Effects of hydrometeorological and other factors on SARS-CoV-2 reproduction number in three contiguous countries of Tropical Andean South America: a spatiotemporally disaggregated time series analysis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused societal disruption globally and South America has been hit harder than other lower-income regions. This study modeled effects of 6 weather variables on district-level SARS-CoV-2 reproduction numbers (R t ) in three contiguous countries of Tropical Andean South America (Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru), adjusting for environmental, policy, healthcare infrastructural and other factors. Methods: Daily time-series data on SARS-CoV-2 infections were sourced from health authorities of the three countries at the smallest available administrative level. R t values were calculated and merged by date and unit ID with variables from a Unified COVID-19 dataset and other publicly available sources for May - December 2020. Generalized additive models were fitted. Findings: Relative humidity and solar radiation were inversely associated with SARS-CoV-2 R t . Days with radiation above 1,000 KJ/m2 saw a 1.3%, and those with humidity above 50%, a 0.9% reduction in R t . Transmission was highest in densely populated districts, and lowest in districts with poor healthcare access and on days with least population mobility. Wind speed, temperature, region, aggregate government policy response and population age structure had little impact. The fully adjusted model explained 4.3% of R t variance. Interpretation: Dry atmospheric conditions of low humidity increase, and higher solar radiation decrease district-level SARS-CoV-2 reproduction numbers, effects that are comparable in magnitude to population factors like lockdown compliance. Weather monitoring could be incorporated into disease surveillance and early warning systems in conjunction with more established risk indicators and surveillance measures. Funding: NASA's Group on Earth Observations Work Programme (16-GEO16-0047).

Quantifying COVID-19's silver lining: Avoided deaths from air quality improvements in Bogotá.

In cities around the world, COVID-19 lockdowns have significantly improved outdoor air quality. Even if only temporary, these improvements could have longer-lasting effects by making chronic air pollution more salient and boosting political pressure for change. To that end, it is important to develop objective estimates of both the air quality improvements associated with lockdowns and the benefits they generate. We use panel data econometric models to estimate the effect of Bogotá's 16-month lockdown on PM2.5 and NO2 pollution, epidemiological models to simulate the effect of reductions in these pollutants on long- and short-term mortality, and benefit transfer methods to value the avoided mortality. We find that on average, Bogotá's lockdown cut PM2.5 pollution by 15% and NO2 pollution by 21%. However, the magnitude of these effects varied considerably over time and across the city's neighborhoods. Equivalent permanent reductions in these pollutants would reduce long-term premature deaths from air pollution by 23% each year, a benefit valued at $1 billion annually. Finally, we estimate that if they occurred ceteris paribus, the temporary reductions in pollutant concentrations in 2020-2021 due to Bogotá's lockdown would have cut short-term deaths from air pollution by 19%, a benefit valued at $244 million.

Presidential policy narratives and the (mis)use of scientific expertise: Covid-19 policy responses in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico

Political leaders rely on narratives to make sense of crises, but the extent to which such narratives are used to (de)mobilize scientific evidence in policy responses has not been fully explored. Based on the analysis of public messages and communications of the presidents of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, we discuss how they have narratively approached the Covid-19 crisis, particularly with respect to the degree of their reliance on scientific expertise. Building on debates on policy narratives, crisis management, and evidence-based policymaking, we argue that the narratives presidents devised had significant (and mostly negative) effects on the design of policy responses. Their narratives sidelined (Bolsonaro), leveraged (Duque), or limited (López-Obrador) the role of scientific expertise in policy responses. Thus, in contrast to previous literature, these narratives aligned more with the president's agendas and personal biases, than with the need to explain the crisis for their societies or to design appropriate policies. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Quadripartitioned Single-Valued Neutrosophic Properties and Their Application to Factors Affecting Energy Prices

The main idea of this study is the development of a quadripartitioned neutrosophic relations(properties)-based on decision-making method to recommend the most influential factor that affects energy prices in Colombia during pandemic. For supporting the results, we take some particular cities which are located in Colombia where prices of energy have been affecting before, during and after Covid-19 pandemic. The result provides evidence on the feasibility of the proposed method in recommending the influential factors that affect energy prices. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

‘An incorporeal disease': COVID-19, social trauma and health injustice in four Colombian Indigenous communities

Worldwide, medical doctors and lawyers cooperate in health justice projects. These professionals pursue the ideal that, one day, every individual on Earth will be equally protected from the hazards that impair health. The main hindrances to health justice are discrimination, poverty and segregation, but we know that beyond concrete, quantifiable barriers, symbolic elements such as beliefs and fears also play a significant role in perpetuating health injustice. So, between March 2020, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and June 2021, when vaccines against the virus were globally available, we collected original information about the ways in which four Colombian Indigenous communities confronted COVID-19. Knowing that Colombian Indigenous communities often face health injustices, our goal was to understand the role of symbolic elements in the situation. Our main insight is that historical genocidal processes, in which the powerful have betrayed the trust of Indigenous communities, have created a trauma in the latter, resulting in reluctance and suspicion regarding the acceptance of ‘gifts' from external sources, including potentially beneficial health treatments. © The Author(s) 2022.

