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In order to analyze the impact of COVID-19 prevention and control measures on the hotspots of residential burglary, the data of crimes that occurred during the First Level Response period of Major Public Health Emergencies in Beijing in 2020 and the same period in 2019 were collected, and the changes of hotspots during the two periods were compared by using kernel density estimation and predictive accuracy index. Consequently, the environmental features such as street network, point of interest (POI) diversity, crime locations, and repeat victimization in significantly varied hotspot areas were investigated. The results show that: 1) After the outbreak of the pandemic, the occurrence of residential burglary in the core urban areas of Beijing dropped significantly, and daily occurrence of crimes during the First Level Response period in 2020 decreased by 66.8% compared with the same days in 2019. 2) The eight major hotspots that existed in 2019 apparently declined during the corresponding days in 2020, five of them basically disappeared, and three hotspots weakened. 3) The declined hotspots were generally clustered around traffic hubs, areas with high diversity of POIs, clustered crimes, and repeat victimizations. 4) Home isolation and social restriction strategies implemented during the First Level Response period reduced the opportunities of offenders, and the real-name inspection adopted in public places increased the exposure risk of offenders, which are the main reasons for the hotspots decline during the pandemic. This work has some implications for crime prevention and police resources optimization during the pandemic. © 2023, Editorial office of PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY. All rights reserved.
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Owing to the continuous variant of the COVID-19 virus, the present epidemic may persist for a long time, and each breakout displays strongly region/time-dependent characteristics. Predicting each specific burst is the basic task for the corresponding strategies. However, the refinement of prevention and control measures usually means the limitation of the existing records of the evolution of the spread, which leads to a special difficulty in making predictions. Taking into account the interdependence of people' s travel behaviors and the epidemic spreading, we propose a modified logistic model to mimic the COVID-19 epidemic spreading, in order to predict the evolutionary behaviors for a specific bursting in a megacity with limited epidemic related records. It continuously reproduced the COVID-19 infected records in Shanghai, China in the period from March 1 to June 28, 2022. From December 7, 2022 when Mainland China adopted new detailed prevention and control measures, the COVID-19 epidemic broke out nationwide, and the infected people themselves took "ibuprofen” widely to relieve the symptoms of fever. A reasonable assumption is that the total number of searches for the word "ibuprofen” is a good representation of the number of infected people. By using the number of searching for the word "ibuprofen” provided on Baidu, a famous searching platform in Mainland China, we estimate the parameters in the modified logistic model and predict subsequently the epidemic spreading behavior in Shanghai, China starting from December 1, 2022. This situation lasted for 72 days. The number of the infected people increased exponentially in the period from the beginning to the 24th day, reached a summit on the 31st day, and decreased exponentially in the period from the 38th day to the end. Within the two weeks centered at the summit, the increasing and decreasing speeds are both significantly small, but the increased number of infected people each day was significantly large. The characteristic for this prediction matches very well with that for the number of metro passengers in Shanghai. It is suggested that the relevant departments should establish a monitoring system composed of some communities, hospitals, etc. according to the sampling principle in statistics to provide reliable prediction records for researchers. © 2023 Chinese Physical Society.
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The ongoing COVID-19 epidemic has had a great impact on social activities and the economy. The usage technical analysis tools to provide a more accurate and efficient reference for epidemic control measures is of great significance. This paper analyzes the characteristics and deficiencies of the existing technical methods, such as regression model, simulation calculation, differential equation and so on. By analyzing past outbreak cases and comparing the epidemic prevention measures of different cities, we discuss the importance of early and timely prevention in controlling the epidemic, and the importance of analyzing and formulating plans in advance. We then make the key observation that the spread of the virus is related to the topology of the urban network. This paper further proposes an epidemic analysis model of the optimized PageRank model, and gives a ranking algorithm for virus transmission risk levels based on road nodes, forming a visual risk warning level map, and applies the algorithm to the epidemic analysis of Yuegezhuang area in Beijing. Finally, more in-depth research directions and suggestions for prevention and control measures are put forward. © 2023 SPIE.
