Spatial factors for COVID-19 associated community deaths in an urban area of Lusaka, Zambia: an observational study

We retrospectively analyzed spatial factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated community deaths i.e., brought-in-dead (BID) in Lusaka, Zambia, between March and July 2020. A total of 127 cases of BID with geocoordinate data of their houses were identified during the study period. Median interquartile range (IQR) of the age of these cases was 49 (34-70) years old, and 47 cases (37.0%) were elderly individuals over 60 years old. Seventy-five cases (75%) of BID were identified in July 2020, when the total number of cases and deaths was largest in Zambia. Among those whose information regarding their underlying medical condition was available, hypertension was most common (22.9%, 8/35). Among Lusaka's 94 townships, the numbers (median, IQR) of cases were significantly larger in those characterized as unplanned residential areas compared to planned areas (1.0, 0.0-4.0 vs 0.0, 0.0-1.0;p=0.030). The proportion of individuals who require more than 30 minutes to obtain water was correlated with a larger number of BID cases per 105 population in each township (rho=0.28, p=0.006). The number of BID cases was larger in unplanned residential areas, which highlighted the importance of targeted public health interventions specifically to those areas to reduce the total number of COVID-19 associated community deaths in Lusaka. Brought-in-dead surveillance might be beneficial in monitoring epidemic conditions of COVID-19 in such high-risk areas. Furthermore, inadequate access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) might be associated with such distinct geographical distributions of COVID-19 associated community deaths in Lusaka, Zambia.Copyright © Amos Hamukale et al.

How did the 'state of emergency' declaration in Japan due to the COVID-19 pandemic affect the acoustic environment in a rather quiet residential area?

The COVID-19 pandemic caused lockdowns in many countries worldwide. Acousticians have made surveys to monitor how cities became quieter under the lockdown, mainly in central areas in cities. However, there have been few studies on the changes in the acoustic environment due to the pandemic in the usually quieter residential areas. It may be expected to be different from the effect in 'originally noisy' areas. Also, the effect could be different in Japan, because the 'state of emergency' declaration there was different to lockdowns elsewhere. Considering these circumstances, this article reports the results of noise monitoring and makes some observations on the acoustic environment in residential areas far from city centres, to provide an example of how the acoustic environment was affected by the state of emergency declaration due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. The results showed that the reduction of noise levels was somewhat less than that reported in large cities. Also, comparing the results after the cancellation of the state of emergency, the noise level increased again. However, observations of noise sources imply that a possible change in human behaviour may have also affected the acoustic environment.

Implications of the Improvement in Atmospheric Fine Particles: A Case Study of COVID-19 Pandemic in Northern Taiwan

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in northern Taiwan led to the implementation of Level 3 alert measures during 2021 and thereby impacted the air quality significantly, which provided an unprecedented opportunity to better understand the control strategies on air pollutants in the future. This study investigated the variations in sources, chemical characteristics and human health risks of PM2.5 comprehensively. The PM2.5 mass concentrations decreased from pre-alert to Level 3 alert by 49.4%, and the inorganic ions, i.e., NH4+, NO3- and SO42-, dropped even more by 71%, 90% and 52%, respectively. Nonetheless, organic matter (OM) and elemental carbon (EC) simply decreased by 36% and 13%, which caused the chemical composition of PM2.5 to change so that the carbonaceous matter in PM2.5 dominated instead of the inorganic ions. Correlation-based hierarchical clustering analysis further showed that PM2.5 was clustered with carbonaceous matter during the Level 3 alert, while that clustered with inorganic ions during both pre-alert and post-alert periods. Moreover, 6 sources of PM2.5 were identified by positive matrix factorization (PMF), in which secondary nitrate (i.e., aging traffic aerosols) exhibited the most significant decrease and yet primary traffic-related emissions, dominated by carbonaceous matter, changed insignificantly. This implied that secondary traffic-related aerosols could be easily controlled when traffic volume declined, while primary traffic source needs more efforts in the future, especially for the reduction of carbonaceous matter. Therefore, cleaner energy for vehicles is still needed. Assessments of both carcinogenic risk and non-carcinogenic risk induced by the trace elements in PM2.5 showed insignificant decrease, which can be attributed to the factories that did not shut down during Level 3 alert. This study serves as a metric to underpin the mitigation strategies of air pollution in the future and highlights the importance of carbonaceous matter for the reduction in PM2.5.