Can the New Left Deliver Change in Latin America?

The intense Latin American electoral cycle of 2020–22 coincided with deteriorating socio-economic conditions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing frustration with the status quo. Anti-incumbent sentiment coupled with demands for more inclusive and fair economic models prompted a pronounced shift to the left in the region, although with many different shades of ‘pink'. But an increasingly polarised and fragmented political and social environment is testing the ability of new governments to deliver change, as shown by the popular rejection of a new constitution in Chile. A more limited fiscal space is also constraining these governments' effectiveness. Nevertheless, political alignment among countries with important stakes in global climate-change mitigation and thwarting drug trafficking could produce more cohesive foreign-policy stances and increased regional leverage.

AUTOMATIZACION Y PANDEMIA: AMENAZAS SOBRE EL EMPLEO EN AMERICA LATINA *

En este trabajo estudiamos el riesgo de automatización, la inviabilidad del teletrabajo y el riesgo de contagio por proximidad física en las seis economías más grandes de América Latina. Encontramos que son los trabajadores con bajo nivel educativo, informales, y de bajos salarios los más expuestos a este tipo de riesgos. La automatización y las crisis sanitarias conllevan potenciales efectos desigualadores. Adicionalmente, el trabajo aporta evidencia acerca de interacciones entre ambos riesgos. La pérdida de empleo en situaciones de pandemia puede ser más acelerada en ocupaciones donde el trabajo remoto es menos viable y el riesgo de automatización es mayor.Alternate :We study the risk of automation, the unfeasibility of teleworking and the risk of contagion due to physical proximity in the six largest economies in Latin America. We find that workers with low education, informal, and low-wage levels are the most exposed to this type of risk. Automation and health crises may have significant unequalizing effects. In addition, this work provides evidence on interactions between the two risks. Job loss in pandemic situations may be more accelerated in occupations where remote work is less feasible and the risk of automation is higher.

A postmortem study of patients vaccinated for SARS-CoV-2 in Colombia.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: A new coronavirus produces a disease designated as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Vaccination against COVID-19 has resulted in decreased mortality. Postmortems of vaccinated patients play an important part in the forensic analysis of adverse effects after vaccination, which is essential for determining its efficacy and security. The main objective of this study was to describe the results of autopsies of patients vaccinated for SARS-CoV-2 carried out in two major centers in Colombia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 121 autopsies was performed following Colombian regulations in two main hospitals in Bogotá, Colombia, between March 1st and April 31st, 2021. RESULTS: 118 of the 121 patients (97.52%) had been vaccinated with CoronaVac (Sinovac); only 3 had received other vaccines. Sudden cardiac death was the leading cause of death, with pulmonary embolism another critical finding. No relation between the cause of death and vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 was found. CONCLUSIONS: A clinical autopsy is a vital for an accurate post-mortem diagnosis. Any relation between the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and the cause of death should be carefully studied in order to provide the general public with evidence-based information about the safety of the vaccination.

Creative Learning and Mental Health: Working with Youth in The Clubhouse Network

While mental health issues have always been part of the landscape of youth work, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought them into sharp relief. For nearly 30 years, The Clubhouse Network has provided young people from low-income communities with a safe out-of-school setting in which to explore, experiment, and express themselves through technology. In the process, they gain a stronger sense of self while developing marketable technology and life skills. Furthermore, the Clubhouse learning model helps young people deal with some of the real pain in their lives. This article explores how three Clubhouses around the globe (in Colombia, New Zealand, and Nevada) provide unique opportunities to address adolescent vulnerabilities and provide trauma-informed care, and what others can learn from their experience.

Language Teacher Preparation in a Pandemic: An International Comparison of Responses to COVID-19

The unprecedented challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic risked seriously disrupting the continuous supply and preparation of new teachers that are desperately needed to fill world language teacher vacancies. To better understand how world language teacher preparation programs around the globe supported aspiring teachers in the successful completion of their teacher training, the researchers conducted a case study that investigated how world language teacher preparation programs on three different continents responded to the global pandemic. Results suggested that the programs were not equally prepared to navigate the pandemic and had similar, yet different responses to it. Contextual factors, such as national wealth, the prevalence of online instruction pre-pandemic, and the shortage of world language teachers influenced both program preparedness and the accommodations offered to teacher candidates. The results of the study should be considered when developing contingency plans to address future disruptions to program delivery and speak to the need for additional research investigating the impact of COVID-19 on teacher candidate performance and the performance of their future K-12 students.

