Postpartum Care in the Time of COVID-19: The Use of Telemedicine for Postpartum Care.

Background: Telemedicine was implemented at our institution in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data do not currently exist about the use of telemedicine in providing comprehensive postpartum care. Objective: This project aimed to evaluate the impact of telemedicine on postpartum care at an urban Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who delivered at an urban hospital in New York between September and November 2019 (pre-COVID), February through April 2020 (peak-COVID) and June through August 2020 (ongoing-COVID). The primary outcome was postpartum visit attendance. Secondary outcomes included contraception use, breastfeeding, depression screening, hospital readmission, and emergency department visit rates. Log-binomial regression models were used to estimate relative risk. Results: Telemedicine accounted for 1% of postpartum visits in the pre-COVID cohort, 60% in the peak-COVID cohort, and 48% in the ongoing-COVID cohort. Postpartum visit attendance rates were 52% in the pre-COVID cohort, 43% in the peak-COVID cohort, and 56% in the ongoing-COVID cohort (p > 0.05). There was a nonsignificant increase in postpartum visit show rate for telemedicine visits compared to in-person visits in the peak-COVID cohort (76% vs. 65%; relative risk [RR] 1.17 [0.87-1.57]) and ongoing-COVID cohort (85% vs. 74%; RR 1.16 [0.90-1.50]). Patients were significantly less likely to have a Patient Health Questionnaire-2 Depression screen in the peak-COVID and ongoing-COVID cohorts (22% and 33%) than in the pre-COVID cohort (74%) (p < 0.01). There were no significant differences in hospital readmissions, contraceptive use or breastfeeding rates across cohorts (p > 0.05). Conclusions: At our urban FQHC, telemedicine was comparable to in-person postpartum care in terms of attendance rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, without an increase in rates of hospital visits or readmissions. However, postpartum depression screening needs to be better integrated into the telemedicine visit type.

A multifunctional colorimetric sensor array for bacterial identification and real-time bacterial elimination to prevent bacterial contamination.

Effective identification and real-time inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms is of great importance for preventing their infection and spread in public health, especially considering the huge threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Herein, a novel multifunctional colorimetric sensor array with 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) as a single probe has been constructed. TMB can be efficiently oxidized to generate oxidized TMB (oxTMB) by HAuCl4, which displays four characteristic absorption peaks. The presence of different bacteria could inhibit the oxidation reaction and cause diverse changes in the intensity of the four characteristic peaks. Based on linear discriminant analysis (LDA), not only are nine kinds of pathogenic bacteria successfully identified, but also drug-resistant strains are distinguished from sensitive ones. Interestingly, HAuCl4 can be employed as a germicidal agent to inactivate bacteria during the identification and avoid accessional bacterial contaminations. The developed strategy provides a new and simple avenue for bacterial identification and elimination to effectively protect the public from bacterial contamination.

Transportation During Coronavirus in New York City

The COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of non-essential business transformed mobility in, through and around New York City. This report provides a detailed analysis of the way in which the transportation systems in New York City and the surrounding region were affected by the pandemic and curtailed economic activity through May 31, 2020. Sections include: Trends in transportation: essential travel, trends in New York City, patterns of walking and micromobility, travel to New York City, and travel impact on the central business district;How New Yorkers adapted: essential workers, food and beverage delivery services, other creative solutions;Looking forward: challenges for public transit, returning demand;and Recommendations. Findings include: (1) Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City Transit carried 5.5 million subway riders on a typical weekday, or 2.5 times the total ridership of all other U.S. subway systems combined. On April 12th, 2020, subway ridership had dropped 96% to 213,424, its lowest point during the pandemic, and likely the lowest number in 100 years. (2) From the outset of the pandemic, essential workers, an estimated 25% of NYC’s workforce, depended on subways and personal vehicles, lacking sufficient access to rapid transit and micromobility options in their neighborhoods. On a normal day, essential workers account for 38% of transit commuters. (3) As vehicular trips on New York City streets fell by 84%, traffic speeds rose 27%. (4) Tourism from across the nation and globe declined precipitously as air travel was cut sharply: passenger counts across LaGuardia, Newark, and John F. Kennedy airports fell 98.4% below 2019 levels.