Factors affecting compliance to quarantine and its psychological effects during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study from aspirational district of India

Background: COVID-19 has caused pandemic during 2019-2020 and has presented with illnesses ranging from the usual mild flu to serious respiratory problems/complications, even leading to considerable mortality. Recent literatures have suggested that the health (especially psychological) impacts of quarantine are substantial and can be long lasting. Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the mental health status (psychological distress) of experienced quarantine and compliance to quarantine during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nuh district. Methods: The study included 543 subjects (adults aged 18 years or more) who were sent for quarantine at home or state-run facilities and included "Flu corner " screened patient and health-care staff working in COVID-19 outpatient and wards. The psychological impact was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Categorical data were presented as percentages (%), and bivariable logistic regression was applied to find out the association, and it was considered significant if the P < 0.05. Results: The doctors and nursing staff were among two-fifth of the subjects (217/543, 40.1%), and only 11.6% of quarantined subjects (63/543) were compliant with all protective measures. The mean score obtained on Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) subjects was 18.69 +/- 4.88, whereas out of 543 subjects, 152 (27.9%) had a score of 20 or more, and it has a significant association with the elderly age group, female gender, and workplace as exposure setting (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Given the developing situation with coronavirus pandemic, policymakers urgently need evidence synthesis to produce guidance for the public. Thus, the outcomes of this study will positively help authorities, administrators, and policymakers to apply quarantine measures in a better way.

COVID-19 in Toronto: Investigating the Spatial Impact of Retailers in the Food Retail and Food Service Sector

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the global economy. The retailing sector, which relies heavily on high levels of human interaction, has experienced the worst impact. This study aimed to assess the spatial distribution of COVID-19 in Toronto and its impact on business locations from the food retail and food service sectors by investigating four retailers: Starbucks, McDonald's, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Loblaws. Kernel density estimation revealed that the spatial distribution of COVID-19 incidences in the City of Toronto is uneven, with a high density of cases present in the Downtown core. Spatial autocorrelation was performed at the global and local levels to assess the spatial pattern of Starbucks, McDonald's, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Loblaws locations. The findings revealed that retailers spatially clustered in a COVID-19 hotspot are the most impacted. Further to this analysis, a geographically weighted regression model was generated, which indicated a strong correlation between COVID-19 and low socio-economic status. This allows for a better understanding of the characteristics associated with the retail locations at risk from COVID-19, enabling retailers to make strategic adjustments to respond to a rapidly changing marketplace. © 2023, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Interoceptive Abilities in Irritable Bowel Sydrome from Long Covid Disease

SCOPO DEL LAVORO: Long COVID is defined as the continuation of symptoms much longer than usually expected or the persistence of symptoms despite the recovery of the infection. While research on long COVID is in full swing, only little attention has been paid to the associated psychiatric symptoms. In particular, the association between long COVID and somatic symptom disorders (SSD) has been overlooked. Beyond anxiety and depression symptoms, patients with COVID-19 present a high risk to develop SSD. SSD, previously known as somatoform disorders, have been defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) as persistent and clinically significant somatic symptoms accompanied by excessive and disproportionate health-related thoughts, feelings and behaviours regarding the symptoms. Noviello et Al (2021) in their study show that acute SARS-CoV-2 infection may affect the brain-gut axis. Five months after the acute infection, mild gastroenterological symptoms persist, in particular in patients reporting diarrhea in the acute phase of the infection. Infected patients are also at increased risk of chronic fatigue and somatoform disorders, thus supporting the hypothesis that both functional gastrointestinal (like IBS) and somatoform disorders may have a common biological origin. IBS present an impairment in interoception and high levels of alexithymia. Interoception refers to the ability to accurately detect internal body changes. Alexithymia is a personality construct that implies difficulties identifying and describing one's own feelings, limited imaginative processes, an externally oriented cognitive style, and difficulties in distinguishing between feelings and bodily sensations. This construct is associated with many disorders, such as gastrointestinal pathologies. Given the relationship between long covid disease and gastrointestinal somatoform disorders (like IBS), and between interoceptive abilities and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, then it's conceivable a mediating role of interoceptive abilities in long covid IBS that deserves to be analyzed. MATERIALI E METODI: Subjects: All the patients aged between 18 and 60 years who tested positive at least 5 months before. Measures: - Toronto Alexithymia Scale - Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Structured Assessment of Gastrointestinal Symptoms (SAGIS) questionnaire - Heart Rate Variability - Blood samples were collected between 8:30 am and 9:00 am. RISULTATI: There is a deficiency in interoceptive skills and high levels of alexithymia in patients with IBS and who have been infected with covid. CONCLUSIONI: In a current society, undermined by the psychophysical consequences of covid, Identifying factors that affect the well-being like Interoception training (as it is a learned skill), renders possible an intervention to modify some of these factors or promote a better understanding of patients with IBS who experience alternate periods of remission and relapse. .