An Competency Level and Implications of Resident Community on Managed Residential Environment Projects in Seoul-Focused on the 34 Community organizations in project areas of completion

This study analyzes the actual status and level of capacity of organization, activity, and accounting for the Seoul Metropolitan Government's managed residential environment improvement project and derives implications for future sustainability. Until now, the difference according to the type and composition of organizational competency has been insignificant, and in the case of activity competency, it tended to shrink due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the level of activity and accounting competency differed greatly depending on the competency within the organization, but there was an aspect of efforts to maintain such as operating reserves. This analysis result implies that the existing resident organizations were required to promote the conversion to cooperatives and CRCs to strengthen their independent operation, strengthen management and rational public support for existing resident communities through self and public monitoring. It is urgent to apply a step-by-step action plan that can fundamentally improve the financial soundness of a resident community. This study is meaningful in that it confirms the level of competence of the local community for this project and suggests a direction for self-reliant village management in the future. © 2023, Architectural Institute of Korea. All rights reserved.

Cardiovascular System and COVID-19

Objective Different hypotheses suggest a contradictory association of statins, angiotensin receptor blockers(ARBs) or angiotensin-converting enzyme(ACE) inhibitors with potential adverse or favorable effects in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19). This study aimed to compare the association of statins, ARB, and ACE inhibitors in COVID-19 and in pneumonia. Design and Method All patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 through April 16, 2020, in Korea were retrieved. We evaluated the association of statins, ARBs, and ACE inhibitors on COVID-19-related mortality within 60 days. Furthermore, a comparison of hazard ratio (HR) was performed between COVID-19 patients and a retrospective cohort of patients hospitalized with pneumonia between January and June 2019 in Korea. Lastly, meta-analysis was performed to compare the results of this study and other reports. Results The median age of the 10,448 COVID-19 patients was 45 years, and statins, ARBs and ACE inhibitors were prescribed in 533 (5.1%), 1,231(11.8%) and 47(0.4%) patients, respectively. As of April 24, 228 patients (2.2%) succumbed to death. After adjusting age, sex, residential area, the history of comorbidities, Cox regression showed significant decrease in HR by 36% associated with statin use (HR 0.635, 95% CI 0.424 - 0.951, p = 0.0274). However, ARBs group showed neutral association (HR 1.034, 95% CI 0.765 - 1.399, p = 0.8270) and ACE inhibitor groups showed insignificant results mainly due to small sample size (HR 0.736, 95% CI 0.314 - 1.726, p = 0.4810). When comparing the HR between COVID-19 patients and a retrospective cohort of patients hospitalized with pneumonia between January and June 2019, the trend of statins and ACE inhibitors showed similar benefit, whereas the protective effect of ARBs observed in the retrospective cohort was lost in the COVID-19 patients. Meta-analysis including the results of this study showed significant benefit of statins and ACE inhibitors, whereas neutral association with ARBs and the mortality. Conclusions Statins were associated with significantly lower mortality of COVID-19, consistent with usual pneumonia patients. While ARBs or ACE inhibitors were not associated with fatal outcome, the possible beneficial effect of ARBs observed in usual pneumonia was attenuated in COVID-19.

Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Physical, Mental and Behavioral Health

Background: An unprecedented and unexpected COVID-19 pandemic resulted appalled lock-downs limiting movement of the entire population of the country and also across the globe. Downtime due to COVID-19 pandemic, led to adjournment of schools, colleges, different institutions, industries and business. This shutdown of work affected physical, mental and behavioral health of mankind from different age groups of different sectors. Methods- In this cross-sectional study, prevalidated questionnaire using the quick mode of communications like Whatsapp and emails through Google form was used. It was among the quick and inexpensive method to collect data from a wide cross-section of the general public. After ethical committee approval, link was distributed among health care trainee, employees and health care workers (HCWs) of various educational institutes and hospitals. Participants read informed consent for voluntary participation in the survey, which was administered in two parts: The first part asked participants basic demographic characteristics including age, gender, place of residence and in second part questions were asked to determine participation in specific behaviors related to their physical, mental and behavioral health. Result(s): Physical-Significant change in exercise habits was found in 45.3% participants who exercised daily and 32.7% participants did 2 to 3times exercise in a week but 22% participants did not follow any exercise routine. Mental-This study reveals profound impact of lockdown on mental fitness variables as well. Lockdown induced lack of regular work schedules changed sleep habits of 45.8% participants. Behavioral-As precautionary measure 76% of the participants washed their hands mostly 5-7times throughout the day and 84.2% among them followed 6-steps of hand hygiene. 95.5% of participants used mask compulsorily. Conclusion(s): This survey is an attempt to study knowledge and behaviors of people in face of current pandemic where more than 1.3 billion people are inside their homes since lockdown. Although lockdown is effective measure to reduce the spread of COVID-19 there are reasons to be concerned. Prolonged home confinement and shutdown of work affects physical, mental and behavioral health of people. People feel socially isolated due to lockdown however social media platforms offer an opportunity to ameliorate social isolation. The effect on lockdown on physical, mental and behavioral routine habits can give inside of how people are living under impact of lockdown and the findings can reveals the impact of these never seen restrictions on life of people.Copyright © 2022 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.

Economic Resilience of Families in a Suburban Residential Area in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

Background and Objectives: Faster than expected, the COVID-19 disease changed people's lives on an unprecedented scale. The present research aimed to shed light on the economic challenges of the pandemic and the efforts made concerning economic resilience. Thus, this study delved into the experience of families residing in a suburban town. Method(s): The present study was qualitative in type. It used a qualitative content analysis with a guided approach conducted through 17 in-depth semi-structured individual interviews with subjects over 15 years of age living in Tawheed Gonabad town. These subjects had lived in the area for at least three years. The interviews were held and audio-recorded in a purposive sampling method after gaining informed consent from the participants in the spring of 2021. In order to estimate the validity of the data, Lincoln and Goba's criteria were used. Result(s): The economic resilience of families during the pandemic was marked by three main categories and nine sub-categories. The categories were: 1) changes to the economic dimension of the family (the sub-categories: employment, income, consumption and socioeconomic status), 2) solutions to the economic changes of the family (sub-categories: reliance on internal resources, family and receiving support from outside of the family), and 3) the effectiveness of economic resilience of families at higher levels (sub-categories: macroeconomics, family social capital and regional resilience). As more detailed results showed, the pandemic has caused a decrease in the income and consumption of essential items in quantity and quality and imposed excessive costs on the target community. The dominant solution to economic problems has been changing consumer's behavior and income diversification. The lack of supportive plans, poor social networks and the identity of the neighborhood are the significant barriers to the increase of economic resilience. Conclusion(s): The families investigated in the present study were vulnerable in many ways and had low economic resilience. In order to improve the families' level of economic resilience, it is necessary to know the context and carry out interventions and support plans based on the families' internal and external capacities, including the neighborhood's empowering conditions.Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Spatial Identification, Prevention and Control of Epidemics in High-Rise Residential Areas Based on Wind Environments

The wind environment in residential areas can exert a direct or indirect influence on the spread of epidemics, with some scholars paying particular attention to the epidemic prevention and control of residential areas from the perspective of wind environments. As a result, it is urgent to re-examine the epidemic prevention response of residential spaces. Taking high-rise residential areas in Xi'an as an example, the article defines the air flow field area based on on-site wind environment measurements, crowd behavior annotation, and CFD simulation. Using the double-effect superposition of crowd behavior and risk space, the paper undertook a multiple identification strategy of epidemic prevention space. The identification methods and management and control strategies of epidemic prevention in high-rise residential areas are proposed. Additionally, the living environment of residential areas is optimized, and a healthy residential space is created. The transformation from concept and calls for action to space implementation is made to provide a reference for improving the space management and control capabilities in high-rise residential areas in China. The results of this study can be used as a guideline for future residential planning and design from the perspective of preventing airborne diseases.

