COVID-19 pandemic and violence: Contagions and curfew policy on female homicides

This article studies the causal effect of COVID-19 pandemic curfew and lockdown durations on gender violence measured by the female homicides rates across Ecuadorian municipalities. To overcome potential endogeneity concerns due to heterogeneous intensity in restriction durations, we implement an instrumental variable approach that adjusts the duration of the lockdown and each of the "red-light" policy stages based on the lags of contagion rates and the length of the policy. We show that the generalized lockdown led to a 0.91 percentage point increase of female homicide rates (12.75% in the prelockdown period), and the less restrictive mobility measures led to a 0.23 to 0.8 pp increases. These results are in line with very recent evidence of the COVID-19 lockdowns and violence against women during the pandemic. These findings appeal for policy interventions addressed to avoid violence against women during mobility restriction and emergencies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Facilitators and barriers of preventive behaviors against COVID-19 during Ramadan: A phenomenology of Indonesian adults.

Introduction: Intercity mobility restriction, physical distancing, and mask-wearing are preventive behaviors to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. However, strong cultural and religious traditions become particular challenges in Indonesia. This study uses the Behavior Change Wheel to explore barriers and facilitators for intercity mobility restriction, physical distancing, and mask-wearing during Ramadan. Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 50 Indonesian adults were conducted between 10 April and 4 June 2020. Having mapped codes into the Capacity, Opportunity, Motivation - Behavior (COM-B), and Theoretical Domain Framework (TDF) model, we conducted summative content analysis to analyze the most identified factors to preventive behaviors and proposed interventions to address those factors. Results: Belief about the consequence of preventive behaviors was the most mentioned facilitator to all preventive behaviors among compliers. However, optimism as a TDF factor was commonly mentioned as a barrier to preventive behaviors among non-compliers, while environmental context and resources were the most commonly mentioned factors for intercity mobility restriction. Conclusions: Public health intervention should be implemented considering the persuasion and involvement of religious and local leaders. Concerning job and economic context, policy related to the intercity mobility restriction should be reconsidered to prevent a counterproductive effect.

Impact of Human Mobility on COVID-19 Transmission According to Mobility Distance, Location, and Demographic Factors in the Greater Bay Area of China: Population-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Mobility restriction was one of the primary measures used to restrain the spread of COVID-19 globally. Governments implemented and relaxed various mobility restriction measures in the absence of evidence for almost 3 years, which caused severe adverse outcomes in terms of health, society, and economy. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantify the impact of mobility reduction on COVID-19 transmission according to mobility distance, location, and demographic factors in order to identify hotspots of transmission and guide public health policies. METHODS: Large volumes of anonymized aggregated mobile phone position data between January 1 and February 24, 2020, were collected for 9 megacities in the Greater Bay Area, China. A generalized linear model (GLM) was established to test the association between mobility volume (number of trips) and COVID-19 transmission. Subgroup analysis was also performed for sex, age, travel location, and travel distance. Statistical interaction terms were included in a variety of models that express different relations between involved variables. RESULTS: The GLM analysis demonstrated a significant association between the COVID-19 growth rate ratio (GR) and mobility volume. A stratification analysis revealed a higher effect of mobility volume on the COVID-19 GR among people aged 50-59 years (GR decrease of 13.17% per 10% reduction in mobility volume; P<.001) than among other age groups (GR decreases of 7.80%, 10.43%, 7.48%, 8.01%, and 10.43% for those aged ≤18, 19-29, 30-39, 40-49, and ≥60 years, respectively; P=.02 for the interaction). The impact of mobility reduction on COVID-19 transmission was higher for transit stations and shopping areas (instantaneous reproduction number [Rt] decreases of 0.67 and 0.53 per 10% reduction in mobility volume, respectively) than for workplaces, schools, recreation areas, and other locations (Rt decreases of 0.30, 0.37, 0.44, and 0.32, respectively; P=.02 for the interaction). The association between mobility volume reduction and COVID-19 transmission was lower with decreasing mobility distance as there was a significant interaction between mobility volume and mobility distance with regard to Rt (P<.001 for the interaction). Specifically, the percentage decreases in Rt per 10% reduction in mobility volume were 11.97% when mobility distance increased by 10% (Spring Festival), 6.74% when mobility distance remained unchanged, and 1.52% when mobility distance declined by 10%. CONCLUSIONS: The association between mobility reduction and COVID-19 transmission significantly varied according to mobility distance, location, and age. The substantially higher impact of mobility volume on COVID-19 transmission for longer travel distance, certain age groups, and specific travel locations highlights the potential to optimize the effectiveness of mobility restriction strategies. The results from our study demonstrate the power of having a mobility network using mobile phone data for surveillance that can monitor movement at a detailed level to measure the potential impacts of future pandemics.

COVID-19 lockdown measures and travel behavior: The case of Thessaloniki, Greece.

In this paper, we investigate the travel behavior changes in Thessaloniki, Greece aiming to understand them and explore the factors that affect them under the COVID-19 mobility restriction measures. Socioeconomic and mobility data from two questionnaire surveys, one year before and during the COVID-19 lockdown of April 2020 (with 1462 and 196 responses respectively), were compared by utilizing a wide variety of inductive statistical tests. Ordinary Least-Squares regression models and Cox proportional hazards duration models were employed to explore any concurrent socioeconomic effect on travel behavior patterns. Results showed that the number of daily trips per person was on average decreased by 50% during the lockdown. This decrease was much greater for the non-commuting trips. Trips on foot were increased, private car was mainly used for commuting and public transport modal shares were heavily reduced. Trip durations were generally increased, as travelling was considered a recreational activity per se. The starting times of the first trips of the day were more evenly distributed throughout the day and many travelers only started their first trips late in the afternoon. Older travelers generally maintained their mobility behavior patterns despite their higher vulnerability to COVID-19 disease. Lower-income travelers were likely to make more daily trips. Male travelers tended to make higher-duration trips compared to their female counterparts. Since pandemics may become recurring events in the future, our findings provide for a better understanding of their influence on mobility and support the design of customized policies to fulfill sustainable mobility objectives during lockdown circumstances.

Changes in mobility patterns and the switching roles of second homes as a result of the first wave of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has already had significant impact on tourist flows worldwide. The requirements of safe models of tourism in the time of COVID-19, avoiding crowded localities and providing individual types of accommodation, can largely be met in second homes. This study aims to examine whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions impacted the usage patterns of second homes in terms of: (1) the number of visits and length of stay, (2) the purpose of the second-home utilisation. An integral part of the study was to recognise how these new and existing im/mobilities were determined by a range of personal, social, contextual, and relational factors. The data collected from direct interviews and online surveys was tested using sign and Wilcoxon tests, while the interactive classification tree (C&RT) model was used to explain the reasons for changing or maintaining an existing second-home usage pattern. The research results showed that for most second-home owners their home-usage pattern remained the same as in 2019. If it changed, it was more common to extend the stay by moving in, working at a distance, or commuting to work, rather than to shorten the stay at the second home. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Impact of mobility restrictions on NO2 concentrations in key Latin American cities during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between March and June 2020, activity in the major cities of Latin America declined due to containment efforts implemented by local governments to avoid the rapid spread of COVID-19. Our study compared 2020 with the previous year and demonstrated a considerable drop in tropospheric NO2 levels obtained by the SENTINEL 5P satellite in major Latin American cities. Lima (47.5%), Santiago (36.1%), São Paulo (27%), Rio de Janeiro (23%), Quito (18.6%), Bogota (17.5%), Buenos Aires (16.6%), Guayaquil (15.3%), Medellin (14.2%), La Paz (9.5%), Belo Horizonte (7.8%), Mexico (7.6%) and Brasilia (5.9%) registered statistically significant decreases in NO2 concentrations during the study period. In addition, we analyzed mobility data from Google and Apple reports as well as meteorological information from atmospheric reanalysis data along with satellite fields between 2011 and 2020, and performed a refined multivariate analysis (non-negative matrix approximation) to show that this decrease was associated with a reduction in population mobility rather than meteorological factors. Our findings corroborate the argument that confinement scenarios may indicate how air pollutant concentrations can be effectively reduced and managed.

Mobility as survival and freedom: Pandemic, Immobility and its implications for women and queer migrants

This paper intends to move beyond the common knowledge of how pandemic restricts mobility at large and provokes us to think about those for whom mobility restriction was a way of life much before the coronavirus arrived. Looking at shadow pandemic of gender-based mobility restrictions of women and non-male actors in conservative societies in South Asia, in this paper I argue that social deconstruction of "immobility” is embedded in the process of gendering the pandemic. Drawing from interviews conducted on the Indian immigrants in Germany over a year during and after the global lock down, this paper explores how covid-induced immobility mimics an already established framework of coerced immobility based on gender that acts as a motivation of migration for women and non-male actors at some level. Referring to Ayelet Shachar's idea of shifting borders, I locate the moral borders at home as a crucial competitor of physical borders of the barbed wire, that often provokes women and non-male actors to take the leap of faith for survival and better livelihood. © 2022 Transnational Press London Ltd. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Violence: Contagions and Curfew Policy on Female Homicides

This article studies the causal effect of COVID-19 pandemic curfew and lockdown durations on gender violence measured by the female homicides rates across Ecuadorian municipalities. To overcome potential endogeneity concerns due to heterogeneous intensity in restriction durations, we implement an instrumental variable approach that adjusts the duration of the lockdown and each of the "red-light" policy stages based on the lags of contagion rates and the length of the policy. We show that the generalized lockdown led to a 0.91 percentage point increase of female homicide rates (12.75% in the prelockdown period), and the less restrictive mobility measures led to a 0.23 to 0.8 pp increases. These results are in line with very recent evidence of the COVID-19 lockdowns and violence against women during the pandemic. These findings appeal for policy interventions addressed to avoid violence against women during mobility restriction and emergencies.

Forest fires and impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns on air quality in four Latin American megacities

Latin America, as other regions in the world, imposed mobility restrictions to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Although recent research has analyzed the effect of mobility restrictions on air quality in several regions, a scarce literature explores the causal effects of the lockdowns in Latin America at a city scale whose results may guide local policymaking. This article, based on a quasi-experimental approach, estimates the causal short-term impacts of lockdowns on air quality considering the influence of forest fires on pollution in four megacities in Latin America (Bogotá, Mexico City, Santiago, and Sao Paulo). Results show that nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide consistently declined (from 16% to 68%), nevertheless, fine particles rarely decreased across cities. Only Bogotá exhibited an overall reduction in fine particles (45% for PM2.5). Mexico City obtained the lowest reduction in pollutants, whereas Bogotá outperformed other cities in several pollutants. Evidence from mobility statistics supports the decrease in air pollution by a reduction in driving, transit use, and other mobility indicators.

Restriction reduction: The effects of mobility restriction on consumers’ preferences for advertisements of tourism products

Individuals frequently experience restrictions in their mobility owing to circumstances outside of their control. This paper examines the effect of mobility restrictions on individuals’ perceptions of personal freedom, and subsequent preferences for tourism advertisements. In a secondary data analysis and three experiments, we show that physical confinement triggered by restricted mobility causes individuals to psychologically feel that their personal freedoms are threatened. In turn, these experiences result in a compensatory response, where people more strongly prefer advertisements that signal scarcity-reduction over advertisements that signal control-restoration. This effect is mitigated when people are prevention-oriented and is reversed when the restrictions are enacted absolutely (without ambiguity and possible mutability). We discuss the implications of our findings for advertising practice and strategies for tourism product placement.

Health policy response to mobility during the pandemic: Evaluating the effectiveness using location-based services big data.

As an emergent health policy response, the population mobility restriction policy was implemented to cope with the unprecedented pandemic that outbroke in early 2020, but its effectiveness showed vast disparities even within a single country. Using multisource data from Baidu mobility big data and the statistics of novel coronavirus disease in China, mobility restrictions (including restrictions on inflow-mobility, outflow-mobility, and intra-city mobility) were examined. It was found that the mobility restriction had contained the development of pandemic, but such effect would gradually recede over time. Moreover, there existed region-specific policy effectiveness. Specifically, outflow-mobility restrictions were ineffective in reducing death cases in population influx areas, and restrictions on inflow-mobility (or intra-city mobility) were ineffective in reducing confirmed cases (or death cases) in population outflow areas. It was concluded that the mobility restriction policy can be effective in epidemic prevention and control in spatial-temporal pattern. However, there was a remarkable disparity in policy effectiveness between different regions with different population mobility patterns.

Mobility restrictions and their implications on the rental housing market during the COVID-19 pandemic in China's large cities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant mobility restrictions and generated profound impacts on global socio-economic development. Mobility restrictions can generate significant impacts on the demand and supply sides of the rental housing market. By taking 77 large Chinese cities as cases, this research establishes a stepwise mediation effect test to evaluate the impacts of the pandemic on the rental housing market during Q1 2020. The results show that the confirmed cases were negatively associated with rental unit transactions, and the inter-city and intra-city movement played a significant role of mediating effects. Meanwhile, the impact of pandemic on rents lagged behind rental transaction in China's large cities, and the strict mobility controls caused the high vacancy rate of rental housing, leading to the bankruptcy of many housing rental agencies. Our research add to the burgeoning literature examining the mediating effect of mobility control between confirmed case and housing rental market. It demonstrates that the change of housing rental market induced by pandemic in China is the short-term influence on rental unit transaction, which is different from western countries. In China, a country with the most strict mobility control, the challenges come from the impact of pandemic on housing rental agencies.

Half-hearted policies on mobility restrictions during COVID-19 in Indonesia: A portrait of large informal economy country.

This study measures the effectiveness of government's transportation policy on mobility restriction during the COVID-19 pandemic using publicly available big datasets. Using a causal difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis and regression discontinuity design (RDD), we examine the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on the aggregate population mobility of cities and regencies across Indonesia. Our results show that during the period of the first so-called "Large-scale Social Restrictions" or "Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar" (PSBB I) from April to May 2020, NPIs reduced mobility by 5.4% relative to pre-pandemic baseline and accounted for a small portion of mobility decline in cities or regencies that instituted mobility restrictions. The impact of the second PSBB policy (PSBB II) from September to November 2020 was smaller, with a mobility reduction of only 1.8%-2.9%, depending on the window of observation and sample. Lastly, the "Imposition of Restriction on Social Activity" or Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat (PPKM) policy beginning in January 2021 has had a more negligible impact, with mobility reduction of approximately 0.6-2.1%. These findings indicate that the effectiveness of mobility restrictions tend to decrease over time. The decline in effectiveness may be the result of the increased cost of social distancing over long periods of time and the declining stringency of the mobility restrictions being imposed, which may be particularly pronounced for emerging countries with a large informal sector, such as Indonesia.

The Effect of Governmental Health Measures on Public Behaviour During the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in radical changes in many aspects of life. To deal with this, each country has implemented continuous health measures from the beginning of the outbreak. Discovering how governmental actions impacted public behaviour during the outbreak stage is the purpose of this study. METHODS: This study uses a hybrid large-scale data visualisation method to analyse public behaviour (epidemic concerns, self-protection, and mobility trends), using the data provided by multiple authorities. Meanwhile, a content analysis method is used to qualitatively code the health measures of three countries with severe early epidemic outbreaks from different continents, namely China, Italy, and the United States. Eight dimensions are coded to rate the mobility restrictions implemented in the above countries. RESULTS: (1) Governmental measures did not immediately persuade the public to change their behaviours during the COVID-19 epidemic. Instead, the public behaviour proceeded in a three-phase rule, which is typically witnessed in an epidemic outbreak, namely the wait-and-see phase, the surge phase and the slow-release phase. (2) The strictness of the mobility restrictions of the three countries can be ranked as follows: Hubei Province in China (with an average score of 8.5 out of 10), Lombardy in Italy (7.125), and New York State in the United States (5.375). Strict mobility restrictions are more likely to cause a surge of population outflow from the epidemic area in the short term, whereas the effect of mobility restrictions is positively related to the stringency of policies in the long term. CONCLUSION: The public showed generally lawful behaviour during regional epidemic outbreaks and blockades. Meanwhile public behaviour was deeply affected by the actions of local governments, rather than the global pandemic situation. The contextual differences between the various countries are important factors that influence the effects of the different governments' health measures.

Usability-In-Place-Remote Usability Testing Methods for Homebound Older Adults: Rapid Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Technology can benefit older adults in many ways, including by facilitating remote access to services, communication, and socialization for convenience or out of necessity when individuals are homebound. As people, especially older adults, self-quarantined and sheltered in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of usability-in-place became clear. To understand the remote use of technology in an ecologically valid manner, researchers and others must be able to test usability remotely. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to review practical approaches for and findings about remote usability testing, particularly remote usability testing with older adults. METHODS: We performed a rapid review of the literature and reported on available methods, their advantages and disadvantages, and practical recommendations. This review also reported recommendations for usability testing with older adults from the literature. RESULTS: Critically, we identified a gap in the literature-a lack of remote usability testing methods, tools, and strategies for older adults, despite this population's increased remote technology use and needs (eg, due to disability or technology experience). We summarized existing remote usability methods that were found in the literature as well as guidelines that are available for conducting in-person usability testing with older adults. CONCLUSIONS: We call on the human factors research and practice community to address this gap to better support older adults and other homebound or mobility-restricted individuals.

How mobility restrictions policy and atmospheric conditions impacted air quality in the State of São Paulo during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Mobility restrictions are among actions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and have been pointed as reasons for improving air quality, especially in large cities. However, it is crucial to assess the impact of atmospheric conditions on air quality and air pollutant dispersion in the face of the potential variability of all sources. In this study, the impact of mobility restrictions on the air quality was analyzed for the most populous Brazilian State, São Paulo, severely impacted by COVID-19. Ground-based air quality data (PM10, PM2.5, CO, SO2, NOx, NO2, NO, and O3) were used from 50 automatic air quality monitoring stations to evaluate the changes in concentrations before (January 01 - March 25) and during the partial quarantine (March 16 - June 30). Rainfall, fires, and daily cell phone mobility data were also used as supplementary information to the analyses. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess the heterogeneity of the air quality data during and before mobility restrictions. In general, the results demonstrated no substantial improvements in air quality for most of the pollutants when comparing before and during restrictions periods. Besides, when the analyzed period of 2020 is compared with the year 2019, there is no significant air quality improvement in the São Paulo State. However, special attention should be given to the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP), due to the vast population residing in this area and exposed to air pollution. The region reached an average decrease of 29% in CO, 28% in NOx, 40% in NO, 19% in SO2, 15% in PM2.5, and 8% in PM10 concentrations during the mobility restrictions period compared to the same period in 2019. The only pollutant that showed an increase in concentration was ozone, with a 20% increase compared to 2019 during the mobility restrictions period. Before the mobility restrictions period, the region reached an average decrease of 30% in CO, 39% in NOx, 63% in NO, 12% in SO2, 23% in PM2.5, 18% in PM10, and 16% in O3 concentrations when compared to the same period in 2019. On the other hand, Cubatão, a highly industrialized area, showed statistically significant increases above 20% for most monitored pollutants in both periods of 2020 compared to 2019. This study reinforces that the main driving force of pollutant concentration variability is the dynamics of the atmosphere at its various time scales. An abnormal rainy season, with above average rainfall before the restrictions and below average after it, generated a scenario in which the probable significant reductions in emissions did not substantially affect the concentration of pollutants.

Does the COVID-19 lockdown improve global air quality? New cross-national evidence on its unintended consequences.

Despite a growing literature on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, scant evidence currently exists on its impacts on air quality. We offer an early assessment with cross-national evidence on the causal impacts of COVID-19 on air pollution. We assemble a rich database consisting of daily, sub-national level data of air quality for 164 countries before and after the COVID-19 lockdowns and we analyze it using a Regression Discontinuity Design approach. We find the global concentration of NO2 and PM2.5 to decrease by 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, using data-driven optimal bandwidth selection. These results are consistent across measures of air quality and data sources and robust to various model specifications and placebo tests. We also find that mobility restrictions following the lockdowns are a possible explanation for improved air quality.

COVID-19 in Indonesia: Where Are We?

Since the 1st case officially confirmed on the last March 2020, Indonesia recorded more than 1000 new cases daily. The national trend shows no sign of decrease as 19 September 2020 the report sets a new mark of 4000 new cases in a day. The concept of controlling disease transmission relies on contacts suppression; and on the longer end, relies on vaccinations. As 27 September 2020, no vaccine is approved for use in the general population. Until then, countries should implement early, widespread, and strict disease mitigation strategies. While much remains to be learned on COVID-19, global evidence assert at least three strategies at the population level contributes to flatten the curve: mobility restriction, testing and isolation and rigorous contact-tracing.Indonesia is not on entire absences of actions, but the epidemic calls for more. The central government called for social distancing two weeks after the first case confirmed and regulation on the large scale social distancing (Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar/ PSBB) that restrict non-essential population mobility is enacted by April 2020. Recent evidence outlines test, tracing and isolation are effective in suppressing COVID-19 transmission. Minimizing testing and tracing delay, less than four days with coverage of 80% close contacts could prevent and reduce onwards transmission.That we need to more is indisputable. The vaccine is not a magic bullet; it is a long-term control measure and should be a complete series of careful and precise examinations. Indonesia will also likely require high coverage of vaccination to achieve herd immunity. At present, if there is no significant improvement in the coverage of preventive measures in the population and disease surveillance system, our hospital will be overwhelmed, and case fatality will be devastating.