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In order to slow the COVID-19 pandemic's rapid spread and put an end to it, the world needs to take extraordinary action. The knowledge, attitude, and practises (KAP) of outpatients concerning COVID-19 have an impact on the adherence to control measures. As a result, this research serves as a baseline analysis to assess Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice and serve as the foundation for our mitigation efforts. The outpatients were given this self-administrated survey. The ten-item survey was created in a way that allowed for an accurate evaluation of the knowledge, attitude, and practise components. Using SPSS software, the statistical analysis was conducted. The replies from the Google sheet were loaded into SPSS after being exported to Excel. Data were described using frequency and percentages, and chi square analysis was conducted to see whether there was any correlation between the variables. 85 outpatients in total took part in the survey. While 80% of the participants were aware of the life trajectory of Covid-infected individuals and 77.6% of them paid close attention to government directives, the overall level of awareness about COVID-19 and its prevention was rather high. 54.12% of the participants used hand sanitizer and wore masks constantly. The outcomes indicated that the participants had sound knowledge and a positive outlook. To combat this epidemic, media propaganda and instructional video production must continue to be produced and distributed. © 2023 IEEE.
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Background: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), related to their disease consequences and treatment modalities, are physically and mentally vulnerable during the outbreak. Objectives: To investigate the association between pandemic-related changes and positive airway pressure (PAP) adherence and sleep quality in OSA patients. Methods: This was a multi-center cross-sectional study, and the necessary data were collected prospectively. A total of 221 patients were included in the study, who were invited from four different centers from June 1 - December 1, 2020. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was administered to evaluate sleep quality. Information on demographics positive airway pressure (PAP) device use, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a questionnaire collected related changes. Patients >18 years with a diagnosis of OSA and prescribed PAP treatment before the pandemic period were included in the study. Lack of cooperation with the questionnaires and incompliant with PAP treatment for longer than one year were the exclusion criteria. Results: Of the 221 participants, 79.2% were men. The mean apnea-hypopnea index was obtained at 40.8+or-24.3. A positive COVID-19 test was reported in nine cases, and three patients had hospitalization. During the pandemic, 102 (46.2%) subjects were retired, 26 (11.8%) lost their jobs, and 34 (15.3%) reported home office work or on-call or on leave. Poor sleep quality was found in 54 (24.4%) individuals. It was also reported that poor sleep quality was more common in those who reported mask use difficulty (38.7% vs. 18.9%;P=0.004) and increased or decreased PAP use (increased, decreased, no change in PAP use: 45.5%, 36.0%, 19.4%, respectively;P=0.01). The good sleep quality group had higher PAP use than the poor sleep quality group (6.2+or-1.5 vs. 5.3+or-2.4 night/week;P=0.002;6.2+or-1.5 vs. 5.5+or-2.2 hour/night;P=0.01). Conclusions: Pandemic period had several negative effects on sleep apnea patients regarding sleep quality and social lives which also influenced PAP adherence in OSA patients. Most patients did not change their regular PAP use attitudes during this period. Similar to the pre-COVID-19 disease period, PAP adherence and compliance positively influenced sleep quality;people who were "good sleepers" were the ones who were the "good PAP device users".
