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Objective: With the spread of COVID-19 in Pakistan, Balochistan province with its unique problems of lowest literacy rates in the country, limited resources and a flail health care system is reporting an increasing number of cases of COVID-19. This study discusses the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients from the Balochistan province. Study Design: Situation reportPlace and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Balochistan province of Pakistan. The completion date for the study was April 30, 2020. Methodology: The data was retrieved from the daily situation report from the Health Department, Government of Balochistan. Descriptive statistics (proportions, mean +or- SD) were used for data analysis.
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Childhood is a critical period in the development of their central nervous system. Stressful life events in childhood may have both short-term and long-term impacts on their mental health. To cope with the COVID-19 epidemic, a series of policies have been adopted worldwide, such as the school closure and the social distancing, which have changed the children's psychosocial environment and are associated with an increased risk of mental health problems. This paper reviews the mental health problems that the children might face amid the COVID-19 epidemic, and discusses the countermeasures that the government, the society, and the family might take. Finally, suggestions are made to promote the psychological recovery of children after the epidemic.
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This article briefly describes a series of extension materials created by LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant to assist different sectors of the community to respond to public health concerns associated with COVID-19. The materials created included a series of fact sheets on a variety of issues, including food delivery and take-out, fishing safety information and seafood processing plants. In addition, a series of six posters was developed to create awareness of social distancing among store employees and customers. Two fact sheets were created for the seafood industry. "Fishing Safety and Information During a Public Health Emergency" highlights the health of people working on the boats, the proper use of disinfectants, and considerations when fishers sell their catch directly to consumers. The other fact sheet is "Public Health Emergency Response for Seafood Processing Plants During COVID-19," which provides guidance on the risks associated for processing plants during the pandemic, how to identify high-risk areas, and how to control and prevent the transmission of the virus among employees and visitors. The goal is to minimize person-to-person contact in the plant and during processing. To help create awareness on the control and prevention of the transmission of COVID-19, graphics and videos are available on the LSU AgCenter website for sharing through social media.
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) staff across Louisiana distributed a survey to their network of potential program participants and partners who work with people eligible for SNAP-Ed. The survey asked participants to report their attitudes about behaviors used to slow the spread of COVID-19 and preferences for the delivery of nutrition education. Participants also reported their race, age and eligibility for the SNAP-Ed program so that researchers could assess whether attitudes and preferences differed across these categories. Of the 458 participants completing the survey, the majority were white (62%), female (91%), aged 18 to 50 (65%) and eligible for SNAP-Ed (57%). Most agreed that it was important to wash their hands (99%) and physically distance from others (95%) to avoid the coronavirus, but a smaller majority felt that it was important to wear face masks in public (79%). Attitudes toward wearing masks were significantly different across categories of race. African Americans were more concerned about the risk posed by in-person programming and more likely to report that they would prefer live virtual lessons, online quizzes and workbooks compared to white participants. Respondents over 50 were significantly more likely to say it was important to wear masks, less likely to feel uncomfortable covering their faces and more likely to prefer a written or workbook format for nutrition lessons compared to participants under 50. SNAP-Ed-eligible participants did not differ significantly from higher-income participants in their attitudes toward virus prevention behaviors but were more likely to say they would prefer online quizzes as part of virtual nutrition education. Results indicate that it may be appropriate for nutrition education conducted by the LSU AgCenter to occur in person because most potential program participants agree with COVID-19 precautions. In addition, the attitudes and preferences expressed by African American participants indicate that nutrition education for African Americans may better reach participants if it is done virtually rather than in-person.