Orientations to Happiness and University Students' Engagement during the COVID-19 Era: Evidence from Six American Countries

Positive personal characteristics such as happiness or wellbeing can motivate students to elevate their school performance in higher education. Orientation to happiness is a construct that combines three sources of happiness: pleasure, meaning, and engagement, all of which have been identified as a predictor of university students' engagement. However, most research in this area has been conducted during ideal situations or face-to-face education, and no crosscountry research has been published examining the relationship between these two concepts during the COVID-19 era, where online education was predominant. This study aimed to investigate the relation between orientation to happiness and student engagement after twelve months of distance education in a sample of 1723 students from six American countries, including the USA, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. Results indicate that university students' engagement is influenced by the orientation to happiness. Further implications of these results are discussed.

Explanatory Variables of Dropout in Colombian Public Education: Evolution Limited to Coronavirus Disease

Student dropout, defined as the temporary or definitive suspension of the exercise of the right to education, is attributable to multiple variables classified into individual, academic, institutional, and socioeconomic determinants which may be exacerbated in the context of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Consequently, this work aims to synthesize, from the available evidence, the behaviour and influence of the explanatory variables of school dropout in infant school, primary school and, high school in Colombia for the period 2014-2019 compared to the period 2020-2021 under the COVID-19 pandemic conditions. The research methodology consisted of a systematic review of 125 indexed articles for 2014-2019 and 32 reports related to dropout in Colombian Basic education for the 2020-2021 period. The systematic review of the 157 articles revealed that dropout was studied and explained in both time periods, mainly from the academic determinant whose most cited explanatory variables were: 'teachers', 'curriculum' and 'methodologies used'. Moreover, it could be perceived that in the period 2014-2019, the socioeconomic variable was the second dropout determinant, considering 'family income" as the most important indicator, while in 2020-2021 the "infrastructure" and the 'political environment' remained as the most dominant. Lastly, in 2020-2021, the variable 'teachers' was highly cited showing that their practice made students maintain their interest despite the physical distance.

Recommendations for modernizing infant vaccination schedules with combination vaccines in Colombia and Peru.

The objective of this article was to consider the vaccination challenges in Colombia and Peru and the role of pediatric combination vaccines in overcoming these challenges. Barriers to including new vaccines with more antigens remain apparent in parts of these countries, where vaccine-preventable diseases in infants continue to be a major problem. The challenges include the heterogeneity of vaccine coverage within each country and in neighboring countries, which can contribute to poor rates of vaccination coverage; the adverse impact of the inward migration of unvaccinated individuals, which has favored the re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases; vaccine shortages; and the impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and the associated shifts in health care resources. To improve the coverage of pediatric vaccines in Colombia and Peru, it will be necessary to ensure the widespread integration into vaccine schedules of combination vaccines containing diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, inactivated poliovirus, Haemophilus influenzae type b and hepatitis B antigens with a three-dose primary series delivered at 2, 4 and 6 months of age followed by a booster at 18 months of age. Such vaccines play important roles in preventing diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; eradicating polio; and providing boosting against H. influenzae type b.

El objetivo de este artículo es considerar los desafíos que se enfrentan en Colombia y Perú con respecto a la vacunación y el papel de las vacunas combinadas pediátricas para superar estos desafíos. Los obstáculos para incluir vacunas nuevas con más antígenos siguen siendo evidentes en algunos lugares de estos países, donde las enfermedades prevenibles por vacunación en menores de 1 año continúan siendo un grave problema. Entre los desafíos se incluye la heterogeneidad de la cobertura de vacunación en cada país y en los países vecinos, lo que puede contribuir con que se registren tasas bajas de cobertura de vacunación; el impacto adverso de la migración interna de personas no vacunadas, lo que ha favorecido la reaparición de enfermedades prevenibles por vacunación; la escasez de vacunas, y el impacto de la pandemia del coronavirus de tipo 2 causante del síndrome respiratorio agudo grave (SARS-CoV-2) y los consiguientes cambios en los recursos de atención médica. Para mejorar la cobertura de las vacunas pediátricas en Colombia y Perú será necesario integrar de manera generalizada en los calendarios de vacunación vacunas combinadas con antígenos de difteria, tétanos, tos ferina acelular, poliovirus inactivados, Haemophilus influenzae tipo b y hepatitis B con una serie primaria de tres dosis administradas a los 2, 4 y 6 meses de edad, seguida de un refuerzo a los 18 meses de edad. Esas vacunas desempeñan un papel esencial en la prevención de la difteria, el tétanos y la tos ferina; la erradicación de la polio; y el refuerzo contra H. influenzae tipo b.