Evaluation of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Cases During the COVID-19 Pandemic Period.

Introduction: Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic disease that progresses with fever and bleeding and is endemic in our region. In this study, we aimed to determine the symptoms, transmission routes and risk factors in CCHF patients who have similar clinical features with COVID-19, and to investigate the relationship between CCHF cases and COVID-19 restrictions in our region where CCHF is endemic. Material(s) and Method(s): One hundred fifty-nine patients diagnosed with CCHF in the infectious diseases and clinical microbiology clinic between April 2021 and September 2021 were included in the study. A questionnaire consisting of a set of questions was filled in for patients diagnosed with CCHF, in which demographic data, admission complaints, risk factors and habits during the COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated. Result(s): The mean age of the 159 CCHF patients included in the study was 50.9 +/- 18.5 years and 59.7% were male. The most frequently reported complaints by the patients were fatigue (94.5%), muscle-joint pain (79.9%) and fever (74.2%). During the disease period, COVID-19 was suspected in 62.3% of them, PCR test was applied to all of them, and the result was positive in only one patient. There was no change of residence of the patients during the illness period. There was no significant increase in the population of the residence area or the frequency of visits due to the pandemic. The number of patients who reported an increase in the number of ticks in their environment was 44 (27.8%). It was determined that there was no significant increase in the number of activities such as visiting rural areas or having a picnic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 32.2% of patients engaged in animal husbandry or field work reported an increase in the frequency of these jobs compared to the pre-pandemic period. Conclusion(s): The reason for the increase in the number of CCHF cases in our center was not associated with the increase in the frequency of visits to rural areas or the change of residence during the COVID-19 pandemic period.Copyright © Telif Hakki 2022 Flora.

Effects of emission sources on the particle number size distribution of ambient air in the residential area

Particle size distribution is a major factor in the health and climate effects of ambient aerosols, and it shows a large variation depending on the prevailing atmospheric emission sources. In this work, the particle number size distributions of ambient air were investigated at a suburban detached housing area in northern Helsinki, Finland, during a half-year period from winter to summer of 2020. The measurements were conducted with a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) with a particle size range of 16–698 nm (mobility diameter), and the events with a dominant particle source were identified systematically from the data based on the time of the day and different particle physical and chemical properties. During the measurement period, four different types of events with a dominant contribution from either wood-burning (WB), traffic (TRA), secondary biogenic (BIO), or long-range transported (LRT) aerosol were observed. The particle size was the largest for the LRT events followed by BIO, WB, and TRA events with the geometric mean diameters of 72, 62, 57, and 41 nm, respectively. BIO and LRT produced the largest particle mode sizes followed by WB, and TRA with the modes of 69, 69, 46, and 25 nm, respectively. Each event type had also a noticeably different shape of the average number size distribution (NSD). In addition to the evaluation of NSDs representing different particle sources, also the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on specific aerosol properties were studied as during the measurement period the COVID-19 restrictions took place greatly reducing the traffic volumes in the Helsinki area in the spring of 2020. These restrictions had a significant contribution to reducing the concentrations of NOx and black carbon originating from fossil fuel combustion concentration, but insignificant effects on other studied variables such as number concentration and size distribution or particle mass concentrations (PM1, PM2.5, or PM10). © 2022 The Authors

Students anxiety experiences during COVID-19 in Nepal

Background COVID-19 started in China and has spread throughout the world since December 2019. The pandemic has not only brought the risk of morbidity and mortality from infection but also psychological burden. Objective To find out the psychological impacts of COVID-19 on students from high schools, colleges and universities in Nepal, along with examining the association between socio-demographic and other related variables and level of anxiety in the students. Method This study sampled students from Nepal using convenience sampling and responded to a quantitative questionnaire that included the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and other basic information. Finally, 105 respondents were included in the final analysis (100% response rate). Convenient sampling technique was used to gather the sample. Result The results indicated that 18.1% of the respondents were experiencing severe anxiety, 22.9% moderate anxiety, and 25.7% mild anxiety. Moreover, females were more prone to anxiety as compared to males. The results of correlation analysis indicated that economic effects, and delays in academic activities, were positively associated with anxiety symptoms (p < .05). However, social support was negatively correlated with the level of anxiety (p < .001). Conclusion It is recommended that the mental health of students should be monitored during public health emergencies, such as this one. This study examines the psychological impacts of COVID-19 among the college students in Nepal. Copyright © 2020, Kathmandu University. All rights reserved.

Monitoring Suspects of COVID-19 in Compact Residential Area Using Machine Learning Based on Lockdown Analytical Impact

The most prominent symptom in corona-infected person is increased body temperature. Population in India is very high, and it is very difficult to provide medical services to everyone at a time. This paper presents how can we reduce the pressure on medical service providers in current pandemic situation and stop the community spreading. Initially in the paper, impact of lockdown on COVID-19 situation is observed using the Python language. According to that two lockdown applied in the country at initial level, the growth rate of pandemic was under control. But as the lockdown rules were relaxed, quick hike in corona cases was noted. On the basis of this result proposed model is designed, if one scans the temperature of different domain areas at regular intervals from above the surface using zero touch technology, i.e., drone camera installed with thermal sensor, the increased temperature reading can help screening the infected hot spots. The proposed idea is to collect thermal data through thermal sensors and process these data using visualization of images/videos and quantitative methods. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are used to process biometric features of corona suspects and collect personal detail of corona suspect from the databases. The residential area of infected person is marked with red color, and monitoring the movement of the infected person is done with help of machine learning. With the taken of timely action, not only the spreading can be controlled but also the patients can get appropriate attention and treatment on time. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE AND EFFECTS IN RECOVERED AND VACCINATED COVID19 POPULATION: A CROSS-SECTIONAL OBSERVATIONAL STUDY Original Article

Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess the QOL (quality of life) and effects on the recovered and vaccinated COVID-19study population. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out for six months among residential areas and selected individuals regardless of country. Demographic details and responses were collected through phone calls and also using google form questionnaires. Results: A total of 264 subjects were enrolled in this study. In the selected study of recovered patients, it was found that females (mean score 21.9) experience high effects compared to males (mean score 39.6) since a low mean score means higher post-effects. In the evaluation of postvaccination effects of the selected study population, it was found that males and females experience different levels of post-vaccination effects in which females(mean score 19.5) experience high effects comparatively to males (mean score 21.9). The result of the quality of life for both recovered patients and the vaccinated population infers that the younger age group was found to experience a high quality of life than the older age group who were>65 y of age. Conclusion: The study concludes that the elderly population of>65 y of age and females based on gender were likely to suffer from post-COVID-19 effects and post-vaccination effects. It can also be concluded that the younger age group has a healthy standard of living compared to the age group>65 y.

FEEDBACK FROM A REGION ON THE USE OF ETHERAPEUTIC PATIENT EDUCATION DURING THE HEALTH CRISIS: HIGH-SPEED INTERVIEWS!

Background and importance The coronarovirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has strongly impacted organiation of care. Some patients with chronic diseases did not get their regular follow-ups. New digital health care techniques, such as e-therapeutic patient education (e-TPE), allowed maintenance of the continuity of these patients' care. Aim and objectives Objectives of this study were to assess in a French region how TPE programmes have adapted during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate the establishment of e-TPE. Material and methods A survey was conducted in February 2021 based on an online questionnaire containing 21 questions submitted to 180 TPE programme coordinators in a region. This questionnaire was composed by three parts: the first one is about TPE programmes that have been achieved, the second one concerns the adaptation of the sessions during the first lockdown, and the last one refers to the implementation of e-TPE. Results A total of 62 questionnaires were collected corresponding to 80 TPE programmes in the region. The majority of health professionals (79%, n = 49) completely stopped their programmes during the first lockdown and 21% (n = 13) kept it either with reduced activity or with continued TPE sessions. Among the second group, the majority of their programmes have been adapted to the context: development of teleconsultation and e-TPE sessions. The e-TPE sessions were set up by 13 coordinators using different tools: internet platforms such as 'app'e-sante' or 'Mydiabby' and videoconferences. The advantages stated by healthcare professionals were: easy access to sessions and limited travel (n = 7), maintenance of the link with the patient (n = 5) and adaptability to the patient's organisational issues (n = 4). Drawbacks were also highlighted, in particular the lack of interaction between healthcare professionals and the patient (n = 8) but also some internet connection issues in certain residential areas (n = 5). Conclusion and relevance The development of e-TPE allowed the decompartmentalisation of the ambulatory patients' care. The patients and healthcare professionals who participated in the digital sessions declared themselves to be fully satisfied. The e-TPE is a digital tool at the service of the clinical pharmacist to achieve their mission of health promotion.

The Built Environment Assessment of Residential Areas in Wuhan during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak.

The COVID-19 epidemic has emerged as one of the biggest challenges, and the world is focused on preventing and controlling COVID-19. Although there is still insufficient understanding of how environmental conditions may impact the COVID-19 pandemic, airborne transmission is regarded as an important environmental factor that influences the spread of COVID-19. The natural ventilation potential (NVP) is critical for airborne infection control in the micro-built environment, where infectious and susceptible people share air spaces. Taking Wuhan as the research area, we evaluated the NVP in residential areas to combat COVID-19 during the outbreak. We determined four fundamental residential area layouts (point layout, parallel layout, center-around layout, and mixed layout) based on the semantic similarity model for point of interest (POI) picking. Our analyses indicated that the center-around and point layout had a higher NVP, while the mixed and parallel layouts had a lower NVP in winter and spring. Further analysis showed that the proportion of the worst NVP has been rising, while the proportion of the poor NVP remains very high in Wuhan. This study suggested the need to efficiently improve the residential area layout in Wuhan for better urban ventilation to combat COVID-19 without losing other benefits.

Undergraduate Students’ Perspective About Online Learning: A Case Study Of Hashemite University Students In Jordan

Introduction: The current COVID-19 pandemic caused a rapid shift from in-class to online learning in higher education. This shift created an educational environment that confused universities and faculty members. Since students are regarded as an axis around which everything revolves in the teaching-learning context, it is necessary to inquire into their views about this form of education. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine undergraduate students’ perspective about online learning and the extent to which it influenced them positively or negatively in respect of psychological state, learning and skill acquisition, level of interaction, and financial state. It also aimed to explore their views about the pros and cons of online learning. Method: This study used a mixed method of research design. It used a questionnaire and questionnaire interview in order for the qualitative results to support the quantitative ones. One hundred and thirty-one students participated in the present study. Results: The study indicated that the psychological state of students was ranked first and their level of interaction was ranked last regarding the influence online learning had on them. It also indicated that the interviewees highlighted advantages for online learning, such as time and effort saving, ease of communication, lecture follow-up and feedback and disadvantages, such as lack of interaction, internet and electricity, and motivation. In addition, the study showed no significant differences in students’ responses to the four categories or aspects due to gender, residential area, and the type school they graduated from. However, they revealed significant differences between Arts and Information Technology students’ responses. Conclusion: These results may enlighten policy makers and university officials and make them improve the level of electronic services for students.