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The spread of COVID-19 is very fast because it is transmitted from human to human. Non-pharmaceutical control is one of the important actions in reducing the spread of COVID-19, such as the use of masks and physical distancing. This study aims to model COVID-19 by incorporating people''s habits as a non-pharmaceutical preventive measure. The model formed emphasizes the importance of preventing with masks and physical distancing. The implication of this action is that the infected population is decreasing, resulting in less interaction between the susceptible and the infected. In this case, the virus has not vanished from the community, but the use of masks in certain populations or subpopulations is lower than before, which can reduce mask waste in the environment. METHODS: This study expands on a previous MERS-CoV research model using the susceptible-exposed-infected-quarantine-recovery model by incorporating behavioral control, specifically the use of masks and physical distancing as preventive measures. The susceptible population that interacts with the carrier/exposed and infected population is used to calculate mask use. The susceptible population was divided into two subpopulations based on their willingness to wear masks. The following breakthrough is the application of the same system to the infected population, which is required to wear masks at all times during their self-isolation period. The model-generated equation system is a nonlinear system of differential equations. The developed model is examined by determining the equilibrium point and the basic reproduction number. FINDINGS: The model resulted an asymptotically stable disease-free equilibrium and endemic equilibrium. The disease-free stability is only examined if the compliance with physical distancing exceeds 0.55 and the compliance with the use of distancing exceeds 0.55. This compliance condition resulted in a decrease in basic reproduction number ranging from 0.48 to 0.07. The endemic stability is only investigated if compliance with physical distancing is 0.1 and compliance with use of distancing is 0.2. The endemic condition can arise if masks and physical separation are not used. Physical distancing compliance and mask use have values less than 0.1 and 0.2, respectively. CONCLUSION: The analysis of the equilibrium points and basic reproduction numbers, show that increasing compliance in carrying out the health protocol measures of physical distancing and mask use causes a decrease in the spread of COVID-19, so that the disease will disappear over time.
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BACKGROUND: Covid-19 (coronavirus) has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of the respiratory disease in Wuhan, China;declared as a global health emergency on January 20, 2020. Symptoms of covid include cough, fever, tiredness, sore throat etc. Children below the age of 1 are at a high risk of infection due to less maturity of the immune response. AIM: To create awareness among parents related to the risk of exposure of their children to Covid-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 parents of school-going children with different cultural backgrounds. A pre-validated and reliable questionnaire containing 10 questions was distributed to the participants. The questionnaire contained the question items pertaining to their knowledge and awareness related to the risk of exposure of their children to Covid-19. Parents who had more than 1 child were excluded from the study. Statistical analysis was performed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 23.0 (IBM, Chicago, USA). Descriptive statistics were performed to present the frequency distribution of the options of the question items. Also, Pearson's chi-square association was done to analyze the knowledge and perception of participants. RESULTS: From the present study it was assessed that children from cities are more healthy(25.71%) and are aware of covid and its consequences than children in towns and villages (28.57%). Most of the children follow safety measures such as wearing masks, using hand sanitizer, maintaining social distance, etc while playing outdoors/in public places. CONCLUSION: By creating awareness among parents about covid and its consequences we can reduce the fatality rate of newborns or children with weak immunity. By this study we emphasize the importance of hygienic practices that are supposed to be followed during Covid to ensure a healthy life.
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This document seeks to emphasize certain control strategies in public spaces and the home, thus disseminating information on rational use of cleaning and disinfection products. Disinfection is recommended in closed community settings where a case of COVID-19 has been suspected or confirmed in the last 24 h. The risk of fomite transmission can be reduced with consistent mask use, hand hygiene, social distancing, and proper cleaning of surfaces.
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The novel coronavirus 2019 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global catastrophe. At present there is no known cure, drug or treatment for this disease. Personal hygiene, social distancing, hygienic practices and care of the infected persons (asymptomatic/mild symptomatic) are the only preventive measures we have at present. Usefulness of hydroxychloroquine as a preventor drug is yet to be proved. At the time of writing, eight vaccines have reached clinical stage of trials and are being evaluated across the world. In the most optimistic timeline that we can anticipate, it will not be less than a year before any of the vaccines will be available for public use. It is also very important that all routine immunisation practices be continued.