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In order to analyze the impact of COVID-19 prevention and control measures on the hotspots of residential burglary, the data of crimes that occurred during the First Level Response period of Major Public Health Emergencies in Beijing in 2020 and the same period in 2019 were collected, and the changes of hotspots during the two periods were compared by using kernel density estimation and predictive accuracy index. Consequently, the environmental features such as street network, point of interest (POI) diversity, crime locations, and repeat victimization in significantly varied hotspot areas were investigated. The results show that: 1) After the outbreak of the pandemic, the occurrence of residential burglary in the core urban areas of Beijing dropped significantly, and daily occurrence of crimes during the First Level Response period in 2020 decreased by 66.8% compared with the same days in 2019. 2) The eight major hotspots that existed in 2019 apparently declined during the corresponding days in 2020, five of them basically disappeared, and three hotspots weakened. 3) The declined hotspots were generally clustered around traffic hubs, areas with high diversity of POIs, clustered crimes, and repeat victimizations. 4) Home isolation and social restriction strategies implemented during the First Level Response period reduced the opportunities of offenders, and the real-name inspection adopted in public places increased the exposure risk of offenders, which are the main reasons for the hotspots decline during the pandemic. This work has some implications for crime prevention and police resources optimization during the pandemic. © 2023, Editorial office of PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY. All rights reserved.
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Background: This study aims to evaluate the mental health status of children, adolescents and their parents during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium. Method(s): Analysis compared results before and during the second national lockdown, which started on November 2nd 2020. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between May 2020 and April 2021. Result(s): Two hundred and eighteen adults and 273 children fully completed the survey. Almost one in five children (17.9%) presented moderate-to-severe scores of depression. Adolescents presented a higher level of depression than children (p = 0.007). The rate of moderate-to-severe depression scores (10.8% to 21%, p = 0.007) and internalized symptoms increased during the second lockdown (p < 0.001). Parents' depression (p < 0.001) and anxiety (p = 0.027) levels also increased during the second lockdown. Logistic regression showed that the use of psychotropic medication in parents and parents' depression scores were risk factors for children to have worse depression scores. Conclusion(s): The second lockdown appears to worsen the effects of the pandemic on children's and parents' mental health. There is a need to implement specific interventions targeting both children/adolescents and their parents to support them during lockdown periods and improve mental health outcomes.Copyright © 2022, The Author(s).
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Background: This study seeks to evaluate the prevalence of and the association between receiving medical care abroad and the level of trust that citizens from the Western Balkans-Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro-have in their healthcare systems. Method(s): The study is cross-sectional and was carried out during three months (July 25-October 30, 2021) through a self-reported questionnaire administered through the Google Forms platform. The study included approximately two-thousand citizens (N=2,356) aged eighteen (18) to seventy (70). Result(s): More than one-third (37.2%) of respondents stated that they or a relative had received healthcare services abroad during the last twelve (12) months. Citizens of Montenegro had the highest prevalence of receiving healthcare services abroad at 43.8%, followed by those from Bosnia and Herzegovina at 39%. No statistically significant difference was found in the level of trust in the healthcare system in the country between those who received healthcare services abroad (4.41+/-2.88) (out of 10) and those who did not (4.48+/-2.81) (t=-0.587, p=0.557). Conclusion(s): We ultimately conclude that more than one-third of the participants in our study have traveled abroad for healthcare purposes, with females, those living in urban areas, and those who have previously had a negative healthcare experience in their home country all being more likely to rely on health tourism.Copyright © 2023 Maljichi et al.