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Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, mask-wearing has become a common practice in the foodservice industry to prevent the spread of respiratory diseases. Like kitchen utensils, a mask may serve as a vehicle for cross-contamination of pathogens during food handling. The objective of this study was to quantify cross-contamination between tasks of handling contaminated chicken and chopping lettuce. Chicken breasts were inoculated with a high or a low level of nonpathogenic Escherichia coli surrogates (ca. 6 or 4 log CFU/ml) and sliced for 1, 5, or 10 min. During slicing, duplicate, single-use medical masks were touched each minute. One mask was immediately sampled, but the second mask was used to contaminate lettuce by touching the mask each minute while chopping the lettuce for 5 min. E. coli were enumerated from the second mask and lettuce. Masks touched while slicing both high- and low-inoculated chicken showed significant contamination (0.8-4.9 log CFU/cm2) after each slicing scenario of 1, 5, or 10 min (P > 0.05). Lettuce was significantly contaminated regardless of inoculation level (1.0-3.2 log CFU/g). Slicing time was a significant factor in some cases (P < 0.05), whereas inoculation level was not (P > 0.05). Data indicate masks can be a source of cross-contamination if not replaced appropriately.
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The onset of COVID- 19 pandemic has resulted in the transition from the conventional face to face health care strategies to computerized approaches, considering distances, the importance of quarantine, and early diagnosis and management. As far as the rapid management of the infection is concerned, telemedicine has been introduced as a beneficial approach. The use of telemedicine is thought to decrease the risk of cross contamination. Moreover, it provides the access to the health care for remote locations. The health care staff can use the computational analyses to get rapid access to the accurate epidemiological and laboratory data. The risk assessment provided by the mathematical models seems beneficial for decision-making in regards to the prognosis and management. We aimed to explore the breakthrough of telemedicine regarding the pandemic, also attempting to describe the related problems and challenges.
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Background: One of the most important harmful effects related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the psychological effects that can affect all population groups. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of home quarantine caused by COVID-19 on parents' stress, as well as children's anxiety and depression. Methods: This study included 230 parents who had children aged 5-12 years. The data were collected using the Children Symptom Inventory (CSI-4) and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), which were sent to people through the social messenger WhatsApp. (22). Different variables including the impact of the event, avoidance, intrusion, hyperarousal, anxiety, and depression were measured and analyzed using these two questionnaires. Results: The results of the correlation analysis showed that the impact of the quarantined event caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the IES-R subscales in parents were directly and significantly related to the anxiety and depression scores in their children. In addition, multivariate regression analysis showed that higher IES-R scores by parents can significantly predict higher anxiety and depression scores in children. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the home quarantine caused by the COVID-19 pandemic causes stress in parents and this also increases anxiety and depression in their children. Therefore, it is suggested that in addition to the management, control, and treatment of these types of pandemic diseases, special attention be paid to their psychological effects, especially during home quarantine.
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BACKGROUND: The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in spring 2020 offered an opportunity to examine the impact of mindfulness theory as governments responded. Mindful organizations do not rely on routine ways and are open to new ideas and perspectives in problem solving. Mindfulness involves analyzing new situations and openness to information. This study examines how well mindful planning, conducted in 2006 by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), matched public responses to the 2020 pandemic. METHOD: Public meetings were held in 2006 to determine acceptability of a series of control measures such as altering work schedules and cancelling large gatherings in the case of a novel pandemic. In 2020, an online survey was conducted of 803 participants during initial implementation of the measures and compared to responses from 2006 to ascertain the effectiveness of mindful planning. RESULTS: Chi-square analysis showed no significant differences on acceptance of five community control measures across geographic regions. CONCLUSIONS: Failure of officials to consider the insights of mindful planning efforts resulted in mindless reactions. These results highlight how vital it is for organizations dealing with high-risk public health issues to follow a mindful approach throughout to reduce negative public health impact. This study also fills a gap in the research on mindfulness by analyzing the outcome of mindful planning in real-life. Limitations of the study include non-random online sampling, timeliness of the data gathered at an early stage of pandemic spread and lack of comparable gendered demographic variables.
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Background: Childcare centres can be high-risk settings for SARS-CoV-2 transmission due to age, vaccination status, and infection control challenges. We describe the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of a childcare SARS-CoV-2 Delta outbreak. When the outbreak occurred, little was known about the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 ancestral and Delta strains among children. Vaccinations for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were not mandatory for childcare staff, and children (< 12 years) were ineligible. Methods: A retrospective cohort design of childcare attendees was used to investigate age-cohorts exposure and transmission of SARS-CoV-2. We defined a case as a person who tested positive to SARS-CoV-2; we defined a close contact as a person who attended the childcare during 16-20 August 2021. Childcare centre exposures were defined by three cohorts: younger children (0-< 2.5 years) with designated staff; older children (2.5-5 years) with designated staff; and a staff-only group that moved between both age cohorts. We calculated the number and proportion of SARS-CoV-2 Delta infections, symptom profile and severity in children and adults, secondary attack rates, and relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to compare age-cohort exposures and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: There were 38 outbreak cases that tested positive to SARS-CoV-2 Delta infection, comprising one primary case, 11 childcare attendees and 26 household members. Child attendees were in two non-interacting groups, 0-< 2.5 years and 2.5-5 years, with designated staff, separate rooms, and independent ventilation. The greatest risk of infection to childcare attendees was in the < 2.5 years age cohort which had a secondary attack rate of 41% and were five times more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 (RR = 5.73; 95% CI: 1.37-23.86; p ≤ 0.01). No identified transmission (n = 0/21) occurred in the ≥ 2.5 years age cohort. Conclusion: Young children play an important role in SARS-CoV-2 Delta transmission to their peers and staff in childcare settings and to household members. Cohorting may be effective at limiting the propagation of SARS-CoV-2 in childcare settings. These findings highlight a need for multi-layered mitigation strategies and implementation support to manage respiratory infection control challenges at childcares. If prevention measures are not in place, this may facilitate ongoing transmission in these settings and into the broader community.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Adult , Child , Humans , Adolescent , Child, Preschool , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Retrospective Studies , Child Care , Australia/epidemiologyABSTRACT
This article examines how representatives of Swedish civil society organisations (CSOs) reflected on and acted to provide daily functional social work to people living precarious lives during the early phase (March-April 2020) of the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden. The empirical material consists of 20 qualitative interviews with representatives of CSOs. The results highlight how the CSOs, and their venues, constituted a safe place where visitors were considered grievable and that working face-to-face with the visitors was deemed necessary. However, the pandemic posed challenges for how the CSOs were used to organise their social work, while many visitors lacked other alternatives. When Covid-19 hit, it meant adapting and responding to deliver well-functioning social work and a place for people lacking other alternatives despite the pandemic. The measures taken implied possible challenges to the relationship between the CSOs and their visitors. Still, there were indications that the visitors saw the measures as a protection, as rituals of grievability. However, not all measures were welcomed by the representatives or visitors. Turning people away or prioritising among visitors were challenging and cannot always be said to frame people as grievable. Regardless, it seems that the challenging measures taken during the pandemic were already embedded in everyday practices where the visitors were treated relationally and considered grievable before the pandemic. This embeddedness made it possible to extend grievability throughout the pandemic, even when social distancing measures were used, thus emphasising the importance of places of grievability being accessible to people before societal crises occur. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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The rapid global spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now a reality. China has taken urban traffic control measures to prevent and control the epidemic, but this has prevented the flow of people between cities. This study investigates the mechanism of the impact of urban traffic control measures on the intercity population flow in China using the one-way causal measurement method. The results show that the impact of urban traffic control measures on the intercity flow of the population changes with time. Based on this, this study makes scientific suggestions for the government on how to reasonably undertake traffic control measures. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence & Intelligent Informatics is the property of Fuji Technology Press Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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It has been suggested that COVID-19 causes airborne infection by fine particles called droplet nuclei and reducing the risk of indoor infection by ventilation is attracting attention as an infection control measure. However, the characteristics of fine particles are not considered in indoor ventilation plans, and the behavior and removal effect of particles by ventilation have not been sufficiently clarified. Therefore, in this study, numerical analysis using a single aperture model is performed under various conditions to evaluate how indoor concentration trends and ventilation rates are affected by these factors in order to properly evaluate the outflow characteristics of chemical species and particulate matter due to ventilation. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
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In this manuscript we use triangular norms to model contact between susceptible and infected individuals in the susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) epidemiological model. In the classical SIR model, the encounter between susceptible and infected individuals is traditionally modeled by the product of their densities ([Formula Omitted]). That is, the encounter is modeled by the product t-norm. We use the COVID-19 data and extended versions of the SIR model whose encounters are modeled by four triangular norms, namely, product, minimum, and Frank and Hamacher t-norms, to analyze the scenario in three countries: 1) Germany;2) Italy;3) Switzerland. We compare all versions of the SIR model based on these triangular norms, and we analyze their effectiveness in fitting data and determining important parameters for the pandemic, such as the basic and effective reproduction number. In addition, Frank and Hamacher triangular norms present an auxiliary parameter that can be interpreted as an indicator of control measure, which we show to be important in the current pandemic scenario.
