ABSTRACT
Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic rapidly occurred in Shanghai, China at the end of February 2022, which was not only attacking physical health, such as sleep problems, but also exacerbating mental health. This study aimed to determine the association between sleep quality and psychological distress in COVID-19 carriers in China and evaluate the moderating effects of perceived social support.Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1283 asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers from Ruijin Jiahe Fangcang shelter hospitals in Shanghai, China. Participants had an average age of 39.64 years (SD = 11.14) and 59.6% of whom were male. They were assessed using the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) respectively. The Model Templates for PROCESS were used to examine the moderating effects of participants’ social support on the association.Results In total, 34.3% of participants presented with poor sleep quality (PSQI༞5); In addition, 41.1% patients showed bad mental health (GHQ༞3). Sleep quality was positively related to mental health (r = 0.30, p < 0.001) and social support (r = 0.08, p = 0.003). Social support was negatively related to mental health (r = -0.43, p < 0.001). Social support negatively moderated the association between sleep quality and mental health (β = 0.069, p < 0.01).Conclusions Social support may be beneficial to the improvement of mental health, especially for people in crisis (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic).
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that took place from August 7-16 was one of the largest public gatherings since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. Over 460,000 visitors from across the United States travelled to Sturgis, South Dakota to attend the ten day event. Using anonymous cell phone tracking data we identify the home counties of visitors to the rally and examine the impact of the rally on the spread of COVID-19. Our baseline estimate suggests a one standard deviation increase in Sturgis attendance increased COVID-19 case growth by 1.1pp in the weeks after the rally.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
An outbreak of clusters of viral pneumonia due to a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV / SARS-CoV-2) happened in Wuhan, Hubei Province in China in December 2019. Since the outbreak, several groups reported estimated R0 of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and generated valuable prediction for the early phase of this outbreak. After implementation of strict prevention and control measures in China, new estimation is needed. An infectious disease dynamics SEIR (Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious and Removed) model was applied to estimate the epidemic trend in Wuhan, China under two assumptions of Rt. In the first assumption, Rt was assumed to maintain over 1. The estimated number of infections would continue to increase throughout February without any indication of dropping with Rt = 1.9, 2.6 or 3.1. The number of infections would reach 11,044, 70,258 and 227,989, respectively, by 29 February 2020. In the second assumption, Rt was assumed to gradually decrease at different phases from high level of transmission (Rt = 3.1, 2.6 and 1.9) to below 1 (Rt = 0.9 or 0.5) owing to increasingly implemented public heath intervention. Several phases were divided by the dates when various levels of prevention and control measures were taken in effect in Wuhan. The estimated number of infections would reach the peak in late February, which is 58,077-84,520 or 55,869-81,393. Whether or not the peak of the number of infections would occur in February 2020 may be an important index for evaluating the sufficiency of the current measures taken in China. Regardless of the occurrence of the peak, the currently strict measures in Wuhan should be continuously implemented and necessary strict public health measures should be applied in other locations in China with high number of COVID-19 cases, in order to reduce Rt to an ideal level and control the infection.