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BACKGROUND: Vaccines are one of the best interventions developed for eradicating COVID-19. In Albania, COVID-19 vaccination uses different types of vaccines: Pfizer, AstraZeneca, CoronaVac, and Sputnik V. Like any other vaccine, these have side effects too. AIM: This study was carried out to identify the perception of the side effects of vaccines. METHOD(S): A quantitative study using a cross-sectional survey was conducted between April and September 2021 to collect data on the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine among individuals in Shkodra region. Data were collected online through a self-administered survey created on Google Forms which had been randomly delivered to individuals (aged >=18 years) using social media sites (Email and WhatsApp). All data collected were analyzed with Microsoft Office Excel 2010, using the exact Fisher's test and x2 test. RESULT(S): This study included 292 citizens, out of which 200 were female and 92 were male;62% were from urban areas and 38% from rural areas of Shkodra region. The random sample of the citizens who took part in this study is 44.5% (18-30 years old). A massive percentage of the participants, 66.4%, had received the second dose of the vaccine. Our study shows that 55.8% of these citizens have had side effects after the first vaccination dose, and only 43.8% have had side effects after the second dose. About 80.6% of the participants were well informed about the type of vaccine they got. CONCLUSION(S): Side effects from vaccines were reported. Injection site pain and fatigue were the most common first dose side effects (55.8%). The same side effects were reported for the second dose. The side effects were presented during the first 12 h after the vaccination in most cases. Side effects were more prevalent in people >50 years old. Older people have a higher probability to have more side effects from the COVID vaccine. There is no statistically significant relationship between gender and the presence of the side effect from the COVID vaccine. People living in urban areas have a higher probability to have side effect from COVID vaccine comparing with people living in rural areas. People being vaccinated with Pfizer vaccine have a higher probability to admit the presence of side effects.Copyright: © 2022 Zamira Shabani, Arketa Guli, Julian Kraja, Arlinda Ramaj, Nertila Podgorica.
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We examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food access in US households located in low-income low-food access (LILA) zip codes and those in other areas. We explored changes in utilization of key food sources and in reported challenges, worries, and strategies related to obtaining food. Living in a LILA zip code was associated with a higher prevalence of using food programs, experiencing challenges finding help for food, worrying that food was unsafe, and worrying about losing access to food programs. Examining food acquisition during the pandemic may inform ways to reduce barriers to food access.Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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Introduction: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the US with an estimated 236,740 new cases and 130,180 deaths expected in 2022. While early detection with low-dose computed tomography reduces lung cancer mortality by at least 20%, there has been a low uptake of lung cancer screening (LCS) use in the US. The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption in cancer screening. Yet, little is known about how COVID-19 impacted already low use of LCS. This study aims to estimate LCS use before (2019) and during (2020 and 2021) the COVID-19 pandemic among LCS-eligible population in the US. Method(s): We used population-based, nationally representative, cross-section data from the 2019 (n=4,484), 2020 (n=1,239) and 2021 (n=1,673) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Lung Cancer Screening module. The outcome was self-reported LCS use among eligible adults in the past 12 months. For 2019 and 2020, the eligibility was defined based on US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) initial criteria-adults aged 55 to 80 years old, who were current and former smokers (had quit within the past 15 years) with at least 30 pack years of smoking history. For 2021, we used the USPSTF updated criteria- adults aged 50 to 80 years, current and former smokers (who had quit within the past 15 years) with at least 20 pack years of smoking history. We applied sampling weights to account for the complex survey design to generate population estimates and conducted weighted descriptive statistics and logistic regression models. Result(s): Overall, there were an estimated 1,559,137 LCS-eligible respondents from 16 US states in 2019 (AZ, ID, KY, ME, MN, MS, MT, NC, ND, PA, RI, SC, UT, VT, WV, WI), 200,301 LCS-eligible respondents from five states in 2020 (DE, ME, NJ, ND, SD), and 668,359 LCS-eligible respondents from four states in 2021 (ME, MI, NJ, RI). Among 2,427,797 LCS-eligible adults, 254,890;38,875;and 122,240 individuals reported receiving LCS in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. Overall, 16.4% (95% CI 14.4-18.5), 19.4% (95% CI 15.3-24.3), and 18.3% (95% CI 15.6-21.3) received LCS during 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. In all years, the proportion of LCS use was higher among adults aged 65-74, insured, those with fair and poor health, lung disease and history of cancer (other than lung cancer). In 2020, a higher proportion of adults living in urban areas reported receiving LCS compared to those living in rural areas (20.36% vs. 12.7%, p=0.01). Compared to non-Hispanic White adults, the odds of receiving LCS was lower among Hispanic adults and higher among Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan Native adults in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Conclusion(s): LCS uptake remains low in the US. An estimated 2,011,792 adults at high-risk for developing lung cancer did not receive LCS during 2019, 2020 and 2021. Efforts should be focused to increase LCS awareness and uptake across the US to reduce lung cancer burden.
