorax: a multicentre retrospective case series

Introduction: Pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum have both been noted to complicate cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requiring hospital admission. We report the largest case series yet described of patients with both these pathologies (including nonventilated patients). Methods: Cases were collected retrospectively from UK hospitals with inclusion criteria limited to a diagnosis of COVID-19 and the presence of either pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum. Patients included in the study presented between March and June 2020. Details obtained from the medical record included demographics, radiology, laboratory investigations, clinical management and survival. Results: 71 patients from 16 centres were included in the study, of whom 60 had pneumothoraces (six with pneumomediastinum in addition) and 11 had pneumomediastinum alone. Two of these patients had two distinct episodes of pneumothorax, occurring bilaterally in sequential fashion, bringing the total number of pneumothoraces included to 62. Clinical scenarios included patients who had presented to hospital with pneumothorax, patients who had developed pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum during their inpatient admission with COVID-19 and patients who developed their complication while intubated and ventilated, either with or without concurrent extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Survival at 28 days was not significantly different following pneumothorax (63.1 +/- 6.5%) or isolated pneumomediastinum (53.0 +/- 18.7%;p=0.854). The incidence of pneumothorax was higher in males. 28-day survival was not different between the sexes (males 62.5 +/- 7.7% versus females 68.4 +/- 10.7%;p=0.619). Patients aged >= 70 years had a significantly lower 28-day survival than younger individuals (>= 70 years 41.7 +/- 13.5% survival versus <70 years 70.9 +/- 6.8% survival;p=0.018 log-rank). Conclusion: These cases suggest that pneumothorax is a complication of COVID-19. Pneumothorax does not seem to be an independent marker of poor prognosis and we encourage continuation of active treatment where clinically possible.

Ground-penetrating radar prospections at the Roman Domus of Mdina (Malta)

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) mapping provides a three-dimensional analysis of archaeological features within the context of landscape studies. The method’s ability to measure the intensity of radar reflections from deep in the ground can produce images and maps of buried features not visible on the surface. A study was conducted in some areas near the Domus Romana in Rabat (Malta) in order to investigate the still uncovered archaeological structures. The purpose of the GPR survey was to guide the excavation operations (planned but postponed due to Covid-19) and to allow us to understand the development of the defensive walls of the city and any other structures related to the Roman mansion. The choice of the areas to be investigated was therefore guided both by previous archaeological excavations and by the considerations made above. The results obtained through the GPR made it possible to shed light on some of the aspects related to the questions posed by the archaeologists, highlighting part of the structures related to the defensive walls, part of the structures related to water supply and conservation and part of the wall structures related to the Roman mansion itself. © 2020 Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists.