A systematic review on the occurrence, fate, and remediation of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.

The COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Along with impairing the respiratory system, it also affects the gastrointestinal system. By reviewing experiments on the wastewater analysis for the detection of coronavirus, this study explores the fate, persistence, and various remediation strategies for the virus removal from the wastewater. The results indicated that the virus can be detected in the wastewater samples, feces, and sewage, even before the onset of symptoms. Coronavirus can be a potential panzootic disease, as several mammalian species get infected by the deadly virus. The disinfection strategies used earlier for the treatment of wastewater are not sufficient for the removal of viruses from the wastewater. Therefore, concerted efforts should be made to understand their fate, sources, and occurrence in the environmental matrices. To prevent the spread of the panzootic disease, revised guidelines should be issued for the remediation of the virus. Recent viral remediation methods such as membrane bioreactors and advanced oxidation methods can be used. Therefore, the present review puts a light on the current knowledge on the occurrence of coronaviruses in wastewater, the possible sources, fate, and removal strategies.

Decolonising design practices and research in unceded Australia: reframing design-led research methods

Much of design teaching, learning and research in Australia is determined by Eurocentric traditions and the ongoing colonial project. In this context Indigenous Peoples continue to experience erasure, silencing and appropriation of practices and knowledges. The Visual Communication Design Program, situated in the School of Design at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), is committed to disrupting this trajectory. In this article we describe an immersive model that seeks to challenge the role of the design educator, creative practitioner and researcher on unceded Gadigal Lands in the city of Sydney, Australia. We reflect on the challenges of facilitating Visual Communication Design and Emergent Practices, for a third iteration as an online studio experience, during COVID-19 in the context of the climate crisis, bushfires and Black Lives Matter. This iteration is the result of four years of deep collaboration with local First Nation Elders, Indigenous scholars and practitioners. The research-focused studio for 180 final-year visual communication design students is led by Local Elders, cultural and research advisers with the support of studio leaders. The consideration of design-led research methods through a process that infuses Indigenous research principles builds on the longitudinal research into the role of the emplaced designer in Indigenous-led projects on Country. Our studio, titled `In Our Own Backyard', provides students with strength-based design capabilities and understandings of the principles of the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Peoples Rights (UNDRIP), Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights (ICIP) and the Australian Indigenous Design Charter. As a studio experience, the aim is to create conditions which spark possibilities for re-orientation towards relational and respectful negotiation of difference, and the capacity to action Indigenous self-determination in complex practitioner scenarios.

Needs, Challenges and Countermeasures of SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance in Cold-Chain Foods and Packaging to Prevent Possible COVID-19 Resurgence: A Perspective from Advanced Detections.

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has a huge impact on the global economy. SARS-CoV-2 could possibly and potentially be transmitted to humans through cold-chain foods and packaging (namely good-to-human), although it mainly depends on a human-to-human route. It is imperative to develop countermeasures to cope with the spread of viruses and fulfil effective surveillance of cold-chain foods and packaging. This review outlined SARS-CoV-2-related cold-chain food incidents and current methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2. Then the needs, challenges and practicable countermeasures for SARS-CoV-2 detection, specifically for cold-chain foods and packaging, were underlined. In fact, currently established detection methods for SARS-CoV-2 are mostly used for humans; thus, these may not be ideally applied to cold-chain foods directly. Therefore, it creates a need to develop novel methods and low-cost, automatic, mini-sized devices specifically for cold-chain foods and packaging. The review intended to draw people's attention to the possible spread of SARS-CoV-2 with cold-chain foods and proposed perspectives for futuristic cold-chain foods monitoring during the pandemic.

Recrudescence of Scarlet Fever and Its Implications for Dental Professionals.

A significant increase in the incidence of scarlet fever, mainly in Europe, has been noted during the COVID-19 postpandemic period. Scarlet fever is caused by a pyrogenic exotoxin-producing streptococcus-Streptococcus pyogenes-responsible for more than 500,000 deaths annually worldwide. Superantigens (SAgs) secreted by this Group A streptococcus (GAS) usually overstimulate the human immune system, causing an amplified hypersensitivity reaction leading to initial symptoms such as sore throat, high fever, and a sandpaper-like skin rash. There could be concurrent oral manifestations known as "strawberry tongue" or "raspberry tongue," which may be first noted by oral health professionals. The early diagnosis and treatment of this disease is critical to obviate the development of local and systemic sequelae such as acute rheumatic fever, endocarditis, and glomerulonephritis. Antibiotics should be prescribed early to mitigate its duration, sequelae, and community spread. Dental practitioners should be aware of the early symptoms of scarlet fever for infection detection, emergency patient management, and appropriate referral. This concise review outlines the prevalence, pathogenicity, oral and systemic manifestations, as well as the dental implications of scarlet fever.

‘Welcome to a Coronavirus production': Beyond Bows and Arrows' Indigenous on-air community-building during lockdown

This article examines intertribal community-building in Indigenous-produced radio show Beyond Bows and Arrows, broadcast since 1983 in Dallas, Texas, and explores ways in which on-air Indigenous articulations function as acts of resurgence in turn reinforcing an Indigenous internationalism. In this critical exploration, I draw on Beyond Bows and Arrows (BBAA) content broadcast between April and June 2020. I analyse components of the radio sound text such as in-studio talk;discussion topics;music selection and verbal segues;and station-produced informational Public Service Announcements (PSAs);and identify recurring preoccupations over three months of weekly programming during the pandemic's first lockdown. In particular, I consider BBAA's foregrounding of pandemic protocols, calls for Census 2020 participation and Black Lives Matter solidarity at the start of the unsettled yet generative 2020 summer and examine how these articulations coalesce into an on-air structure of feeling which in turn embodies the show's ongoing decolonizing project. © The Author(s) 2022.

Competition of SARS-CoV-2 variants on the pandemic transmission dynamics.

SARS-CoV-2 has produced various variants during its ongoing evolution. The competitive behavior driven by the co-transmission of these variants has influenced the pandemic transmission dynamics. Therefore, studying the impact of competition between SARS-CoV-2 variants on pandemic transmission dynamics is of considerable practical importance. In order to formalize the mechanism of competition between SARS-CoV-2 variants, we propose an epidemic model that takes into account the co-transmission of competing variants. The model focuses on how cross-immunity influences the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through competitive mechanisms between strains. We found that inter-strain competition affects not only both the final size and the replacement time of the variants, but also the invasive behavior of new variants in the future. Due to the limited extent of cross-immunity in previous populations, we predict that the new strain may infect the largest number of individuals in China without control interventions. Moreover, we also observed the possibility of periodic outbreaks in the same lineage and the possibility of the resurgence of previous lineages. Without the invasion of a new variant, the previous variant (Delta variant) is projected to resurgence as early as 2023. However, its resurgence may be prevented by a new variant with a greater competitive advantage.

The resurgence risk of COVID-19 in China in the presence of immunity waning and ADE: A mathematical modelling study.

The mass vaccination program has been actively promoted since the end of 2020. However, waning immunity, antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), and increased transmissibility of variants make the herd immunity untenable and the implementation of dynamic zero-COVID policy challenging in China. To explore how long the vaccination program can prevent China at low resurgence risk, and how these factors affect the long-term trajectory of the COVID-19 epidemics, we developed a dynamic transmission model of COVID-19 incorporating vaccination and waning immunity, calibrated using the data of accumulative vaccine doses administered and the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 in mainland China. The prediction suggests that the vaccination coverage with at least one dose reach 95.87%, and two doses reach 77.92% on 31 August 2021. However, despite the mass vaccination, randomly introducing infected cases in the post-vaccination period causes large outbreaks quickly with waning immunity, particularly for SARS-CoV-2 variants with higher transmissibility. The results showed that with the current vaccination program and 50% of the population wearing masks, mainland China can be protected at low resurgence risk until 8 January 2023. However, ADE and higher transmissibility for variants would significantly shorten the low-risk period by over 1 year. Furthermore, intermittent outbreaks can occur while the peak values of the subsequent outbreaks decrease, indicating that subsequent outbreaks boosted immunity in the population level, further indicating that follow-up vaccination programs can help mitigate or avoid the possible outbreaks. The findings revealed that the integrated effects of multiple factors: waning immunity, ADE, relaxed interventions, and higher variant transmissibility, make controlling COVID-19 challenging. We should prepare for a long struggle with COVID-19, and not entirely rely on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Point-of-care CRISPR/Cas biosensing technology: A promising tool for preventing the possible COVID-19 resurgence caused by contaminated cold-chain food and packaging.

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused great public health concern and has been a global threat due to its high transmissibility and morbidity. Although the SARS-CoV-2 transmission mainly relies on the person-to-person route through the respiratory droplets, the possible transmission through the contaminated cold-chain food and packaging to humans has raised widespread concerns. This review discussed the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via the contaminated cold-chain food and packaging by tracing the occurrence, the survival of SARS-CoV-2 in the contaminated cold-chain food and packaging, as well as the transmission and outbreaks related to the contaminated cold-chain food and packaging. Rapid, accurate, and reliable diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2 is of great importance for preventing and controlling the COVID-19 resurgence. Therefore, we summarized the recent advances on the emerging clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas system-based biosensing technology that is promising and powerful for preventing the possible COVID-19 resurgence caused by the contaminated cold-chain food and packaging during the COVID-19 pandemic, including CRISPR/Cas system-based biosensors and their integration with portable devices (e.g., smartphone, lateral flow assays, microfluidic chips, and nanopores). Impressively, this review not only provided an insight on the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 transmission through the food supply chain, but also proposed the future opportunities and challenges on the development of CRISPR/Cas system-based detection methods for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2.

COVID-19 and a biased public mentality toward infection and vaccination: A case of unrealistic optimism and social comparisons between the vaccinated and unvaccinated

Unrealistic Optimism in the context of COVID-19 is described as the tendency to perceive peers as being more at risk of infection. To date, however, no research has proposed more specific comparisons. The present article not only replicates the most recent body of literature showing that people perceive themselves as less prone to COVID-19 infection than their peers, but fills the aforementioned gap by providing additional and more specific comparisons between those vaccinated and unvaccinated against COVID-19. Such comparisons may be crucial to curb the possibility of resurgence of COVID-19 by assessing how unvaccinated individuals perceive the probability of being infected by coronavirus. Some 622 Prolific—(un)vaccinated against COVID-19—users participated in an online quasi-experiment. Participants estimated the risk of COVID-19 infection for themselves, their peers or the average (un)vaccinated peer, which is a new addition to the literature. Results showed that there was an unrealistic optimism effect. Participants estimated their risk for infection as lower in comparison to others. Surprisingly, results showed that for unvaccinated people, vaccines seem to be an effective tool to reduce the risk of infection, but not for themselves. © The Author(s) 2022.

‘Welcome to a Coronavirus production’: Beyond Bows and Arrows’ Indigenous on-air community-building during lockdown

This article examines intertribal community-building in Indigenous-produced radio show Beyond Bows and Arrows, broadcast since 1983 in Dallas, Texas, and explores ways in which on-air Indigenous articulations function as acts of resurgence in turn reinforcing an Indigenous internationalism. In this critical exploration, I draw on Beyond Bows and Arrows (BBAA) content broadcast between April and June 2020. I analyse components of the radio sound text such as in-studio talk;discussion topics;music selection and verbal segues;and station-produced informational Public Service Announcements (PSAs);and identify recurring preoccupations over three months of weekly programming during the pandemic's first lockdown. In particular, I consider BBAA's foregrounding of pandemic protocols, calls for Census 2020 participation and Black Lives Matter solidarity at the start of the unsettled yet generative 2020 summer and examine how these articulations coalesce into an on-air structure of feeling which in turn embodies the show's ongoing decolonizing project. © The Author(s) 2022.

Lifting non-pharmaceutical interventions following the COVID-19 pandemic - the quiet before the storm?

INTRODUCTION: In the first months of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that begun in 2020, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) have been adopted worldwide. However, the effects of NPI implementation go beyond slowing the spread of COVID-19. Here, we review the non-intended effects that may have arisen from prolonged application of NPIs. AREAS COVERED: NPIs also affected the epidemiology of other infectious diseases, with unprecedentedly low circulation of several respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses being observed worldwide in 2020. While this was a welcome effect for already strained health-care systems, prolonged low exposure to pathogens may result in an increased pool of individuals susceptible to certain diseases. Out-of-season or unusually intense outbreaks of non-vaccine preventable diseases have already been documented as NPIs were gradually eased. In the context of widespread and important disruptions in national vaccination programs during the early phase of the pandemic, the risk of vaccine-preventable disease resurgence after NPIs are lifted cannot be excluded either. EXPERT OPINION: Awareness must be raised of the risk of vaccine-preventable disease resurgence, and efforts need to be made to mitigate this risk, where possible, by increasing vaccination coverage. Research and regulatory opportunities brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic should be seized.

In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the only methods available to slow the spread of the disease were non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as lockdowns, mask wearing, social distancing, school closures, and travel bans. Even after vaccines against COVID-19 became available, combinations of non-pharmaceutical interventions continued to be implemented by most countries, to various extents. Although these measures lowered the number of people who got sick before vaccines and therapies against COVID-19 were available, they also had other consequences for public health. The non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented worldwide have slowed or even stopped the spread of several infectious diseases: since 2020, fewer cases of flu, bronchiolitis, gastroenteritis, and other diseases were recorded compared to pre-pandemic times. This relatively long 2-year period during which people, especially children, were exposed to fewer infections might mean that their immune systems are less prepared to fight these diseases. In addition, vaccination against diseases other than COVID-19 dropped in the early months of the pandemic, meaning that the number of children and adults who are not protected against vaccine-preventable disease has potentially increased. Easing of COVID-19 restrictions has caused a comeback of some diseases against which no vaccine is available, sometimes with more cases than during the pre-pandemic years; there is a risk that this might happen with vaccine-preventable diseases as well. To prevent outbreaks, routine and catch-up vaccinations against other diseases besides COVID-19 should be encouraged and promoted.

Epidemiological Comparison of Four COVID-19 Waves in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, March 2020-January 2022.

PURPOSE: Nationwide analyses are required to optimise and tailor activities to control future COVID-19 waves of resurgence continent-wide. We compared epidemiological and clinical outcomes of the four COVID-19 waves in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). METHODS: This retrospective descriptive epidemiological analysis included data from the national line list of confirmed COVID-19 cases in all provinces for all waves between 9 March 2020 and 2 January 2022. Descriptive statistical measures (frequencies, percentages, case fatality rates [CFR], test positivity rates [TPR], and characteristics) were compared using chi-squared or the Fisher-Irwin test. RESULTS: During the study period, 72,108/445,084 (16.2%) tests were positive, with 9,641/56,637 (17.0%), 16,643/66,560 (25.0%), 24,172/157,945 (15.3%), and 21,652/163,942 (13.2%) cases during the first, second, third, and fourth waves, respectively. TPR significantly decreased from 17.0% in the first wave to 13.2% in the fourth wave as did infection of frontline health workers (5.2% vs. 0.9%). CFR decreased from 5.1 to 0.9% from the first to fourth wave. No sex- or age-related differences in distributions across different waves were observed. The majority of cases were asymptomatic in the first (73.1%) and second (86.6%) waves, in contrast to that in the third (11.1%) and fourth (31.3%) waves. CONCLUSION: Despite fewer reported cases, the primary waves (first and second) of the COVID-19 pandemic in the DRC were more severe than the third and fourth waves, with each wave being associated with a new SARS-CoV-2 variant. Tailored public health and social measures, and resurgence monitoring are needed to control future waves of COVID-19.

Epidemic modeling for the resurgence of COVID-19 in Chinese local communities

COVID-19 is a constantly challenging global health issue due to its strong intensity, rapid mutation and high infectiousness. The new Delta and Omicron variants have triggered massive outbreaks worldwide. Even China, which has done a good job in outbreak prevention, is still heavily affected by the virus. The long-term fight against multiple COVID-19 outbreaks is ongoing. In this study, we propose an SEIQR model that considers the incubation period and quarantine measurement. We verified our model using actual outbreak data from four Chinese cities. Numerical simulations show that a five-day delay results in a double resurgence scale. Our model can be used as a tool to understand the spread of the virus quantitatively and provide a reference for policymaking accordingly. © 2022

Mathematical modelling of vaccination rollout and NPIs lifting on COVID-19 transmission with VOC: a case study in Toronto, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Since December 2020, public health agencies have implemented a variety of vaccination strategies to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2, along with pre-existing Nonpharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs). Initial strategies focused on vaccinating the elderly to prevent hospitalizations and deaths, but with vaccines becoming available to the broader population, it became important to determine the optimal strategy to enable the safe lifting of NPIs while avoiding virus resurgence. METHODS: We extended the classic deterministic SIR compartmental disease-transmission model to simulate the lifting of NPIs under different vaccine rollout scenarios. Using case and vaccination data from Toronto, Canada between December 28, 2020, and May 19, 2021, we estimated transmission throughout past stages of NPI escalation/relaxation to compare the impact of lifting NPIs on different dates on cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, given varying degrees of vaccine coverages by 20-year age groups, accounting for waning immunity. RESULTS: We found that, once coverage among the elderly is high enough (80% with at least one dose), the main age groups to target are 20-39 and 40-59 years, wherein first-dose coverage of at least 70% by mid-June 2021 is needed to minimize the possibility of resurgence if NPIs are to be lifted in the summer. While a resurgence was observed for every scenario of NPI lifting, we also found that under an optimistic vaccination coverage (70% coverage by mid-June, along with postponing reopening from August 2021 to September 2021) can reduce case counts and severe outcomes by roughly 57% by December 31, 2021. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that focusing the vaccination strategy on the working-age population can curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2. However, even with high vaccination coverage in adults, increasing contacts and easing protective personal behaviours is not advisable since a resurgence is expected to occur, especially with an earlier reopening.

Waikīkī: A paradisiac–parasitic pacific paradise

Waikīkī is a world-renowned leisure destination;at least, that is the image flung vehemently around the world about Hawaiʻi. This framing of Hawaiʻi as paradisiac is parasitic, it eats away and denigrates the enduring relationship that Hawaiʻi the land and the people have. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a shift in the way our home feels. Tourism, a self-proclaimed necessity of Hawaiʻi’s economy, was not only put on hold, it was essentially eliminated. Through this project I would like to present pre/post-colonialist modalities of Hawaiʻi, to contest and disarm this space densely affected by militourism. Hawaiʻi has been framed as a leisure destination first by colonialists and much later by hip hop music. My approach to contesting these projections is to refuse this notion and feature lines from songs, chants and prayers related to Waikīkī which are pre/postcolonial and have been influenced by colonialism through hip hop.

Impacts of a delayed and slow-paced vaccination on cases and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic: a modelling study.

In Brazil, vaccination has always cut across party political and ideological lines, which has delayed its start and brought the whole process into disrepute. Such divergences put the immunization of the population in the background and create additional hurdles beyond the pandemic, mistrust and scepticism over vaccines. We conduct a mathematical modelling study to analyse the impacts of late vaccination along with slowly increasing coverage, as well as how harmful it would be if part of the population refused to get vaccinated or missed the second dose. We analyse data from confirmed cases, deaths and vaccination in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the period between 10 March 2020 and 27 October 2021. We estimate that if the start of vaccination had been 30 days earlier, combined with efforts to drive vaccination rates up, about 31 657 deaths could have been avoided. In addition, the slow pace of vaccination and the low demand for the second dose could cause a resurgence of cases as early as 2022. Even when reaching the expected vaccination coverage for the first dose, it is still challenging to increase adherence to the second dose and maintain a high vaccination rate to avoid new outbreaks.

Evaluation of the VOC pollution pattern and emission characteristics during the Beijing resurgence of COVID-19 in summer 2020 based on the measurement of PTR-ToF-MS

A second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections emerged in Beijing in summer 2020, which provided an opportunity to explore the response of air pollution to reduced human activity. Proton-transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) coupled with positive matrix factorization (PMF) source apportionment were applied to evaluate the pollution pattern and capture the detailed dynamic emission characteristics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the representative period, with the occurrence of O-3 pollution episodes and the Beijing resurgence of COVID-19. The level of anthropogenic VOC was lower than during the same period in previous years due to the pandemic and emission reduction measures. More than two thirds of the days during the observation period were identified as high-O-3 days and VOCs exhibited higher mixing ratios and faster consumption rates in the daytime on high-O-3 days. The identified VOC emission sources and the corresponding contributions during the whole observation period included: vehicle + fuel (12.41 +/- 9.43%), industrial process (9.40 +/- 8.65%), solvent usage (19.58 +/- 13.46%), biogenic (6.03 +/- 5.40%), background + long-lived (5.62 +/- 11.37%), and two groups of oxygenated VOC (OVOC) factors (primary emission and secondary formation, 26.14 +/- 15.20% and 20.84 +/- 14.0%, respectively). Refined dynamic source apportionment results show that the 'stay at home' tendency led to decreased emission (-34.47 +/- 1.90%) and a weakened morning peak of vehicle + fuel during the Beijing resurgence. However, a growing emission of primary OVOCs (+51.10 +/- 8.28%) with similar diurnal variation was observed in the new outbreak and afterwards, which might be related to the enhanced usage of products intended to clean and disinfect. The present study illustrated that more stringent VOC reduction measures towards pandemic products should be carried out to achieve the balanced emission abatement of NO (x) and VOC when adhering to regular epidemic prevention and control measures.

Discussion on China's anti-epidemic response based on the Protocol on Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 from Chinese Authority.

Eight versions of the Protocol on Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (the Protocol) were issued successively by the Chinese authority to guide the local responses since the first COVID-19 case appeared in Wuhan, China. This study aimed to investigate the evolution of the overall strategy and specific measures in these Protocols, and several recommendations were provided after analysing China's response to the epidemic resurgence. As a result, we found a gradual expanding trend in case surveillance, early screening, and epidemiological investigation, as well as a progressively rigorous tendency in isolation measures and close contact management. With the Protocol's guidance, China had achieved success in several recent fights against domestic COVID-19 resurgences. The city lockdown and multiple city-wide nucleic acid tests adopted were deemed necessary in COVID-19 resurgence's battle. Besides, the large-scale distance centralised quarantine, which is, quarantine in a purpose-built isolation station away from communities where people under quarantine lived, was promoted in rural areas. China's anti-epidemic achievements provide ideas for the global battle against COVID-19.

Anxiety, Health Self-Perception, and Worry About the Resurgence of COVID-19 Predict Fear Reactions Among Genders in the Cuban Population.

The resurgence of COVID-19 could deepen the psychological impacts of the pandemic which poses new challenges for mental health professionals. Among the actions that should be prioritized is the monitoring of the groups that have shown greater psychological vulnerability during the first stage of the pandemic. The first aim of our study is to explore the fear reactions to COVID-19 between genders during the second wave of the outbreak in Cuba. Second, establish possible predictors of fear of COVID-19 in relation to gender. Specifically, we will evaluate how anxiety related to COVID-19, health self-perception, and worry about the resurgence of COVID-19 predict fear reactions among women and men in the Cuban population. A cross-sectional online study was designed. The research was conducted between August 16 and October 18, 2020. A total of 373 people completed the online survey. A socio-demographic questionnaire, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale were used. An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare the fear, worry, anxiety and self-perceived health scores, between genders. The relationship between those variables and fear of COVID-19, was investigated using Pearson correlation coefficient. Finally, multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the possible associations (predictors) related to fear of COVID-19. In our study, women, compared to men, presented greater fear reactions, greater concern about resurgence of COVID-19 and poorer self-perceived health. Anxiety reactions in our sample showed no differences between genders. In women, anxiety of COVID-19, worry about resurgence of COVID-19, and self-perceived health are associated with fear reactions to COVID-19. In the case of men, the self-perceived health showed no associations with fear reactions. Our results confirm the results of several related investigations during the first wave of the pandemic where women have shown greater psychological vulnerability compared to men. However, we cannot rule out that the real impact of the pandemic on mental health in men is much greater than that described by the studies conducted to date. Additional studies are needed on the psychological impact of COVID-19 on men.