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Objective To investigate the psychological characteristics of college students during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), so as to provide a basis for psychological intervention. Methods From May 17, 2020 to Jun. 17, 2020, the adjusted psychological questionnaires for emergent events of public health (PQEEPH) was surveyed among the college students of Beijing Union University. The questionnaire included 5 dimensions: depression, neurasthenia, fear, obsessive-compulsive anxiety, and hypochondriasis. Four grades were scored according to the degree and frequency of emotional responses: 0 means no symptoms, 1 means mild symptoms, 2 means moderate symptoms, and 3 means severe symptoms. Results A total of 3 019 valid questionnaires were collected. During the COVID-19 epidemic, the emotional responses of college students, from the most serious to the least, were fear, neurasthenia, depression, obsessive-compulsive anxiety, and hypochondriasis, with the incidences being 87.7% (2 648/3 019), 44.8% (1 353/3 019), 37.4% (1 129/3 019), 17.3% (522/3 019), and 11.6% (350/3 019), respectively. The fear scores of female students were higher than those of male students (P<0.001), the fear scores of college students from towns/suburbs were higher than those from rural and urban areas (both P<0.017), the scores of depression, neurasthenia and obsessive-compulsive anxiety of college students with confirmed COVID-19 cases around them or their relatives participated in the epidemic prevention and control as medical staff or logistics support personnel were higher than those without such conditions (all P<0.017), and the scores of depression, obsessive-compulsive anxiety and hypochondriasis of college students with suspected COVID-19 cases around them were higher than those without such condition (all P<0.017). Females were more likely to have moderate to severe fear than males (odds ratioOR=1.53, 95% confidence intervalCI1.25-1.88, P<0.001), those with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases around them were more likely to have moderate to severe fear than those without such conditions (OR=2.03, 95% CI 1.29-3.20, P=0.002), and those living in towns/suburbs were more likely to have moderate to severe fear than those living in rural and urban areas (OR=0.72, 95% CI 0.56-0.94, P=0.015;OR=0.78, 95% CI 0.63-0.97, P=0.025). Conclusion COVID-19 epidemic has impact on the psychology of college students. It is necessary to pay attention to the mental health of college students and provide targeted psychological counseling for them.Copyright © 2022, Second Military Medical University Press. All rights reserved.
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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.
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In this chapter, we use the concept of everyday practice to highlight the plight of urban residents and what it means/takes to survive the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in a water-insecure city. We use data from four Wards on differentiated locations relative to storage tanks supplying water and different water rationing zones. The data was collected from 2020 to 2021 (2 years). A stratified random sampling technique was used to select a study sample of 303 respondents. Of these, 200 household heads were interviewed at their place of residency, while the remaining 103 respondents gave interviews while waiting to draw water from boreholes dotted around the four residential areas. Our results suggest that the policies for managing the pandemic paid less attention to everyday practices of getting around the more than two-decade-old water challenges in the urban areas. The water challenges in the urban areas further exposed the residents to COVID-19 infection, and the pandemic widened the gendered and spatial inequalities to access to water. We conclude that the search for and concerted efforts to access water to manage and prevent COVID-19 infection were equally associated with high chances of being infected and/or spreading COVID-19. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is not the last water-demanding crisis we will experience. This calls for a paradigm shift in urban water and sanitation access planning to include alternative water sources - groundwater - at the initial stages of residential planning. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.
