Impact of work resumption on air quality after subsiding of COVID-19: evidence from China

This paper explores the short-run impact of work resumption, extensively launched on February 10, 2020 in China, on air quality after the subsiding of COVID-19. Utilizing the data of 1012 air-quality monitoring sites in 233 cities derived from the Real-time Release Air Quality Platform and the difference-in-differences method, we find that alternative measures of air quality index in non-Hubei provinces increase significantly, compared with those in Hubei province which was temporarily not allowed work resumption due to the severity of epidemic. Specifically, our results reveal a rise in AQI of 11.28 per cent, in PM2.5 of 12.47 per cent, in PM10 of 10.49 per cent, and in NO2 of 23.64 per cent, relative to the baseline mean. Moreover, the deterioration of air quality is found to be caused by intracity rather than intercity migration.

Policy-oriented restart of supply and demand after COVID-19: firm-level evidence for China

Purpose China is the only major economy in the world that has achieved positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2020. The paper aims to explore the effect of China's public policy restarting supply and consumption after coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Design/methodology/approach Affected by the epidemic, global economic growth slowed down. Using the stock price data of Chinese A-share listed company, combining natural experiment and event study method, the paper examines the policy effects of work resumption and consumer vouchers. Findings Compared with demand capacity, the work resumption has a more significant role in promoting the supply industry. Issuing consumer vouchers can effectively promote local demand recovery, and the effect is mainly concentrated in the industries involved in consumption vouchers. At the same time, public management capacity and the income level of residents play an important role in restarting supply and demand. Practical implications Understanding China's public policies and effects are of positive significance to the restoration of economic development in other countries. Originality/value The study contributes to knowledge by empirically examining the effect of China's public policies against the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper also expands the scope of policy-oriented research based on the perspective of supply and demand capacity building.

Clinical Analysis of Causes and Countermeasures of Hand Injury During the COVID-19 Outbreak and Work Resumption Period: A Retrospective Study in a Designated Hospital in China.

A total of 95 patients with hand injuries were admitted to the orthopedics department within half a year of the COVID-19 outbreak. Data were collected between January 23, 2020 and July 23, 2020. Data such as patients' demographics, type of injury, location, side of lesions, mechanism of injury, injury site, and surgical management were collected and subsequently analyzed. On the one hand, the total number of emergency visits due to hand injury during the COVID-19 outbreak decreased by 37%, compared to the same period in the previous year. On the other hand, work resumption injuries increased by 40%. Injuries within the resumption period occurred predominantly at work (64.7%) and were significantly higher than the same period in 2019 (37.3%) (P < .001). Machine-related injuries were the most frequent injuries seen in our hospital (58.8%). The majority of cases were from cut injuries (82.4%), with fingers being the most common site of these injuries. Simple fractures and dislocations were also reported during the study. Most injuries were classified as either minor or moderate (90%) during the outbreak. However, during the resumption of work, major injuries were more prevalent (40%). The proportion of major injuries this year's work resumption stage (40%) has almost doubled compared to the previous year (21.8%, P = .006). The resumption of work following the COVID-19 outbreak is a time of high-risk for hand injuries. The overall number of patients with hand injuries admitted into our department has decreased compared to the corresponding period last year. However, workplace injuries, particularly machine-related ones, considerably increased during the first six months after the COVID-19 outbreak. As a result, the proportion of major injuries drastically increased. Emergency and surgical health care providers should be aware of this pattern of hand injuries during this untypical time in order to effectively prepare and plan services.

Air pollution and post-COVID-19 work resumption: evidence from China.

To cope with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), national or sub-national regions have carried out many powerful anti-pandemic measures such as locking down, which may improve their regional air quality. This paper examines the relation between regional air pollution and work resumption from a novel post-pandemic perspective. Using a unique panel dataset on China's detailed industrial electricity consumption, this paper does not find a positive relation between post-COVID-19 work resumption and regional air pollution during China's early-stage recovery. This result is obtained after controlling for province and date fixed effects, as well as local weather conditions. However, the positive relations are found in a particular sub-sample of large industrial enterprises and a particular sub-sample of April. These findings indicate that large industrial enterprises may recover first, and the resumption is progressing gradually. Finally, several policy implications are provided, which are essentially helpful for other countries' post-pandemic recovery.

Work Resumption Rate and Migrant Workers' Income During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 public health crisis has quickly led to an economic crisis, impacting many people and businesses in the world. This study examines how the pandemic affects workforces and workers' income. We quantify the impact of staggered resumption of work, after the coronavirus lockdowns, on the migrant workers' income. Using data on population movements of 366 Chinese cities at the daily level from the Baidu Maps-Migration Big Data Platform and historical data on the average monthly income of migrant workers, we find that the average work resumption rate (WRR) during the period of the Chinese Lantern Festival was 25.25%, which was only 30.67% of that in the same matched lunar calendar period in 2019. We then apply Gray Model First Order One Variable [GM (1, 1)] to predict the monthly income of migrant workers during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We show that, if without the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the average monthly income of migrant workers in 2020 will be expected to increase by 12% compared with 2019. We further conduct scenario analysis and show that the average monthly income of migrant workers in 2020 under the conservative scenario (COS), medium scenario (MES), and worse scenario (WOS) will be predicted to decrease by 2, 21, and 44%, respectively. Through testing, our prediction error is <5%. Our findings will help policymakers to decide when and how they implement a plan to ease the coronavirus lockdown and related financial support policies.

Epidemic Prevention During Work Resumption: A Case Study of One Chinese Company's Experience.

Background: The COVID-19 epidemic not only brings challenges to the health of people all over the world, but also impacts the global economy, and employment. Therefore, promoting industry and business to resume work safely has become an important step to be taken by all countries in overcoming the economic recession and restarting growth. Objective: This study aims to elaborate on epidemic prevention measures a Chinese company (Company C) took during work resumption. Methods: In this study, we used a case study design, with field research method applied to data collection and analysis. Results: It has been identified that Company C took a range of measures to prevent the outbreak of COVID-19 inside the company, which involve work resumption preparation (information survey, health training, work resumption plan, epidemic prevention plan), facilities management, materials management, employee activity management, and so on. Conclusion: When the COVID-19 epidemic was initially controlled in February, the Chinese government allowed enterprises to resume work voluntarily, which did not bring about a rebound in the epidemic. One important reason is that Chinese enterprises have taken multiple measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Company C's practices could shed some light on how companies in Western countries resume their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluation of work resumption strategies after COVID-19 reopening in the Chinese city of Shenzhen: a mathematical modeling study.

OBJECTIVES: As China is facing a potential second wave of the epidemic, we reviewed and evaluated the intervention measures implemented in a major metropolitan city, Shenzhen, during the early phase of Wuhan lockdown. STUDY DESIGN: Based on the classic SEITR model and combined with population mobility, a compartmental model was constructed to simulate the transmission of COVID-19 and disease progression in the Shenzhen population. METHODS: Based on published epidemiological data on COVID-19 and population mobility data from Baidu Qianxi, we constructed a compartmental model to evaluate the impact of work and traffic resumption on the epidemic in Shenzhen in various scenarios. RESULTS: Imported cases account for most (58.6%) of the early reported cases in Shenzhen. We demonstrated that with strict inflow population control and a high level of mask usage after work resumption, various resumptions resulted in only an insignificant difference in the number of cumulative infections. Shenzhen may experience this second wave of infections approximately two weeks after the traffic resumption if the incidence risk in Hubei is high at the moment of resumption. CONCLUSION: Regardless of the work resumption strategy adopted in Shenzhen, the risk of a resurgence of COVID-19 after its reopening was limited. The strict control of imported cases and extensive use of facial masks play a key role in COVID-19 prevention.

Chinese Residents' Perceptions of COVID-19 During the Pandemic: Online Cross-sectional Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has posed a global threat due to substantial morbidity and mortality, and health education strategies need to be adjusted accordingly to prevent a possible epidemic rebound. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the perceptions of COVID-19 among individuals coming to, returning to, or living in Jiangsu Province, China, and determine the impact of the pandemic on the perceptions of the public. METHODS: In this study, an online questionnaire was distributed to participants between February 15 and April 21, 2020. The questionnaire comprised items on personal information (eg, sex, age, educational level, and occupation); protection knowledge, skills, and behaviors related to COVID-19; access to COVID-19-related information; and current information needs. Factors influencing the knowledge score, skill score, behavior score, and total score for COVID-19 were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analyses. The time-varying reproduction number (Rt) and its 95% credible interval were calculated and compared with the daily participation number and protection scores. RESULTS: In total, 52,066 participants were included in the study; their average knowledge score, skill score, behavior score, and total score were 25.58 (SD 4.22), 24.05 (SD 4.02), 31.51 (SD 2.84), and 90.02 (SD 8.87), respectively, and 65.91% (34,315/52,066) had a total protection score above 90 points. For the knowledge and skill sections, correct rates of answers to questions on medical observation days, infectiousness of asymptomatic individuals, cough or sneeze treatment, and precautions were higher than 95%, while those of questions on initial symptoms (32,286/52,066, 62.01%), transmission routes (37,134/52,066, 71.32%), selection of disinfection products (37,390/52,066, 71.81%), and measures of home quarantine (40,037/52,066, 76.90%) were relatively low. For the actual behavior section, 97.93% (50,989/52,066) of participants could wear masks properly when going out. However, 19.76% (10,290/52,066) could not disinfect their homes each week, and 18.42% (9589/52,066) could not distinguish differences in initial symptoms between the common cold and COVID-19. The regression analyses showed that the knowledge score, skill score, behavior score, and total score were influenced by sex, age, educational level, occupation, and place of residence at different degrees (P<.001). The government, television shows, and news outlets were the main sources of protection knowledge, and the information released by the government and authoritative medical experts was considered the most reliable. The current information needs included the latest epidemic developments, disease treatment progress, and daily protection knowledge. The Rt in the Jiangsu Province and mainland China dropped below 1, while the global Rt remained at around 1. The maximal information coefficients ranged from 0.76 to 1.00, which indicated that the public's perceptions were significantly associated with the epidemic. CONCLUSIONS: A high proportion of the participants had sufficient COVID-19 protection knowledge and skills and were able to avoid risky behaviors. Thus, it is necessary to apply different health education measures tailored to work and study resumption for specific populations to improve their self-protection and, ultimately, to prevent a possible rebound of COVID-19.

COVID-19 in Shanghai: IPC Policy Exploration in Support of Work Resumption Through System Dynamics Modeling.

PURPOSE: It is unclear how and to what extent various infection prevention and control (IPC) policies affect the spread of an epidemic during work resumption. In order to assess the impact of IPC policies, this research addresses the results of a policy simulation in Shanghai, China, which estimates the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 under various IPC policies and offers evidence-based outcomes of work resumption policies for the world. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This simulation research is based on a system dynamics (SD) model that integrates IPC work resumption policies implemented in Shanghai into the classical susceptible-exposed-infected-removed (SEIR) epidemiological model. Input data were obtained from official websites, the Baidu migration index and published literature. The SD model was validated by comparing results with real-world data. RESULTS: The simulations show that a non-quarantined and non-staged approach to work resumption (Policy 1) would bring a small secondary outbreak of COVID-19. The quarantined but non-staged approach (Policy 2) and the non-quarantined but staged approach (Policy 3) would not bring a secondary outbreak of COVID-19. However, they both would generate more newly confirmed cases than the staged and quarantined approach (Policy 4). Moreover, the 14-day quarantine policy alone appears to be more effective in reducing transmission risk than the staged work resumption policy alone. The combined staged and quarantined IPC policy led to the fewest confirmed cases caused by work resumption in Shanghai, and the spread of COVID-19 stopped (ie, the number of newly confirmed cases reduced to zero) at the earliest date. CONCLUSION: Conservative IPC policies can prevent a second outbreak of COVID-19 during work resumption. The dynamic systems model designed in this study can serve as a tool to test various IPC work resumption policies, facilitating decision-making in responses to combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Self-Reported Compliance With Personal Preventive Measures Among Chinese Factory Workers at the Beginning of Work Resumption Following the COVID-19 Outbreak: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Maintaining compliance with personal preventive measures is important to achieve a balance of COVID-19 pandemic control and work resumption. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported compliance with four personal measures to prevent COVID-19 among a sample of factory workers in Shenzhen, China, at the beginning of work resumption in China following the COVID-19 outbreak. These preventive measures included consistent wearing of face masks in public spaces (the workplace and other public settings); sanitizing hands using soap, liquid soap, or alcohol-based hand sanitizer after returning from public spaces or touching public installations and equipment; avoiding social and meal gatherings; and avoiding crowded places. METHODS: The participants were adult factory workers who had resumed work in Shenzhen, China. A stratified two-stage cluster sampling design was used. We randomly selected 14 factories that had resumed work. All full-time employees aged ≥18 years who had resumed work in these factories were invited to complete a web-based survey. Out of 4158 workers who had resumed work in these factories, 3035 (73.0%) completed the web-based survey from March 1 to 14, 2020. Multilevel logistic regression models were fitted. RESULTS: Among the 3035 participants, 2938 (96.8%) and 2996 (98.7%) reported always wearing a face mask in the workplace and in other public settings, respectively, in the past month. However, frequencies of self-reported sanitizing hands (2152/3035, 70.9%), avoiding social and meal gatherings (2225/3035, 73.3%), and avoiding crowded places (1997/3035, 65.8%) were relatively low. At the individual level, knowledge about COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratios [AORs] from 1.16, CI 1.10-1.24, to 1.29, CI 1.21-1.37), perceived risk (AORs from 0.58, CI 0.50-0.68, to 0.85, CI 0.72-0.99) and severity (AOR 1.05, CI 1.01-1.09, and AOR 1.07, CI 1.03-1.11) of COVID-19, perceived effectiveness of preventive measures by the individual (AORs from 1.05, CI 1.00-1.10, to 1.09, CI 1.04-1.13), organization (AOR 1.30, CI 1.20-1.41), and government (AORs from 1.14, CI 1.04-1.25, to 1.21, CI 1.02-1.42), perceived preparedness for a potential outbreak after work resumption (AORs from 1.10, CI 1.00-1.21, to 1.50, CI 1.36-1.64), and depressive symptoms (AORs from 0.93, CI 0.91-0.94, to 0.96, CI 0.92-0.99) were associated with self-reported compliance with at least one personal preventive measure. At the interpersonal level, exposure to COVID-19-specific information through official media channels (AOR 1.08, CI 1.04-1.11) and face-to-face communication (AOR 0.90, CI 0.83-0.98) were associated with self-reported sanitizing of hands. The number of preventive measures implemented in the workplace was positively associated with self-reported compliance with all four preventive measures (AORs from 1.30, CI 1.08-1.57, to 1.63, CI 1.45-1.84). CONCLUSIONS: Measures are needed to strengthen hand hygiene and physical distancing among factory workers to reduce transmission following work resumption. Future programs in workplaces should address these factors at multiple levels.

When to lift the lockdown in Hubei province during COVID-19 epidemic? An insight from a patch model and multiple source data.

After diagnosed in Wuhan, COVID-19 spread quickly in mainland China. Though the epidemic in regions outside Hubei in mainland China has maintained a degree of control, evaluating the effectiveness and timeliness of intervention strategies, and predicting the transmission risk of work resumption as well as lifting the lockdown in Hubei province remain urgent. A patch model reflecting the mobility of population between Hubei and regions outside Hubei is formulated, and parameterized based on multiple source data for Hubei and regions outside Hubei. The effective reproduction numbers for Hubei and regions outside Hubei are estimated as 3.59 and 3.26 before Jan 23rd, 2020, but decrease quickly since then and drop below 1 after Jan 31st and Jan 28th, 2020. It is predicted that the new infections in Hubei province will decrease to very low level in mid-March, and the final size is estimated to be about 68,500 cases. The simulations reveal that contact rate after work resumption or lifting the lockdown in Hubei plays a critical role in affecting the epidemic. If the contact rate could be kept at a relatively low level, work resumption starting as early as on March 2nd in Hubei province may not induce the secondary outbreak, and the daily new infectious cases can be controlled at a low level if the lockdown in Hubei is liftted after March 9th, otherwise both work resumption and lifting the lockdown in Hubei should be postponed.