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The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in December 2019, has brought huge changes to people's lives. In terms of tourism, the prevention and control measures taken to stop the spread of the epidemic have led to a decline in the number of global trips, and the development of the tourism economy has entered a trough. The economic losses caused by the tourism industry and its corresponding service industry need to be resolved urgently. At the same time, with the development of artificial intelligence, virtual reality and other technologies, the concept of smart tourism was proposed. Based on this, we put forward a website platform model for tourists to inquire about tourism, which takes Wudang Mountain as an example and uses artificial intelligence as technical support. This platform model can meet the needs of users to carry out cloud tour of scenic spots online and enjoy scenic spots without leaving home. It can also conduct intelligent query of offline scenic spots, including route customization, ticket ordering, scenic spot recommendation and many other contents, to meet the various needs of tourists. In addition, the highlight of the platform model is the guide assistant that can conduct dialogues. Based on artificial intelligence technology, it can solve users' specific problems and give feasible solutions in the process of dialogues with users. © 2023 IEEE.
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We define the concept and analyze the connotation of the post-pandemic era by reviewing the recent foreign research on social impacts, risk prevention and control, and emergency management in the post-pandemic era. The current state of foreign research in the post-pandemic era is outlined, and the progress of foreign research on social impacts like urban planning and travel patterns, as well as core issues like risk prevention and control and emergency management in the post-pandemic era is analyzed in detail. The characteristics and shortcomings of existing research are summarized and future research in the postpandemic era is also forecasted. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on how people socialize, travel, and work, as well as changing industry trends, technical advancements, and social governance. Uncertainty is the most significant risk feature of the post-pandemic era, and the coupling of numerous hazards poses a new set of challenges to emergency management practices.
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The COVID-19 epidemic has lasted for more than two years since the outbreak in late 2019. An urgent and challenging question is how to systematically evaluate epidemic developments in different countries, during different periods, and to determine which measures that could be implemented are key for successful epidemic prevention. In this study, SBD distance-based K-shape clustering and hierarchical clustering methods were used to analyse epidemics in Asian countries. For the hierarchical clustering, epidemic time series were divided into three periods (epidemics induced by the Original/Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants separately). Standard deviations, the Hurst index, mortality rates, peak value of confirmed cases per capita, average growth rates, and the control efficiency of each period were used to characterize the epidemics. In addition, the total numbers of cases in the different countries were analysed by correlation and regression in relation to 15 variables that could have impacts on COVID-19. Finally, some suggestions on prevention and control measures for each category of country are given. We found that the total numbers of cases per million of a population, total deaths per million and mortality rates were highly correlated with the proportion of people aged over 65 years, the prevalence of multiple diseases, and the national GDP. We also found significant associations between case numbers and vaccination rates, health expenditures, and stringency of control measures. Vaccinations have played a positive role in COVID-19, with a gradual decline in mortality rates in later periods, and are still playing protective roles against the Delta and Omicron strains. The stringency of control measures taken by a government is not an indicator of the appropriateness of a country's response to the outbreak, and a higher index does not necessarily mean more effective measures; a combination of factors such as national vaccination rates, the country's economic foundation and the availability of medical equipment is also needed. This manuscript was submitted as part of a theme issue on "Modelling COVID-19 and Preparedness for Future Pandemics".
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , Aged , COVID-19/epidemiology , SARS-CoV-2 , Pandemics , Asia/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Purpose: By serving and providing a guide for other regional places, this study aims to advance and guide the epidemic prevention and control methods, and practices and strengthen people's ability to respond to COVID-19 and other future potential public health risks. Design/methodology/approach: A comparative analysis was conducted that the COVID-19 epidemic development trend and prevention and control effects both in Beijing and Shanghai. In fact, regarding the COVID-19 policy and strategic areas, the differences between governmental, social, and professional management were discussed and explored. To prevent and be ready for potential pandemics, experience and knowledge were used and summarized. Findings: The strong attack of the Omicron variant in early 2022 has posed challenges to epidemic prevention and control practices in many Chinese cities. Shanghai, which had achieved relatively good performance in the fight against the epidemic, has exposed limitations in its epidemic prevention and control system in the face of Omicron. In fact, the city of Beijing has undertaken prompt and severe lockdown measures and achieved rather good results in epidemic prevention and control because of learning from Shanghai's experience and lessons; adhering to the overall concept of "dynamic clearing," implementing precise prevention and monitoring, enhancing community control, and making emergency plans and preparations. All these actions and measures are still essential in the shift from pandemic response to pandemic control. Research limitations/implications: Different places have introduced different urgent policies to control the spread of the pandemic. Strategies to control COVID-19 have often been based on preliminary and limited data and have tended to be slow to evolve as new evidence emerges. Hence, the effects of these anti-epidemic policies need to be further tested.
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COVID-19 , Humans , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , SARS-CoV-2 , Beijing/epidemiology , Communicable Disease Control/methods , China/epidemiology , Pandemics/prevention & controlABSTRACT
Most people spend 80-90% of their lives indoors. This makes controlling the airborne transmission of respiratory viruses such as influenza, rhinovirus, SARS, and COVID-19 in indoor environments important for healthy building outcomes. Though direct transmission from droplets and surfaces is usually a more effective means of infection transfer, buildings need to operate assuming aerosol transmission can be a serious risk. This study used simulations to assess the impacts of occupant density and ventilation rates as control measures to reduce the risk of aerosol transmission of COVID-19 in large and small offices. The simulation outputs were selected to correspond with in situ CO2 sensors and control points. The results of the simulation can be used to set targets for CO2 and other parameters that can be measured by low-cost sensors to manage risk of infection due to aerosol transmission. © International Building Performance Simulation Association, 2022
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Critical incidences in the event of a Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak will have a very high impact, the severity on the implementation of an institution/ university core teaching and learning mission in many ways as the temporary closure of schools, adaptation, and modified methods of teaching and learning processes or supplementary activities to differentiate or change to a new practice of new normal. The universities must recognize and realized that if they need to achieve a condition of safety, security, or sustainability for the implementation of the teaching and learning mission, it is possible to continue in the future as well. They must be understood and act to conform to the so-called system of "Critical Incident Management (CIM)”, which seems to be the right solution exactly as the same situation that the universities are facing today. The main purposes of this article need to present the details of the conceptual framework for the appropriate model and main components that are necessary for CIM, by showing relevance as a preventive action and control measures for Covid-19 in the long-term implementation. The universities must set up guidelines for self-control such as the appointment and assignment of authorities to the CIM team and person in charge, considering the cause or sources of the incident, assessment, and evaluation of the main impact to universities, CIM planning, establishing the appropriate control measures and procedures for incident management, continued peer review with communication, and identification the level of Covid-19 incident management success or indicated as the best effectiveness in the next opportunity, respectively.