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Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was a pandemic which spread to various countries and originated in Wuhan, China. For appropriate response, planning, and allocation of resources demographic data play an important role in understanding the impact of COVID-19 across the country. Aim(s): To estimate epidemiological and demographic parameters like age, sex, area, sample type etc. of samples reported in COVID-19 diagnostic laboratory of RUHS College of Medical Sciences, Jaipur, Rajasthan. Material(s) and Method(s): The study was conducted retrospectively in a tertiary care hospital at Jaipur. Data like age, gender, urban or rural, IPD/ICU or OPD etc. were collected between January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021. The collected data were expressed in number, counts and percentage. The data of six months were analysed using Microsoft Excel. Result(s): From January to June 2021, April and May 2021 showed highest positivity 13084 (27.42%) and 10968 (23.06%) respectively. February 2021 and June 2021 showed least positivity 156 (2.39%) and 163 (0.8%) respectively. Total COVID-19 positive cases during 6 months were 25134 and deaths were 357 with highest deaths were during May 2021 (n=270). Males (64.28% to 72.20%) were affected most. In April and May 2021 positivity in urban area was 6053 (46.26%) and 5712 (52.07%) respectively, while in rural area 7031 (53.74%) and 5256 (47.93%) respectively. The positivity in OPD patient during April and May was 93.58% (12245) and 95.26 % (10449) respectively. Nineteen to forty years was most affected age group. Conclusion(s): During second wave both urban and rural population was affected. Males and working age group were affected more. Among COVID-19 suspects' positivity rate was low in IPD patients as compared to OPD patients. Critical factors for an effective public health response are surveillance and contact tracing.Copyright © 2023, Dr Yashwant Research Labs Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Objective To investigate the psychological characteristics of college students during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), so as to provide a basis for psychological intervention. Methods From May 17, 2020 to Jun. 17, 2020, the adjusted psychological questionnaires for emergent events of public health (PQEEPH) was surveyed among the college students of Beijing Union University. The questionnaire included 5 dimensions: depression, neurasthenia, fear, obsessive-compulsive anxiety, and hypochondriasis. Four grades were scored according to the degree and frequency of emotional responses: 0 means no symptoms, 1 means mild symptoms, 2 means moderate symptoms, and 3 means severe symptoms. Results A total of 3 019 valid questionnaires were collected. During the COVID-19 epidemic, the emotional responses of college students, from the most serious to the least, were fear, neurasthenia, depression, obsessive-compulsive anxiety, and hypochondriasis, with the incidences being 87.7% (2 648/3 019), 44.8% (1 353/3 019), 37.4% (1 129/3 019), 17.3% (522/3 019), and 11.6% (350/3 019), respectively. The fear scores of female students were higher than those of male students (P<0.001), the fear scores of college students from towns/suburbs were higher than those from rural and urban areas (both P<0.017), the scores of depression, neurasthenia and obsessive-compulsive anxiety of college students with confirmed COVID-19 cases around them or their relatives participated in the epidemic prevention and control as medical staff or logistics support personnel were higher than those without such conditions (all P<0.017), and the scores of depression, obsessive-compulsive anxiety and hypochondriasis of college students with suspected COVID-19 cases around them were higher than those without such condition (all P<0.017). Females were more likely to have moderate to severe fear than males (odds ratio[OR]=1.53, 95% confidence interval[CI]1.25-1.88, P<0.001), those with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases around them were more likely to have moderate to severe fear than those without such conditions (OR=2.03, 95% CI 1.29-3.20, P=0.002), and those living in towns/suburbs were more likely to have moderate to severe fear than those living in rural and urban areas (OR=0.72, 95% CI 0.56-0.94, P=0.015;OR=0.78, 95% CI 0.63-0.97, P=0.025). Conclusion COVID-19 epidemic has impact on the psychology of college students. It is necessary to pay attention to the mental health of college students and provide targeted psychological counseling for them.Copyright © 2022, Second Military Medical University Press. All rights reserved.
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On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the new coronavirus COVID-19 to be epidemic. Adherence to infection control methods is strongly affected by an individual's knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). The study aimed to evaluate medical students' understanding, and attitudes toward COVID-19 at the Kirkuk Medical College in Iraq. From October 16 to October 26, 2020, a cross-sectional online study was conducted, among a sample of students in Kirkuk Medical College, one of the Iraqi governorates. A total of 214 students were included in this research, and the age varied between 20-25 years. The questionnaire was divided into demographic data, knowledge, attitudes, and practices, modified from an online questionnaire regarding COVID-19 previously used. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were conducted. Among the study sample (n=214), age ranged between 20-25 years, 72.9% were females, and 86.9% resided in urban areas. The learning questionnaire's total accuracy rate was 96.3%. 98.1% of the students know that the virus is spreading by respiratory droplets from infected individuals, 30.4% have a good attitude towards COVID-19, and 100% have good practice dodging crowded places and practicing appropriate hand hygiene. The majority of students are knowledgeable of disease transference prevention and good practices. Female gender and urban residency play a positive role in knowledge and practice in respect to COVID-19 but not in what concerns the attitude. It is recommended to continue health education programs to correct the negative attitude among students, especially those who reside in rural areas.Copyright © 2023, Codon Publications. All rights reserved.