O objetivo deste artigo foi avaliar os desafios da vacinação na Colômbia e no Peru e o papel das vacinas pediátricas combinadas na superação de tais desafios. Os obstáculos para incluir novas vacinas com mais antígenos permanecem visíveis em partes desses países, onde doenças imunopreveníveis em lactentes continuam a ser um grande problema. Os desafios incluem a heterogeneidade da cobertura vacinal dentro de cada país e nos países vizinhos, o que pode contribuir para baixas taxas de cobertura vacinal; o impacto adverso da migração interna de pessoas não vacinadas, o que favoreceu o ressurgimento de doenças imunopreveníveis; a escassez de vacinas; e o impacto da pandemia de síndrome respiratória aguda grave do coronavírus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) e mudanças relacionadas nos recursos de atenção à saúde. Para melhorar a cobertura das vacinas pediátricas na Colômbia e no Peru, será necessário assegurar sua integração generalizada em esquemas de vacinas combinadas contendo antígenos de difteria, tétano, pertussis acelular, poliovírus inativado, Haemophilus influenzae tipo B e hepatite B, com uma série primária de três doses aplicadas aos 2, 4 e 6 meses de idade seguidas de um reforço aos 18 meses de idade. Tais vacinas desempenham papéis importantes na prevenção da difteria, tétano e coqueluche; na erradicação da poliomielite; e no reforço contra H. influenzae tipo b.

PREVALENCE OF ANXIETY SYMPTOMS AMONG HEALTH CARE WORKERS IN COLOMBIA DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety symptoms in a Colombian HCW sample during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out by means of an online survey (May-June 2020). Respondents were HCWs in Colombia reached by a nonprobability sample. Zung's self-rating anxiety scale allowed the estimation of prevalence and classification of anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: A total of 568 HCWs answered the questionnaire, 66.0% were women, the mean age was 38.6±11.4 years. 28.9% presented with anxiety symptoms, of whom 9.2% were moderate-severe. Characteristics such as living with relatives at higher risk of mortality from COVID-19 infection (OR:1.90; 95% CI: 1.308-2.762), female sex (OR:2.16; 95% CI: 1.422-3.277), and personal history of psychiatric illness (OR:3.41; 95% CI: 2.08-5.57) were associated with higher levels of anxiety. Access to sufficient personal protective equipment (OR:0.45; 95% CI: 0.318-0.903) and age >40 years (OR:0.53; 95% CI: 0.358-0.789) were associated with lower anxiety levels. CONCLUSIONS: Anxious symptoms are common in the population of HCWs faced with patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Different strategies are required to intervene with subgroups at risk of developing higher levels of anxiety during the pandemic.[[[es]]]ResumenObjetivo: Determinar la prevalencia de síntomas de ansiedad en una muestra de personal de salud (PDS) colombianos durante la pandemia por COVID-19-.Métodos: Se llevó a cabo un estudio de corte transversal, mediante una encuesta en línea (mayo a junio 2020). Los encuestados fueron PDS en Colombia reclutados mediante una muestra no probabilística. La escala de autoevaluación de ansiedad de Zung permitió la estimación de la prevalencia y clasificación de los síntomas de ansiedad. RESULTS: Un total de 568 PDS respondieron el cuestionario, 66.0% fueron mujeres, la edad promedio fue 38.6±11.4 años. 28.9% presentaron síntomas de ansiedad, de los cuales 9.2% fueron moderados-severos. Características como vivir con familiares con mayor riesgo de mortalidad por infección por COVID-19 (OR:1.90; 95% IC: 1.308-2.762), sexo femenino (OR:2.16; 95% IC: 1.422-3.277), y la presencia de historia personal de patología psiquiátrica (OR:3.41; 95% IC: 2.08-5.57) se asociaron con mayores niveles de ansiedad. El acceso a elementos de protección personal suficientes (OR:0.45; 95% IC: 0.318-0.903) y las edades >40 años (OR:0.53; 95% IC: 0.358-0.789) se correlacionaron con menores niveles de ansiedad. CONCLUSIONES: Los síntomas ansiosos son comunes en la población de PDS enfrentados al cuidado de pacientes durante la pandemia por COVID-19. Diferentes estrategias se requieren para intervenir los subgrupos en riesgo de desarrollar mayores niveles de ansiedad durante la pandemia.