Internal migration during COVID-19 pandemic: an analysis through the lens of social organisations

In March 2020, a large number of people moved from cities to their homes in rural areas, and a few months later, many returned to cities. These journeys were undertaken not only during the COVID-19 pandemic against the advisory of governments and public health experts, but the circumstances of travel were also under extreme hardship. How may we understand this intense response by people? By drawing on the migration theory and the roles of social ties or social organisation, we can better explain peoples' reactions during this pandemic. Notably, we find non-material values, such as the dignity of labour or responsibilities to family, are significant to decision -making, and there is a desire not to compromise on these values. Further, our analyses find that the distinction between pre-disaster and post-disaster situations may not be helpful.

A research framework for digital nomadism: a bibliometric study. (Special Issue: Leisure, knowledge work and the digital nomadism.)

Digital nomads live a new way of life that creates an ideal balance of work and leisure. Research on the phenomenon of digital nomads is still in its early stages and is not fully framed as a proper research category. Therefore, the present research aims to explore research on digital nomadism by study leading countries, authors and themes that can become a foundation for future research. This study is exploratory and interpretive - using bibliometrics, we systematically searched all articles indexed in the Web of Science database. The study presents the evolution of scholarly production, and identifies key authors and countries that have the potential to become pioneers in digital nomad research. We identified 17 core concepts of digital nomad research as well as concepts that have not yet received much attention from scientists. Additionally, our study provides a framework for research on digital nomadism and presents topics for future research: we determine how the 17 core concepts identified in this study affect the lives of digital nomads, research into legislation that directly affects digital nomads, study how COVID-19 has changed working styles, and offer a bibliometric analysis of data on digital nomads from other databases.

How the Japanese workcation embraces digital nomadic work style employees. (Special Issue: Leisure, knowledge work and the digital nomadism.)

In Japan, workcations have gained attention as a way to offset the economic damage caused to inbound tourism by the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering its aims to contribute to the local community and increase interactions with local residents, the Japanese-style workcation can be positioned as a form of digital nomadism that seeks alternatives to existing work styles. This study is based on fieldwork in Tottori Prefecture in Japan and includes interviews and participant observation. It aims to examine (1) national and local government workcation policies, (2) the development of new services and businesses that facilitate workcation, and (3) the process of introducing hybrid work in companies. Japanese-style workcation as a social design can offer solutions to problems such as the concentration of population in cities, ageing population, and declining tourism industry. The work styles and lifestyles suggested by the Japanese-style workcation should continue to be explored as an area where new tourism, social design, and community design overlap. At the same time, incorporating digital nomadism as individualism into the workcation remains a future issue.

COVID-19 exposure setting, social and gender determinants in a Mediterranean region

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of social and gender determinants, which influence the places where people are exposed to COVID-19, may be relevant in the development of preventive and control strategies. The aim of this paper was to determine the context in which COVID-19 cases were infected (household, work/labor, health, social-health, and social-leisure settings) according to country of origin, occupational social class and gender, which is essential in order to designing public health strategies. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of an epidemiological registry of 56,628 COVID-19 incident cases was made, whose exposure/ contagion setting was studied according to the previous variables from June 15 to December 23, 2020, in the Region of Murcia (Spain). An exact Fisher test was used to study the distribution of COVID-19 cases based on the above variables. RESULTS: The cumulative incidence was higher in people from Africa (5,133.5 cases/100,000 inhabitants) and Latin America (11,351.1) than in non-immigrants (3,145.7). It was also higher in women (3,885.6) than in men (3,572.6). It is noteworthy, that 53.3% of the cases with employment were workers in industry or construction, artisans, agricultural workers, or elementary occupations. In contrast, during the second semester of 2020, 41.3% of the employed population in the Region of Murcia performed such jobs. The household was the main exposure setting (56.5% of cases with a known setting), followed by social-leisure (20.7%) and work/labor (18.2%). The labor settings were more important in immigrants from Africa (28.4%) and Latin America (35.7%) than in non-immigrants (12%), inversely to social-leisure settings. Labor context was more important in women (19.6%) than in men (16.5%) and in manual workers (44.1%) than in non-manual workers (26.6%). CONCLUSIONS: The context in which COVID-19 cases were infected is different according to social inequalities related to country of origin, gender and occupational social class.

Differences in COVID-19 mortality in males and females: is estrogen hormone attributing to sex differences?

OBJECTIVES: Globally, the case fatality ratio is more in males versus females. Some studies have suggested estrogen hormone decreases susceptibility to SARS CoV-2. We have analyzed the observed sex differences in COVID-19 behavior in males and females and the clinical profiles of females of different age groups of COVID-19 patients and discussed their symptoms, laboratory evaluations, and associated comorbidities. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The patients were tested for COVID-19 through real-time RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) assay. The data obtained were studied for the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory characteristics from their medical records. RESULTS: The mortality rate in females was 12.33% (36/292) whereas mortality in males was 19.63% (84/428). In between group analysis, 8.7% (14/161) of females died in the <40 years age group versus 16.8% (22/131) in more than 40 years age group whereas in males, the mortality was 13.7% (21/153) in <40 years versus 22.9%(63/275). The mortality rate in women older than 40 years was greater than mortality in younger females emphasizing the protection provided by estrogen hormone in them. The proportion of patients who expired due to COVID-19 significantly differs by age cutoff of 40 years, X2 (1, n=428). The difference is statistically significant at P < 0.05. Males more than 40 years are more likely to expire. CONCLUSION: Sex-related differences in coronavirus pandemic have been found pointing toward the protective role of estrogen hormone and other differences in immunological behavior in males and females. Downregulation of ACE2 expression, thereby reducing viral entry, might also be contributory to decreasing mortality in females.

The precariousness of working conditions and contemporary slavery in coffee plantations in the South of Minas during the COVID-19 pandemic

Although the enslavement of people has been legally eradicated in Brazil, unfortunately, it remains, whether in the city or the countryside, in its "contemporary" capitalist version. In the case of coffee growing the South/Southwest of Minas, both the precariousness of work and contemporary slavery occur during the harvest, mainly with migrant workers recruited in the North of Minas and the Northeast of the country, they remained even during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this sense, the present article proposes to analyze the precariousness of work, which leads to cases of contemporary enslavement of coffee pickers in the South/Southwest mesoregion of Minas, from the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the theoretical framework and statistical data, the analysis of published reports on the subject during the year 2021 was used with methodological procedures. The results showed that, despite the rescues carried out and the penalties established in the pandemic, unfortunately, employers continue to enslave workers in socioeconomic vulnerability in the region's coffee plantations due to the certainty of impunity, as the assessments are lengthy and negotiable, demonstrating that the penalties must become more incisive for those who enslave.

Push and pull factors in women's rural employment in India since COVID-19

The Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the world of work in India. It resulted in unprecedented job and income losses, reinforcing the adverse labour market situation of women. There was a significant contraction in demand as the crisis unfolded, and the effects of this contraction was exacerbated by an increase in the demand for unpaid care work as a result of business and school closures, and return migration. Return migration of working-age men pulled women out of employment, particularly in rural areas. Job and income losses and lower household income pushed women towards employment as a survival strategy to supplement family income, a strategy captured in the term "added-worker effect." We postulate that the net result of these competing forces on women's employment is ambiguous and investigate the pattern of rural women's labour supply during the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper uses a mixed methods approach. Factors that played a determining role in changes to the labour force status of women-broadly classified through focus group discussions with women in selected rural areas-were further probed through econometric analysis. The main factors were loss of employment by members of the household, changes in household size during the period as migrants returned home, shifts in the time women spent on unpaid care work, and the number of young children in a household. The impact of these factors on entry into and exit from employment were estimated for both women and men in rural and urban India, using data from the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE) Consumer Pyramids Household Survey (CPHS). The findings show complex coping strategies at the household level where women's work-paid and unpaid-plays a critical role.

COVID and US farm labor. (Special Issue: The global race for migrant labour: pandemic contradictions.)

Many governments closed their borders in spring 2020 to prevent the spread of Covid, but they also made exceptions to allow farm employers to recruit temporary foreign workers to fill seasonal farm jobs. The pandemic changed many parameters of food systems. Closed restaurants led to widespread layoffs in leisure and hospitality, rates of Covid were high among nonfarm food processing and meatpacking workers, and there was less Covid than expected among the foreign workers who increased their share of employment in production agriculture. The pandemic accelerated three major changes that were already underway, viz., more labor-saving mechanization, more foreign workers, and increased imports of labor-intensive commodities. Mechanization increases the resilience of production agriculture to labor supply shocks.

Crisis of capitalism and cycles of right-wing populism in contemporary Turkey: the making and unmaking of Erdoganist hegemony. (Special Issue: Populism, agrarian movements and progressive politics.)

This paper analyses the right-wing populist rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP) in Turkey, focusing on the crisis of capitalism, emerging discontent in the rural populations, and opportunities for and obstacles to a successful left-wing populist mobilisation. We put forward three arguments. First, through an examination of the historical evolution, class-based and social-demographic foundations of the ruling right-wing populist alliance between the AKP and the Milliyetci Hareket Partisi (MHP), we argue that the MHP is a more classical case of far-right populism, whereas the AKP is a "heterodox" case that borrows several elements from the left. These "heterodox" features of the AKP, together with the interlinked crisis of the 1990s, played a significant part in the support the AKP received from the subordinate majority. Second, we argue that the success of the AKP's hegemonic right-wing populism from 2002 to 2013 was linked to an unusually favourable macro-political-economic climate that helped the AKP counterbalance its neoliberal policies with pragmatic social assistance programmes. However, together with the disappearance of this macro-political-economic climate in the second decade of its rule (2013-present), the disastrous consequences of the AKP's neoliberal policies became more explicit, and the AKP's populism moved from a hegemonic to an authoritarian right-wing populist type. Third, we claim that today, due to the deepening of the current economic crisis (further exacerbated by the Covid19 pandemic), the AKP's cross-class alliance began to break down, and the rural movements in the Turkish countryside have been playing a major role in unmaking the AKP's hegemony. However, in the absence of a strong left-wing populist movement with a stronghold in the Turkish countryside, emergent possibilities for a radical progressive transformation are not utilised. Instead, the groundwork is being laid for another wave of right-wing populism.

Summary of global surveillance data of infectious diseases in December 2022

In December 2022, a total of 68 infectious diseases were reported globally, affecting 235 countries and regions. Except for influenza, the top five infectious diseases affecting greatest number of countries and regions were COVID-19 (235), monkeypox (110), dengue fever (28), measles (27) and cholera (14). The top five infectious diseases with highest case fatality rates were Ebola virus disease (47.0%), Rift Valley fever (44.2%), Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (40.0%), Lassa fever (17.6%) and West Nile fever (7.6%). The top five infectious diseases with greatest number of deaths were COVID-19, malaria, cholera, dengue fever and measles. The prevalent infectious diseases in Asia were COVID-19, cholera and dengue fever, the prevalent infectious diseases in Africa were COVID-19, cholera, yellow fever, Lassa fever, monkeypox, malaria and measles, the prevalent infectious diseases in America were COVID-19, cholera, monkeypox, dengue fever and chikungunya fever, the prevalent infectious disease in Europe were COVID-19, monkeypox and invasive group A streptococcus infection.

Risk assessment of public health emergencies concerned in the mainland of China, January 2023

Objective: To assess the risk of public health emergencies occurring in the mainland of China or possibly imported from outside China in January 2023. Methods: Based on various data and departmental notification information on domestic and foreign public health emergencies reports and surveillance of key infectious diseases, the expert consultation method was used and experts from provincial (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) centers for disease prevention and control were invited to participate in the assessment by video conference. Results: The number of public health emergencies reported in January 2023 is expected to increase or be similar to that reported in December 2022. The COVID-19 rebound in the northern hemisphere is likely to continue in January 2023 due to immune escape of BQ, XBB and other possible emerging Omicron variants' subtypes. The increased migration of people in Chinese mainland during the Spring Festival in 2023 could increase the risk of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 among uninfected people. The level of influenza virus activity is likely to increase in January, and influenza A is likely to dominate. January 2023 remains risky month for nonoccupational carbon monoxide poisoning. Conclusion: Special attention is given to COVID-19, and general attention is given to seasonal influenza and nonoccupational carbon monoxide poisoning.

A theoretical and empirical approach to foreign labour migration and employment: the case of agri-food migrant workers in developed economies

Most of the research on migration has focused on the scale and effects of people exodus from rural to urban areas rather than on rural areas as recipients of migrants, especially foreign migrants. This study aims to analyse employment of foreigners in agriculture and food processing sectors of selected developed countries, with particular emphasis on the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. It first reviews existing literature on ideas and theories about human migration through the history of economic and social thought. This theoretical background lies in the economic, social, health, demographic and integrated theories and concepts of migration that help understand the pull and push causes as well consequences of current international migration processes. Next, this article presents some facts about the employment of foreigners in agriculture and food processing in developed countries traditionally affected by severe labour shortages in these sectors, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on employers and workers. The results reveal that labour shortages and labour exploitation are amongst the most frequent and relatively consistent issues associated with immigrant workers in the agri-food industry. During COVID-19, these problems were exacerbated and complemented with the workers' health risk due to coronavirus clusters on farms and at food-processing plants.

Risk assessment of global Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in December 2022

Objective: To assess the global epidemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in December 2022 and the risk of importation. Methods: According to the daily COVID-19 data publicly released by Johns Hopkins University, combined with the policy stringency index published by the University of Oxford, an epidemiological description method was used to provide a comprehensive and timely assessment of the global epidemiological risk overview, a comprehensive assessment of the epidemic trends in each continent and key countries, as well as a comprehensive analysis of the epidemic and prevention and control policies in 14 neighboring countries. The assessment results for each country are expressed as countries of gl, "countries of the general concern in each continent" and "neighboring countries of special concern". Results: Compared with the previous month, the number of confirmed cases and deaths respectively increased by 38.92% and 25.95% globally in February 2022. Daily new confirmed cases and deaths in the Asia continued to rise in December. The time taken for every new 50 mill confirmed cases and 50 thousand deaths globally has increased significantly. Japan, Korea, America and France were countries with global concern. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Mauritius and Australia were the countries of general concern in each continent. Russia with was the special count among the 14 neighboring countries. Conclusion: The global daily new confirmed cases and deaths showed a downward trend after mid-December, but the epidemic situation was prominent in some regions and countries. information and provide timely warnings.

COVID-19 pandemic: impact of agricultural labour migration on income levels of farmers in Telangana

The present study was undertaken during 25th March 2019 to 25th March 2021 to examine the impact of agricultural labour migration due to COVID-19 pandemic on the income levels of farmers. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study, multistage sampling technique was used in selection of district, mandals and villages. Tools and techniques like tabular analysis, gross returns and net returns were used. Economic impact on farmers in the study area was studied by selecting three major crops viz., Paddy, Cotton and Maize. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in the kharif and rabi season, in all the three major crops, the labour availability was increased when compared with the period of before the pandemic. This situation was appeared due to reverse migration during pandemic. The average wage rates received by the agricultural labourers for almost all farm operations in case of paddy, maize and cotton crops were decreased due to increase in labour supply due to reverse migration. The available man days also clearly got increased for almost all the operations except harvesting of paddy and cotton crops. In case of paddy and cotton crops, net returns were found to increase. In case of Maize crop, the gross and net returns were decreased due to increase in total operation costs and decrease in price per quintal during rabi season of the pandemic period respectively.

Rejuvenation in rural Ireland in response to the COVID-19 induced urban-to-rural migration phenomenon

The aim of this paper is to discuss the paradigm shift in residential choices induced by the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Firstly, the resilience of the rural regions belonging to the Northern Periphery and Arctic Program will be explored-the challenges brought about by COVID-19 within their tourism sectors, and the opportunities for rural revival generated by the current shifts in workplace mobility. The paper will then delve deeper into the case study of Ireland. The pre-existing issue of Ireland's one-off housing and suburban sprawl will be explored, and the extent to which the regional plan "Our Rural Future" will tackle these issues by optimizing building density and dwelling typology in the post-COVID-19 era.

A retrospective study to find out factors affecting maternal mortality in a tertiary care hospital in Ahmedabad city, Gujarat

Background : Data pertaining to preventable causes of maternal mortality are valuable in each set up to design interventional steps for the significant reduction of the maternal mortality ratio. Objectives : (1) To study the trend on Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR);(2) To find out the factors for the Maternal Mortality. Material and Methods : A retrospective cross-sectional study of maternal death was conducted in the Obstetrics Department of Tertiary Care Hospital of Ahmedabad city. The data of total 9 years from 1st April 2013 to 31st January 2021 were taken in the study. Epidemiological factors and causes affecting maternal mortality were assessed through pretested questionnaire that includes parity, duration between admission and mortality etc. Results: Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) was 180.2 per 1 lac live births during the study period. Young mothersaged 20 to 30 years (78.5%), and rural residence (76.6%), multiparous mothers (66.7%)were at risk for Maternal Mortality. Obstetric haemorrhage (25.8%) was the most common cause whereas COVID-19 pandemic later on were indirect causes contributing to Maternal Mortality. Conclusion: Great Care should be taken for high-risk pregnancy like young age, multiparous women and also of postpartum women. Postpartum haemorrhage was the commonest direct cause of Maternal Mortality. Strengthening of existing obstetric care facilities, facility for easy transport, appropriate referral linkages are keys to reduce Maternal Mortality to further extent.

COVID-19, living income differential and decline in income of cocoa producers in C..te d'Ivoire. (Agriculture et syst..mes alimentaires face .. la Covid-19.) [French]

Cocoa farmers in C..te d'Ivoire are mostly below the poverty line. In September 2019, the Ivorian and Ghanaian governments imposed the Living Income Differential (LID) on private companies, an additional $ 400 per ton compared to the international market price, passed on to the producer price (farm gate price). At the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 arose. In this dual context, how did prices change? Has the hope of increased income been achieved? Three approaches are used: (a) monitoring of the selling price of cocoa beans and monitoring of the price of purchased cocoa farming inputs and basic necessities for households;(b) monthly monitoring of farm gate cocoa price in 2020-2021;(c) an analysis of national production data from C..te d'Ivoire and Ghana, the world price, variations in the demand for beans by the grinding industry, and the price paid to producers, over 20 years. The first result is a very temporary and limited rise in the farm gate price of cocoa at the end of 2020, then its fall in 2021 as the price of inputs and basic necessities soar. The 2021-2022 campaign is even more harmful with a tightening of the price scissor. It is therefore the failure of the LID, but the role of Covid-19 in this failure is very nuanced with regard to the declarations of the State and the multinationals. The drop in prices and the loss of income for cocoa farmers in 2020-2022 rather fits into the economic theory of games. Without control of their supply, an agreement between two companies or countries cannot work. The failure is part of a largely endogenous structural change: demographic growth, policies to encourage migration and deforestation, opacity of the sector and finally continued growth of the supply of cocoa from C..te d'Ivoire on the international market.

COVID-19 and its coping strategies among the residents of the Mario Lago Settlement, Ribeirao Preto, State of Sao Paulo

The objective of this study was to describe the health situation regarding the pandemic of COVID-19 and its coping strategies among residents of the Mario Lago Settlement, belonging to the Fazenda da Barra Sustainable Development Project (PDS) located in Ribeirao Preto, state of Sao Paulo. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, survey-type study with stratified random sampling. A total of 158 residents, aged between 18 and 84 years, were interviewed between October 26, 2021, and January 28, 2022. The results obtained expose a situation of social vulnerability of its population, in which only 23.4% of the interviewees reached high school, and 95.6% have a family income of up to three minimum wages. Among the study participants, 17.1% tested positive for a COVID-19 test, and 42.4% reported that the pandemic significantly decreased household income, while 3.8% were left without income. In order for the settled populations to be better prepared for future crises such as the one caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to continue the actions already taken by the social and popular movements in the countryside and ensure the maintenance and development of social support networks.

Understanding the 'region' in COVID-19-induced regional migration: mapping cairns across classification systems (Special Issue: Counter-urbanisation in Australia: reviewing current trends in migration from urban to regional places)

This paper unpacks the notion of 'region' in the current COVID-19 migration debate to understand how the city of Cairns, Queensland fits into a wider geography of internal urban-rural migration in Australia. It unpacks different constructions of 'region', showing how they often articulate 'access', 'rural' and 'remote' and a general sense of non-urban entities. We discuss the imagined geographies of different Australian regional classification systems such as the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS), Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area (RRMA) and Modified Monash Model (MMM). We show how definitions and classifications of 'region' are constructed in particular ways to address political and social issues such as economic development, health, immigration and wider policy-making agendas. The analysis deployed develops a framework for understanding key dimensions of regionality relevant to migration to Cairns in the COVID-19 moment. A critical interpretive analysis helps shed light on the importance of place/context in relation to Australia's recent urban--rural internal migration debate, but also provides insights to the counter-urbanisation debate in terms of displacing notions of the 'rural idyll'.

Counter-urbanisation in pre-pandemic times: disentangling the influences of amenity and disamenity (Special Issue: Counter-urbanisation in Australia: reviewing current trends in migration from urban to regional places)

The COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated a resurgence in counter-urbanisation in Australia with ex-urban populations leaving behind the perceived disamenity of city life for simpler, cheaper and lockdown-free lives. This article investigates the drivers of in-migration and net migration into non-metropolitan New South Wales from the metropolitan zone between 2011 and 2016, focusing on the potential draw of rural amenity, together with the potential 'push' factors of urban disamenity. The results show that non-metropolitan NSW is becoming less dependent on counter-urbanisation flows from Sydney, while simultaneously seeing stronger net migration gains from interchanges with the broad metropolitan zone. Hypothesis testing upheld the contention that rural amenity accounted for a statistically significant share of the variance in in-migration - and net migration - from Sydney. However, the hypothesis that Sydney's perceived disamenity is leading to out-migration flows and net migration losses was not well supported, confounded by mis-specification issues. High population densities are associated with out-migration from the Sydney region to all categories of settlement within the remainder of NSW and Australia. However, changes in density are only a strong and reliable influence on net migration within the broad Sydney metropolitan area but the direction of that influence is positive rather than negative. The article reveals that the proportion of immigrants within a metropolitan local government area population is negatively associated with out-migration.