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Antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to human health that is predicted to impact most heavily on sub-Saharan Africa, however there is a lack of clinical outcome data from drug-resistant infections in this setting. There are reasons to expect the COVID-19 pandemic to have both positive and negative impacts on AMR in Africa. We have recruited a series of prospective longitudinal cohorts from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Blantyre, Malawi and the surrounding communities in the Southern Region of Malawi. The data from these cohorts has been used to describe the aetiology of febrile illness, the burden of antimicrobial resistance in this setting and the distribution of extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing bacteria in humans, animals and the environment. Amongst a cohort of patients presenting to QECH unwell with febrile illness, 67% were living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We identified a diagnosis in 145 of 225 (64%) participants, most commonly tuberculosis (TB;34%) followed by invasive bacterial infections (17%), arboviral infections (13%), and malaria (9%). In a second cohort with drug resistant infection, resistance to third-generation cephalosporins was associated with an increased probability of in-hospital mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.44, 95% CI 1.02-2.04), longer hospital stays (1.5 days, 1.0-2.0) and decreased probability of discharge alive (HR 0.31, 0.22-0.45). In the community cohorts, a paucity of environmental health infrastructure and materials for safe sanitation was identified across all sites and ESBL-Enterobacterales were isolated from 41.8% of human stool, 29.8% of animal stool and 66.2% of river water samples and was associated with the wet season, living in urban areas, advanced age and in household-animal interactions. Life threatening febrile illness is common in Blantyre however, diagnostics are few, however the COVID-19 pandemic has led to rapid expansion of diagnostic capacity. We are, however frequently treating the wrong bugs with ceftriaxone, further there was significant expansion of azithromycin demand and usage during the pandemic. Current management of sepsis has not been optimised and ceftriaxone use is promoting carriage of ESBL bacteria out of the hospital and ESBL E. coli and K. pneumoniae are ubiquitous in the community, where environmental hygiene infrastructure and community antimicrobial stewardship are critically lacking.Copyright © 2023
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Intro: To combat the newly emerging pandemic (Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)) different preventive measures are advised. World Health Organization recommended vaccination as an important intervention for ending this pandemic. This study aims to understand the willingness and acceptability to take the vaccine using the health belief model. Method(s): A cross-sectional study was conducted during the period January to February 2021 in an urban area of Khartoum, Sudan. The study reached 580 adult individuals. Chi-squire test was used to test associations, univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression was used to identify the predictors. Finding(s): The Majority of the participants mentioned that they had never been infected by COVID-19 before. (57.4%) believed that they are at risk of infection and most of them did not agree that they are more susceptible to the infection than other people. (83.1%) disagreed that covid-19 complications will be severe for people of their age. (92.6%) of them have heard about the vaccine. (36.9%) of the participants doubted the vaccine effectiveness and (203, 35.0%) believed that it is not safe for them to be vaccinated. (62.9%) of the participants mentioned, they are willing to take the vaccine. Age, perceived susceptibility, being less concerned about getting the disease, perceived vaccine effectiveness and safety, using the vaccine by other people, and doctor advice were significantly predicting the willingness to take the vaccine. Conclusion(s): Though most of the participants were willing to take COVID-19 vaccine, many factors were associated and predicted this willingness. These factors should be considered when setting policies and activities to enhance the uptake of the vaccine.Copyright © 2023
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The general objective of this article is to analyze the digital differences between rural and urban areas on how to educate in virtuality during the shutdown caused by the global health crisis COVID-19. A descriptive study was conducted using online survey methodology on a sample of 250 cases. Data from urban and rural groups were compared and analyzed using descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing and qualitative content analysis. The results indicate that, although few, there are still digital gaps in access to means and resources to continue the educational process at home. © 2022, Associacao Iberica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informacao. All rights reserved.