Trapped in liminality: homelessness in Toronto during COVID-19

When COVID-19 struck in 2020, a large number of persons experiencing homelessness in Toronto filtered out into public spaces and makeshift shelters to try to limit further community spread. Using city council reports, transcripts from community meetings, and media publications, this article employs a novel framing device called "liminal positionality” to grasp how people who were resettled in new shelters were at once embedded among and newly rejected by the people living around these shelters. Existing residents then pressured the state to build new spatial boundaries between themselves and their new neighbours within these shared spaces. © 2023 Studies in Political Economy.

Canada's fight against COVID-19: Constitutionalism, laws, and the global pandemic

Canada consists of a federal system, with a unique separation of powers. For example, the federal government's role in health has been traditionally to fund and support the provincial and territorial health services, among other things. However, there is also centralization of particular policies, such as during public health crises, consisting of collaboration with provincial governments, whereas the federal government maintains control over things such as travel, entry and exit, and border control. From the perspective of the separation of powers, there is a clear tendency for provincial governments to be enumerated authority in many areas in health and social policy, together with local authority, although for the most part, it is greatly restricted. For example, Toronto Public Health often follows the mandates of the province of Ontario. Decisions of local restrictions, such as the closure of retail spaces, cinemas/movie theaters, malls, and other facilities, as well as the push against mass gatherings in local parks during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic were, at times, advocated by the local governments and municipalities to the provincial government, in which the former claimed some power and authority. At another point in time, the province of Ontario had expressed that the police would have powers to ask motorists questions about where they were going;however, the Toronto Police Services refused to follow this mandate as it could lead to bias and adverse racial tensions or experiences. It led to the provincial government to formally issue an apology. Meanwhile, many different approaches to public health that were implemented by the federal government also affected local governments, which had resulted in restrictions, such as in travel, yet they resulted in positive changes in terms of epidemic containment. While Canada's case count was low compared to the United States and other countries, Canada was slow in its approach to immunizations during the first half of 2021. As of writing this chapter, the number of cases of COVID-19 was 1,460,175, with total deaths of 26,761 (Government of Canada). © 2023 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Team of Caring Educators Delivering a Specialized Math Curriculum for Racialized Youth during COVID-19

This study examined the efficacy of an afternoon and weekend academic program called the "Community School Initiative" (CSI) during the COVID-19 pandemic. CSI was offered to racialized students and families from the Jane and Finch community in Toronto which is one of the most under-resourced neighbourhoods in Canada. It involved a partnership between private social enterprise "Spirit of Math" and non-profit organization "Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education" (YAAACE). Seven teachers participated in a focus group and 33 students and parents completed a survey to express their experiences attending the CSI. Findings were identified using thematic analysis from a Critical Race Theory paradigm. Key characteristics of effective structural community-programming were identified. The results highlight the importance of access to opportunities in a culturally reflective manner to ensure student success through continuity of care particularly on evenings and weekends involving a team of caring educators.

Managing the curb – Public space and use of curbside cafes during the Coronavirus pandemic

Urban streets, especially curbside spaces, are increasingly complex and often contested. The Coronavirus pandemic created a new demand for street space to enable physical distancing. The urgency of the pandemic and the fear of covid exposure suspended traditional community engagement opportunities, opposition from residents and business owners, and considerations over the privatization of public street space. This exploratory paper uses the case studies of Toronto and Chicago to trace the past and present regulations and programs affecting curbside parking spaces. Through these cases, this paper addresses larger questions that relate the historical conceptions around curbside parking use with those put forward in response to the pandemic. Given the popularity of pandemic-related curbside space programs and their potential to become long-term interventions, this paper also raises several questions around privatization, access and social equity that must be addressed in future iterations of programs affecting curbside space. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

The profitability of pair trading strategy in stock markets: Evidence from Toronto stock exchange

Market practitioners and speculators attempt to make benefits from the existence of market price gaps and profit opportunities by arbitrage strategies. Although some investors trade stocks based on the available financial and fundamental information of a particular share, there are others who make profits by risk hedging and swing trading opportunities. One of these strategies is pairs trading, which is a sub‐category of statistical arbitrage. Pairs trading can assure reasonably a risk‐free profit gaining. This paper aims to make a hypothetical portfolio composed of pairs of stocks by exploring a significant association between their prices in the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX. We compare the profitability of distance, co‐integration, and copula functions as the pair's selection and trading strategy devices in TSX over January 2017 to June 2020. Our results show that the highest profitability comes from trading by the copula method. Our time frame includes two heterogeneous pre and post COVID‐19 periods. Although the financial markets are struggling with a hard situation over the COVID‐19 days, the performance of the methodologies is not affected by the crisis.

Urban neoliberalism, smart city, and Big Tech: The aborted Sidewalk Labs Toronto experiment

On May 7, 2020, Sidewalk Labs (part of Alphabet, which includes Google) abandoned its Toronto waterfront redevelopment project after two-and-a-half years of planning, public relations, and bargaining with the public agency responsible for this sector. The official and final reason Sidewalk gave for its withdrawal was the uncertainty of the Toronto real estate market due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Few observers of the Toronto scene subscribed to this explanation. Events did not unfold as Sidewalk would have hoped for. Its Toronto venture exposes implementation difficulties of a form of neoliberalism combining the smart city model with an active involvement of Big Tech. The Toronto narrative suggests that while the materialization of this version of neoliberalism is advantaged by plentiful resources, futurist visions of the city, and access to new technology, it is not immune to implementation hurdles associated with the context-specific nature of neoliberal projects. The paper identifies three categories of obstacles that have hampered the reaching of the Sidewalk objectives in Toronto: opposition movements objecting to electronic surveillance, corporate control, and restrictions to democratic processes;the fragmentation of the neoliberal political block;and ill-advised strategies on the part of Sidewalk. [ FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 Cases Among Congregate Care Facility Staff by Neighborhood of Residence and Social and Structural Determinants: Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Disproportionate risks of COVID-19 in congregate care facilities including long-term care homes, retirement homes, and shelters both affect and are affected by SARS-CoV-2 infections among facility staff. In cities across Canada, there has been a consistent trend of geographic clustering of COVID-19 cases. However, there is limited information on how COVID-19 among facility staff reflects urban neighborhood disparities, particularly when stratified by the social and structural determinants of community-level transmission. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the concentration of cumulative cases by geography and social and structural determinants across 3 mutually exclusive subgroups in the Greater Toronto Area (population: 7.1 million): community, facility staff, and health care workers (HCWs) in other settings. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, observational study using surveillance data on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases (January 23 to December 13, 2020; prior to vaccination rollout). We derived neighborhood-level social and structural determinants from census data and generated Lorenz curves, Gini coefficients, and the Hoover index to visualize and quantify inequalities in cases. RESULTS: The hardest-hit neighborhoods (comprising 20% of the population) accounted for 53.87% (44,937/83,419) of community cases, 48.59% (2356/4849) of facility staff cases, and 42.34% (1669/3942) of other HCW cases. Compared with other HCWs, cases among facility staff reflected the distribution of community cases more closely. Cases among facility staff reflected greater social and structural inequalities (larger Gini coefficients) than those of other HCWs across all determinants. Facility staff cases were also more likely than community cases to be concentrated in lower-income neighborhoods (Gini 0.24, 95% CI 0.15-0.38 vs 0.14, 95% CI 0.08-0.21) with a higher household density (Gini 0.23, 95% CI 0.17-0.29 vs 0.17, 95% CI 0.12-0.22) and with a greater proportion working in other essential services (Gini 0.29, 95% CI 0.21-0.40 vs 0.22, 95% CI 0.17-0.28). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 cases among facility staff largely reflect neighborhood-level heterogeneity and disparities, even more so than cases among other HCWs. The findings signal the importance of interventions prioritized and tailored to the home geographies of facility staff in addition to workplace measures, including prioritization and reach of vaccination at home (neighborhood level) and at work.

Applying health design thinking to uncover actors in the sustenance of health and wellbeing during hotel quarantine in Kuwait

This visual essay centers on the author's hotel quarantine experience in Kuwait. While many quarantine stories have been recorded, personal stories involving the relationship between human and non-human actors within a quarantined space are still overlooked. By focusing on the maintenance of health and wellness during quarantine, this essay visually communicates the hotel quarantine experience by using a health design thinking approach. By presenting a series of photographs, actors' interactions, and journey maps, the author attempts to convey a connection between human and non-human actors during quarantine, and prompts a discussion on what can be done to improve hotel quarantine systems in the future.

Psychological and social results of COVID-19 pandemic in relation to physical activity: a narrative review

The study aims to investigate and evaluate the impact of physical activity on human health and psychology during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the search for scientific literature related to this review the US National Library of Medicine (PubMed) used MEDLINE and SPORTDiscus data and the terms "covid-19 ", "physical activity ", and "human psychology ", were used. The relevant literature has also taken its source from the research of relevant articles from reference lists derived from data studies. Quarantine measures limited the lives of many all over the world. Being apart from family and friends, not being able to act freely and the vagueness of the future affected societies deeply. The importance of physical activity on mental and bodily wellbeing is undeniable. Therefore, home-based or low-risk outdoor physical activities are highly encouraged to survive the pandemic in the psychological and social sense. These activities consist of running up and downstairs, walking, doing push-ups and sit-ups, yoga, etc.In conclusion, ever since the Covid-19 pandemic started, there has been a pandemic of psychological and social problems as well. It is the statement of this study that physical activity is a key factor that should be included in people's lives to manage the pandemic healthily as possible.

Canada India Healthcare Summit 2021: Executive Overview

The Canada India Health-care Summit 2021, ("CIHS 2021"), is the 3rd Summit, focusing on healthcare, organized by Canada India Foundation, as part of an ongoing series of thematic Canada India Forums, to highlight opportunities for collaboration between Canada and India in key strategic sectors and make public policy recommendations to the respective governments. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute - University Health Network and the Consulate General of India in Toronto were co-organizers of the Summit. CIHS 2021 was focused on three themes: (1) artificial intelligence and its contribution to overcome COVID-19, (2) biotechnology and its contribution to overcome COVID-19, and (3) pandemic responses and initiatives. The Summit was held on May 20, 2021-May 21, 2021, and was preceded by three webinars. More than 60 healthcare experts and government leaders spoke at the Summit, to nearly 500 virtual attendees. A full report of the Summit with specific policy recommendations was made to the Canadian and Indian governments.

CONNECTING SENIORS IN MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES DURING COVID-19

The community of Jane and Finch (also known as Black Creek) is a high-density, multicultural, low-income neighborhood in northwest Toronto, Ontario. Home to people from more than 70 countries, with 100 languages spoken, the area has been described as having more immigrants, more single-parent households, higher rates of unemployment, a higher percentage of the population without a high school diploma, and higher rates of low-income families than the rest of Toronto. The Toronto City Summit Alliance's Strong Neighbourhoods Task Force identified the Jane and Finch neighborhood as one of 13 priority neighborhoods in the city.

COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Students' Time Allocation and Productivity: Evidence from An Undergraduate Students Survey

Our objective is to study the COVID-19 pandemic impact on weekly time allocation change for undergraduate students in Canada. We used Cross-sectional Study, conducted on Undergraduate students at department of Economics at University of Toronto (2020- 2021). Participants are second and or higher year undergraduate students from University of Toronto. The primary and secondary outcome measure is the change in number of hours allocated to five major time use categories per week between pre-pandemic academic year (Sept. 2019 - Apr. 2020) and during pandemic academic year (Sept. 2020 - Apr. 2021). The change in productivity between pre-pandemic academic year (Sept. 2019 - Apr. 2020) and during pandemic academic year (Sept. 2020 - Apr. 2021). We used Numbers (%) and median (interquartile range, IQR) were used to descriptively summarize the data. Linear regression was applied to characterize the relation- ship between pandemic effect (accounted for the effect of other variables) and change in study time/productivity. The study showed that 570 participants were included in the study. The pandemic increased students' studying time outside of classes, tutorials, and labs by 4 hours per week, mostly reallocated from time spent on activities other than sleeping, studying, socializing and entertainment. Moreover, students who spend more time on classes, tutorials and labs were more productive during the pandemic. In conclusion, compared with pre-pandemic period, students allocated more time to studying outside of lectures, tutorials, and labs during the pandemic academic year. Students spent more time in lectures, tutorials and labs tend to have a higher productivity. Therefore, universities should work to improve online teaching strategies to encourage students attending lectures, tutorials and labs. Also, mental health is another concern, it is suggested that more psychological counseling and counseling services can be provided. More online or offline group activities can be carried out within controllable scope to reconnect students. © 2022 ACM.

COVID-19 Vaccine Coverage and Sociodemographic, Behavioural and Housing Factors Associated with Vaccination among People Experiencing Homelessness in Toronto, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study.

People experiencing homelessness were prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination in Toronto, Canada, due to the high risk of infection and associated complications relative to the general population. We aimed to ascertain COVID-19 vaccine coverage in this population and explore factors associated with the receipt of at least one dose. We collected survey and blood sample data from individuals ages 16+ recruited by random selection at 62 shelters, hotels and encampment sites between 16 June 2021 and 9 September 2021. We report vaccine coverage by dose number and explored sociodemographic, behavioral, health and housing factors associated with vaccination using multivariable modified Poisson regression. In total, 80.4% (95% CI 77.3-83.1%) received at least one vaccine dose, and 63.6% (CI 60.0-67.0%) received two or more doses. Vaccination was positively associated with age (every 10 years adjusted rate ratio (aRR) 1.05 [95% CI 1.03-1.08]), and receipt of influenza vaccination (aRR 1.19 [95% CI 1.11-1.27]). Factors negatively associated with vaccination included female gender (aRR 0.92 [95% CI 0.85-1.0]), Black racial self-identification (aRR 0.89 [95% CI 0.80-0.99]) and low frequencies of masking in public places (aRR 0.83 [95% CI 0.72-0.95]). COVID-19 vaccine coverage is very high among people experiencing homelessness in Toronto, suggesting advocacy and outreach efforts may have been effective.

Health governance of COVID-19 in Milan and Toronto: long-term trends and short-term failures

In this paper, we examine a crisis in the governance of health and care that characterized the regions of Milan and Toronto, which the COVID-19 pandemic impacted substantially—both in early 2020 when SARS-CoV-2 first hit and later in the fall and winter when the disease entered its second and third waves. We analyze restructuring in health and care in both regions, and, where necessary, in national contexts. We make the case that restructuring and implementing welfare and health policy, including long-term care, in Toronto and Milan in the context of long-standing tendencies of health governance restructuring that were part of a more general rescaling of the regional welfare state be held responsible for the toll COVID-19 levied. This paper is part of the SPE Theme on the Political Economy of COVID-19.

Detection of structural regimes and analyzing the impact of crude oil market on Canadian stock market: Markov regime-switching approach

Purpose>This study aims to analyze the impact of the crude oil market on the Toronto Stock Exchange Index (TSX).Design/methodology/approach>The focus is on detecting nonlinear relationship based on monthly data from 1970 to 2021 using Markov-switching vector auto regression (VAR) model.Findings>The results indicate that TSX return contains two regimes: positive return (Regime 1), when growth rate of stock index is positive;and negative return (Regime 2), when growth rate of stock index is negative. Moreover, Regime 1 is more volatile than Regime 2. The findings also show the crude oil market has a negative effect on the stock market in Regime 1, while it has a positive effect on the stock market in Regime 2. In addition, the authors can see this effect in Regime 1 more significantly in comparison to Regime 2. Furthermore, two-period lag of oil price decreases stock return in Regime 1, while it increases stock return in Regime 2.Originality/value>This study aims to address the effect of oil market fluctuation on TSX index using Markov-switching approach and capture the nonlinearities between them. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to assess the effect of the oil market on TSX in different regimes using Markov-switching VAR model. Because Canada is the sixth-largest producer and exporter of oil in the world as well as the TSX as the Canada’s main stock exchange is the tenth-largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization, this paper’s framework to analyze a nonlinear relationship between oil market and the stock market of Canada helps stock market players like policymakers, institutional investors and private investors to get a better understanding of the real world.

Section Meetings

The annual student-themed Toronto Section Meeting took place on 15 February. A wide range of relevant topics were covered and presented in an easy-to-understand format that was suitable for student consumption. Due to COVID restrictions, it was necessary to collaborate remotely. © 2002 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

"I Think the Mental Part Is the Biggest Factor": An Exploratory Qualitative Study of COVID-19 and Its Negative Effects on Indigenous Women in Toronto, Canada.

This article explores the unique and understudied experiences of Indigenous women living in Toronto, Canada during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to better document the impacts of COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous women in Toronto, Canada to better understand unmet needs, as well as lay the groundwork for more targeted research and potential interventions based on these needs. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews with thirteen Indigenous women, we shed light on the negative effects this pandemic has had on this population. We find that COVID-19 has negatively affected people's mental health, substance use and access to health services. This research speaks to the growing body of work that discusses the harmful effects of COVID-19 generally and how this pandemic has specifically affected Indigenous peoples.