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*Presenting author Emerging infectious diseases have been causing outbreaks in humans for centuries and most infectious diseases originate in animals. Re-emerging zoonotic pathogens are rapidly increasing in prevalence or geographic range and causing a significant and growing threat to global health. The present work provides an insight of zoonotic viruses risk at human-bat/rodent interfaces in Cambodia. We conducted studies to investigate the circulation of zoonotic viruses and the risk of exposure in human living at the interfaces with bats and rodents. Rodent's samples were collected in rural and urban areas of Cambodia. Organs were tested for Hantavirus, Orthohepevirus species C and Arenavirus. Bat's samples were collected in Steung Treng for Sarbecovirus and in Battambang and Kandal for Nipah virus detection. People working/living at the human-animal interfaces were screened for IgG antibodies. In rodents (750), hantavirus was detected in 3.3% rodents from urban areas only. Seoul orthohantavirus was the most predominant virus followed by Thottapalayam virus. HEV-C was detected only in rodents from urban settings (1.8%). Arenavirus was detected in both rural (6.8%) and urban (2.5%) areas. In humans (788), the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against hantavirus, HEV-A and Arenavirus was 10.0%, 24% and 23.4% respectively. NiV was detected in flying fox's urines collected between 2013-2016 in Kandal (0.63%) and in Battambang (1.03%). Blood samples collected in both provinces were negative for NiV antibodies. SARS-CoV-2 related virus was detected in Rhinolphus shameli in Steung Treng in 2010, 2020 and 2021. Blood samples from people living at the vicinity of positive bats were positive for antibodies against CoV (7.7%), but no specific neutralizing SARS-CoV2 antibodies were detected. Our studies provided insight of the risk of zoonoses in Cambodia and highlighted the importance of zoonotic surveillance and further One Health effort to prevent, detect, and respond to future cross-species transmission.Copyright © 2023
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Background: A series of measures have been suggested to reduce Covid-19 infection, including knowledge training for prevention and control, isolation, disinfection, classified protections at different degrees in infection areas, and protection of confirmed cases. Objective(s): We conducted this study with an aim to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice among the general population regarding COVID-19. Method(s): This was a cross-sectional study carried out by the Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Srinagar in the month of April 2020. The questionnaire had four segments to collect data regarding social-demographic details, knowledge regarding Covid-19, attitude and practice based questions. The questionnaire was shared via social media applications like face book and Whatsapp to reach the target population. Continuous variables were summarized as frequency and percentage. All the analysis was done using Microsoft Excel 2016. Result(s): Among participants who responded, 1252 (82%) were in the age group of 18-40 years and 912 (60%) from urban areas. A total of 934 (61%) respondents had heard details on COVID 19 from the social media, 1358 (89%) knew all ways of coronavirus transmission, 602 (40%) felt that COVID 19 is a serious disease, 1184 (78%) responded that they totally agree with the lockdown decision, and 1296 (85%) responded that lockdown is helping in reducing the number of cases. The majority, i.e. 1318 (87%), followed advisories and reported washing hands with soap and water regularly, 1108 (73%) reported regularly wearing masks, 1344 (89%) reported following lockdown guidelines, and 1306 (87%) reported maintaining social distancing. The respondents exhibited good knowledge, positive attitude, and sensible practices regarding COVID 19. Conclusion(s): Our study showed that the respondents have exhibited good knowledge, positive attitude and sensible practices regarding covid-19 during the pandemic.
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The connection that young people have to their local neighbourhood and community has been shown to impact on health and wellbeing, particularly for those living in the most deprived areas. We report on a qualitative participatory study using photo elicitation methods undertaken in three deprived neighbourhoods across London exploring concepts of community and social connection, with young people aged 13-24 years, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The construct of social capital, referring to the extent of solidarity and connection between groups, has been shown to impact on pandemic related outcomes, and is used in this study as a lens to enhance understanding of young people's experience of the pandemic. Young people created heterogenous physical social ties across class, ethnicity, and geographical area which were important during the pandemic, although these may be jeopardised by a range of factors including fear of violence, mistrust of those in power, parental control and place-based inequity. The isolation and localism enforced by the pandemic encouraged young people to pay more attention to the value of local connections they built up both with people and place. Place-based research needs to continue a dialogue with young people, acknowledging and drawing on existing networks, community assets and cultural beliefs. The impact of COVID-19 on accentuating existing inequalities means that the need for place-based action, addressing the social determinants of health and involving the experiences and input of the young, is more vital than ever.Copyright © 2022 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine